I have a difficult question. When thinking of a girls name I am trying to think of the things I love the most and I think one of the most beautiful things in existence is what happens when light and water interact, whether that be showing a reflection in a lake, forming a rainbow or the sparkling of a sunshower. I’ve also thought of a prism. I’ve tried looking for names that might refer to this phenomenon (scientfically reflection/refraction) but maybe in a more cultural way. We’re both scientists who like to have influences from multiple cultlures… So far the best ideas I have are:
[name]Aurora[/name] - dawn, goddess of morning, northern lights
[name]Aura[/name] - breeze, wind or glowing light
[name]Aurea[/name] - variation of [name]Aura[/name]
[name]Iris[/name] - goddess of rainbows, in greek mythology linking heaven and earth
[name]Jora[/name] - hebrew, autumn rain
Kailani - hawaiian, the sea and sky
[name]Kalinda[/name] - sun
Kirana - indonesian, beautiful sunbeam
[name]Leora[/name] - hebrew, light
[name]Neorah[/name] - hebrew, light
[name]Pele[/name] - hawaiian goddess of fire, lighting, dance and volcanoes (mostly related to volcanoes though)
[name]Picabo[/name] - native american, shining waters (great meaning, don’t like the name)
I would consider using both the first name and middle name to come up with the meaning, such as using the middle name [name]Rain[/name]. I would use a scientific word if it actually sounded like a name. [name]Aurora[/name] is my favorite, but it’s too popular.
I love [name]Aura[/name] and [name]Iris[/name]. I believe [name]Kalinda[/name] is a sanskrit boys name though [name]Kalindi[/name] is the female form.
[name]How[/name] about these:
[name]Itzel[/name] - native american meaning rainbow
Enfys - welsh meaning rainbow
[name]Aza[/name] - swahili meaning reflect
[name]Selah[/name] - hebrew meaning reflect
Amarilla/Amarylla/[name]Amaryllis[/name] - greek meaning sparkling
Ayah - african meaning sparkling
Iskra - slavonic meaning spark
[name]Electra[/name] - greek meaning shining
[name]Eleni[/name] - greek meaning bright, shining one
[name]Zara[/name] - arabic meaning shining flower
[name]Aline[/name]/[name]Alina[/name] - armenian meaning bearer of the light
[name]Elaine[/name]/[name]Elaina[/name] - greek meaning bright light
Helina - russian meaning light from the sun
[name]Lucinda[/name]/[name]Lucy[/name] etc. - latin meaning light
Rasana - sanskrit meaning beam of light or perception
[name]Ama[/name] - native american meaning water
[name]India[/name] - sanskrit meaning body of water
[name]Kyla[/name] - gaelic meaning a beautiful strait of water
[name]Naida[/name] - greek meaning as a water nymph
[name]Nereida[/name] - greek meaning water nymph
[name]Nerina[/name] - greek meaning water
[name]Talise[/name] - native american meaning beautiful water
[name]Eldora[/name] - greek meaning gift of sun
Heulyn - welsh meaning ray of sun
Raveena - punjabi meaning beauty of the sun
Thanks for all the replies! [name]Rachel[/name], you came up with a few that I hadn’t come across yet. These are the ones I liked best:
[name]Aza[/name] - swahili meaning reflect
Amarilla/Amarylla/[name]Amaryllis[/name] - greek meaning sparkling
Ayah - african meaning sparkling
[name]Aline[/name]/[name]Alina[/name] - armenian meaning bearer of the light
Helina - russian meaning light from the sun
[name]Ama[/name] - native american meaning water
[name]Kyla[/name] - gaelic meaning a beautiful strait of water
[name]Naida[/name] - greek meaning as a water nymph
[name]Nereida[/name] - greek meaning water nymph
[name]Nerina[/name] - greek meaning water
I still don’t feel like I’m in love with any particular name though. I like the idea of the sound [name]Aza[/name] or Ayah being in the name, but would rather them be longer. I was almost thinking of trying to combine two names to come up with the meaning I want, but I feel like this might be stretching too far.
[name]Meredith[/name], the site you posted is very helpful. I had come across it before, but after you posted I went back and looked and came up with some more ideas.
Here are a couple of other things I’ve come across (none are perfect):
Ailia - irish, light
Aylah- Turkish, moonlight
[name]Candra[/name] - Indonesian glowing like the moon; latin, luminescent
[name]Iara[/name] (pronounced yara) ” brazilian, water lady
[name]Iliana[/name] - latin, sun
Jalarka ” Sanskrit boys name meaning light reflected in water ” exactly the meaning I want but I don”t really like the name
[name]Jelena[/name] ” Russian, shining light
[name]Kala[/name] ” Hawaiian, sun, princess
Paiva or Paivatar” Finnish goddess of the sun (paiva with … over each a ) ” does anyone know the correct way to pronounce this?
The spinning sun virgin who wove daylight from a rainbow arch. In one myth, Paivatar is the sun and her son is the moon.
[name]Pela[/name] - Greek/polish, of the sea
Vailea - pacific islander, water that speaks (vai=water, lea=speaks)
[name]Tallulah[/name] means leaping water in Native American.
Alkira means [name]Sky[/name] in Australian Aboriginal.
Others Aboriginal wordss:
Ekala - A lake.
Elanora - A home by the sea.
Iluka - Near the sea
Katyin - water
Kolora - freshwater lagoon
[name]Manilla[/name] - a winding river
[name]Tarana[/name] - large waterhole
[name]Tarra[/name] - a creek
Tirranna - running water
(I’m drawn to Australia Aboriginal names a bit because I lived in Australia for a while… so just personal preference and I didn’t see them from your list!)
