I’ve been thinking lately about names that have origins in multiple locations and cultures. [name_u]Kai[/name_u] is a one of my favorites (Scandinavian, Hawaiian, Native American, Japanese) and [name_f]Nina[/name_f] (Russian, Incan, Spanish, Babylonian) is a new interest since it was mentioned in one of the blogs this week. But after that I’m kind of stuck. I don’t just mean names like [name_f]Ann[/name_f], which has a variation in every country under the sun, but names that have separate meanings in their languages of origin. So do you have favorite names that have multiple meanings or origins? Please share!
The only one I can think of right now is [name_f]Noa[/name_f] which has different meanings in Hebrew, Japanese, and Hawaiian.
[name_f]Tara[/name_f]-
Irish Gaelic- refers to the hill of [name_f]Tara[/name_f] and has a few meanings including ‘queen’, ‘elevated place’ ‘from the crag of a hill’ ‘where the kings met’ or ‘rocky hill’ depending on where you look
Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Persian, Punjabi, Kurdish, Bengali, Telugu, Sinhalai- ‘[name_f]Star[/name_f]’
[name_f]Indian[/name_f]- ‘[name_f]Goddess[/name_f] of the sea’
sweetpeacelove – [name_f]Noa[/name_f] is very lovely! Thanks!
mauvebird – thanks for [name_f]Tara[/name_f]! I didn’t know that she was so diverse!
Any one else have more ideas?
I’ve always liked [name_f]Hana[/name_f]. It’s a version of [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] used in some Eastern European countries, but it also means ‘flower’ in Japanese and ‘bliss’ in Arabic.
[name_f]Maya[/name_f]/[name_f]Maia[/name_f] means “illusion” in Sanskrit, “water” in Hebrew, “midwife” in Greek, and “great” in Latin. It’s the name of one of the Pleiades in Greek mythology who was the mother of [name_m]Hermes[/name_m] and a goddess of the earth/spring in [name_m]Roman[/name_m] mythology after whom the month of [name_f]May[/name_f] is named. It’s also the name of the mother of the Buddha. And of course, there are also the [name_f]Maya[/name_f] people.
thatkathryngirl - I knew about [name_f]Hana[/name_f]'s Japanese meaning, but not that it is also Arabic! Thanks for the heads up!
darlingdoe- [name_f]Maia[/name_f]/[name_f]Maya[/name_f] is lovely too, I didn’t know all those connections! Thank you!
I’m noticing a pattern of very short names… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though.
[name_f]Maddi[/name_f], in Basque it’s a form of [name_f]Mary[/name_f] (and pronounced like mah-yee), and in English it can be a short form for [name_u]Madison[/name_u] and [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] and all those.
[name_f]Alma[/name_f]- it means “soul” in Spanish, comes from “nourishing” in Latin, and is the Crimean [name_m]Tatar[/name_m] word for “apple”.
[name_f]Alba[/name_f]- Ancient Germanic short form of names beginning with “alb” (Elf), an Ancient [name_m]Roman[/name_m] feminine form of [name_m]Albus[/name_m] (white/ bright), and it means “dawn” in Spanish, Italian and Catalan.
I don’t know if this counts, but [name_m]Pau[/name_m] on a boy is the Catalan form of [name_m]Paul[/name_m], and on a girl it’s the word for “peace”.
[name_f]Africa[/name_f]- feminine and Anglicized form of [name_f]Aifric[/name_f] “pleasant”, or from the continent name; [name_f]Santa[/name_f] [name_f]Mar[/name_f]ía de ”frica is the Patroness of the city of Ceuta, and I know the religious significance has made it a common enough name in Spain.
Eder means “flock” in Hebrew, and “handsome” in Basque
[name_f]Nora[/name_f] is one that sort of works-- in Arabic, [name_f]Noor[/name_f] or [name_f]Noora[/name_f] is a name related to light (can be spelled [name_f]Nora[/name_f] too, and pronounced nearly exactly the same). In English [name_f]Nora[/name_f] supposedly doesn’t have a meaning of its own apart from those of the longer names it’s a nickname for ([name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], etc) although I suspect it might be related to [name_u]North[/name_u] or Norse. I have no proof though.
[name_f]Lucia[/name_f] - Thanks for all of those! [name_f]My[/name_f] favorites are [name_f]Alma[/name_f] and [name_m]Pau[/name_m]. [name_m]Pau[/name_m] is also a Hawaiian word, so it counts!
[name_f]Daisy[/name_f] - [name_f]Nora[/name_f] seems to always come back to light no matter what language, which is actually really cool!
I’m working on a list that I might or might not publish… Any more suggestions out there?
[name_f]Rina[/name_f] (Italian / Hebrew / Sanskrit / Japanese)
[name_f]Lina[/name_f] (Latin / Sanskrit)
[name_u]Rohan[/name_u] (Sanskrit / Irish / [name_m]French[/name_m] surname)
[name_u]Emmet[/name_u] (English / Hebrew)
[name_m]Lev[/name_m] (Russian / Hebrew)
[name_u]Remi[/name_u] ([name_m]French[/name_m] / Japanese)
[name_m]Ken[/name_m] (English / Japanese)
[name_f]Aina[/name_f] (Finnish / Balearic / Japanese)
[name_f]Mil[/name_f]- names (Old English / Slavic / Latin)
[name_f]Vera[/name_f] (Russian / Latin / Albanian)
[name_f]Kira[/name_f] (Russian / Irish)
[name_u]Finn[/name_u], means fair or white as a Celtic name and Finn (person from Finland) in the Nordic countries.
Ari means lion as a Hebrew name, eagle as a Nordic name and brave as an Armenian name.
[name_m]Idris[/name_m], we discovered the other week, is a male name in both Welsh and Arabic. (ID-riss and id-[name_u]REES[/name_u])
[name_u]Ira[/name_u] is a Russian female name and a male Hebrew name. (EE-ra and EYE-ra)
[name_f]Eira[/name_f] is a female name in Welsh and Finnish. (AY-ra)
Sugarplumfairy - WOW, thank you! That is a lot of great names! I just learned that [name_m]Lev[/name_m] is actually Tolstoy’s first name.
Jackal - Thanks for those ideas: I love [name_u]Ari[/name_u]. I found so many meanings for it!!
Renrose - I love I & E names, so they are much appreciated! I found some controversy over [name_f]Eira[/name_f]'s meaning in Finnish, but still love that it has roots in mythology. (:
I have collected over 30 names now, but like the little mermaid, sings “I want more…”
[name_f]Tala[/name_f] means fountain in Berber, palm tree in Arabic, gold in Persian, star in Tagalog, wolf in a Native American language (can’t find the specific one), and more.
[name_f]Nissa[/name_f] means “friendly elf” or “brownie” as a Scandinavian name, but in Hebrew means “to test.”
I’m really fond of [name_u]Kieran[/name_u]/[name_m]Kiran[/name_m] ([name_u]Kieran[/name_u] = Irish for “dark”/“dark one,” [name_m]Kiran[/name_m] = Sanskrit for “dust,” “thread,” or “sunbeam,” according to behindthename.) There are quite a few Sanskrit/[name_f]Indian[/name_f] names that work in multiple languages–[name_f]Maya[/name_f]'s been mentioned already, but there’s also, off the top of my head, [name_u]Neel[/name_u] ([name_u]Neil[/name_u]/[name_u]Niall[/name_u]), [name_f]Meena[/name_f] ([name_f]Mina[/name_f]), [name_f]Meera[/name_f] ([name_f]Mira[/name_f]), and [name_f]Sonia[/name_f] ([name_f]Sonja[/name_f].) [name_f]Aya[/name_f] is another good one-- “design” in Japanese, “sign/miracle/verse” in Arabic, “sword” in Old [name_m]German[/name_m], and “bird” in Hebrew.