[name]Savita[/name]- sun
[name]Lucia[/name]- light
Radiance- might be pretty as a mn
When I saw the subject line of your post, I immeidately thought of [name]Iris[/name]. It is probably my favorite of your choices. So,
[name]Violet[/name]- rainobw color (might be nice mn)
Plants and flowers rely greatly on both sun and water, so what about a nature name?
[name]Acacia[/name]
[name]Aspen[/name]
[name]Fern[/name]
[name]Hyacinth[/name]
[name]Ivy[/name]
[name]Juniper[/name]
[name]Marigold[/name]
[name]Olive[/name]
[name]Willow[/name]
[name]Wisteria[/name]
[name]Apolline[/name]- feminine form of [name]Apollo[/name], Greek god of the sun
[name]Alba[/name]- has some connection to light/bright
[name]Clytie[/name]- name of mthological women who feel in love with [name]Apollo[/name], and became the first sunflower according to legend
Kulah, I hadn’t come across any Australian Aboriginal names. Thanks for the input!
[name]Crescent[/name] moon, thinking of flowers is another unique twist. Either way, the sun and water are two of my favorite things, so a flower name is another idea. I’ve always liked how [name]Azalea[/name] sounded too…
I also like [name]Iris[/name], as many people have suggested, but our last name starts with and S so I don’t thinks it flows well.
You’ve already been given lots to work with, but I just wanted to chime in that I’m a teacher and I actually taught a student named [name]Candra[/name] this semester with a last name starting with S and she was wonderful, so it has a positive connotation for me and it caught my eye on the list because prior to that student, I’d never heard the name before.
Is there a scientific name for the phenomenon of water reflecting light? I’m thinking along the lines of phosphorescence, but I know that’s not it. Is it too much of a stretch to work with letters in that word to see if they spell anything? [name]Just[/name] trying to expand the list of options…
I think the name “Paiva” (you listed as being Finnish) would probably be pronounced “PIE-va” with the second syllable being very short. (I have had some exposure to Finnish, though I don’t really speak much myself)
[name]Amaya[/name] – Japanese meaning “night rain” (though, at night, there wouldn’t be any light hitting that rain, so the reflection aspect of what you are looking for would be lost)
Aila – (pronounced like [name]Isla[/name]) Finnish version of [name]Aileen[/name], meaning “light bearer”
[name]Maren[/name] – Latin for “sea”
I think your idea of using two words isn’t too much of a stretch. I’ve seen it suggested / attempted by other people here on nameberry.
Aila [name]Maren[/name] – combination of “light bearer” and “sea”, I think this is pretty
[name]Amaya[/name] [name]Soleil[/name] – Japanese “night rain”, French “sun” – adding sun to the night rain?? maybe a bit of a stretch there, but a pretty combo I think and multi-cultural too.
I’m not good at exhaustive lists, so I’m therefore just putting ideas out there that are on the top of my mind. I’m sure there are lots of other possibilities.
I really like how you’re putting together a name for your daughter. This is a great thread!
Would you consider more celestial names? starlight and moonlight counts right?
These are some that I thought could be good used with another name for a combined meaning.
[name]ASTRAEA[/name]:Greek Mythology Latinized form of the Greek ??? (Astraia), derived from Greek ??? (aster) meaning “star”. [name]Astraea[/name] was a Greek goddess of justice and innocence. After wickedness took root in the world she left the earth and became the constellation Virgo.
[name]AYLA[/name] : Turkish “moonlight, halo” in Turkish.
AYL?N:Turkish “moon halo” in Turkish.
MIZUKI : Japanese ? (mi) “beautiful” and ? (zuki) “moon”. It can also come from ? (mizu) “congratulations” and ? (ki) “hope”.
[name]LUNA[/name]: [name]Roman[/name] Mythology
Means “the moon” in Latin. [name]Luna[/name] was the [name]Roman[/name] goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.
[name]DANICA[/name]: Serbian From a Slavic word meaning “morning star, [name]Venus[/name]”.
[name]SELENE[/name] Greek Mythology, “moon” in Greek. This was the name of a Greek goddess of the moon, sometimes identified with the goddess [name]Artemis[/name].
[name]ESTRELLA[/name]: Spanish Spanish form of [name]STELLA[/name], coinciding with the Spanish word meaning “star”.
[name]ESTELLE[/name] the french form of [name]Estrella[/name].
[name]SEREN[/name]: Welsh Means “star” in Welsh.
[name]CALISTA[/name]/[name]KALLISTO[/name] Ancient Greek Greek ??? (kallistos) meaning “most beautiful”. In Greek mythology [name]Kallisto[/name] was a nymph who was loved by [name]Zeus[/name]. She was changed into a she-bear by [name]Hera[/name], and subsequently became the Great [name]Bear[/name] constellation.
[name]NIAMH[/name] Means “bright” in Irish. She was the daughter of the sea god in Irish legends. She fell in love with the poet Ois”n, son of [name]Fionn[/name].
[name]PHOEBE[/name] Latinized form of the Greek name ??? (Phoibe), which meant “bright, pure”
[name]CELESTE[/name] “of the sky, heavenly”.
Hey!
I love the idea you have for naming your daughter. Here are some welsh names that might help…
[name]Nia[/name] - Radience/Brightness, this might work for light.
Tesni - Warmth from the sun, might work for light
Enfys - [name]Rainbow[/name] (prn Enn-viss)
Heulwen (Hey-l-wen, Heul rhymes with Veil)
[name]Morgain/name - Sea-born
