I got some really great suggestions on my last thread about names for our daughter who will be of Irish/Persian/Arabic descent. We really want to honor our cultures with our daughters names. I have always been intrigued by names so this is really fun for me. I am looking for some opinions on these names.
[name]Lila[/name] [name]Sloane[/name] - one of our top two
[name]Alana[/name] [name]Shirin[/name] - the other in our top two
[name]Soraya[/name] [name]Ireland[/name] - I love that her name could mean “[name]Princess[/name] of [name]Ireland[/name]”
[name]Norah[/name] [name]Imani[/name]
[name]Anahita[/name] [name]Cassidy[/name]
[name]Bridget[/name] [name]Farrah[/name]
[name]Parisa[/name] [name]Clodagh[/name]
[name]Delaney[/name] [name]Samira[/name]
[name]Jasmine[/name] [name]Talullah[/name]
[name]Moira[/name] [name]Vashti[/name] / [name]Vashti[/name] [name]Moira[/name]
I really love the culture in these names. What wonderful stories there names will inspire!
[name]Lila[/name] [name]Sloane[/name] - I [name]LOVE[/name] this!!! [name]Sloane[/name] on a girl has really been growing on me lately and I adore [name]Lila[/name]
[name]Alana[/name] [name]Shirin[/name] - [name]Alana[/name] has also crept into my heart!!
[name]Soraya[/name] [name]Ireland[/name] - I [name]LOVE[/name] the “[name]Princess[/name] of [name]Ireland[/name]” meaning!!! That just sounds adorable. I know a little [name]Soraya[/name] and she is definitely a princess
[name]Norah[/name] [name]Imani[/name] - I love [name]Norah[/name] and [name]Imani[/name] is very pretty and exotic
[name]Anahita[/name] [name]Cassidy[/name] - I love the sound of [name]Anahita[/name]! This just sounds like a little Persian cowgirl to me
[name]Bridget[/name] [name]Farrah[/name] - This one sounds very Irish to me, even though [name]Farrah[/name] is Perisian it just has an Irish feel to it for some reason
[name]Parisa[/name] [name]Clodagh[/name] - This is a very interesting name. I have never heard of [name]Parisa[/name] though the meaning is adorable and I have a name crush on [name]Clodagh[/name] but I don’t know how it would go over in the states
[name]Delaney[/name] [name]Samira[/name] - I am not the biggest fan of [name]Samira[/name] but I love [name]Delaney[/name]
[name]Jasmine[/name] [name]Talullah[/name] - This sounds like a princess name to me. Very frilly and over the top but I think its adorable
[name]Moira[/name] [name]Vashti[/name] / [name]Vashti[/name] [name]Moira[/name] - I think it goes well in either order but I think it flows better [name]Vashti[/name] [name]Moira[/name] but that might change with your last name.
I love the name [name]Anahita[/name] and I think [name]Anahita[/name] [name]Cassidy[/name] is my favorite on your list. I teach a little [name]Anahita[/name] who is just adorable.
[name]Norah[/name] [name]Imani[/name] is also very nice, love the meaning behind [name]Imani[/name].
Of your top two, I like [name]Alana[/name] better than [name]Lila[/name], there are just so many [name]Lila[/name] variations out there that it’s lost some of it’s appeal for me.
I dont care for [name]Moira[/name]. I’m never quite sure how to approach that oi vowel cluster!
I’d be wary of [name]Jasmine[/name] because of the Disney princess association. Yes many little girls would love to have a princess name, but I wouldnt love the label.
Okay, I will say upfront that I’m a little biased because my family actually is Persian, so some of the names that are perfectly great on their own merits don’t feel authentic as Persian names to me. I’ve ordered them from most to least favorite.
[name]Alana[/name] [name]Shirin[/name] - [name]LOVE[/name] this!!! A winner.
[name]Anahita[/name] [name]Cassidy[/name] - both terrific names. Maybe the combo is a little long, though.
[name]Parisa[/name] [name]Clodagh[/name] - this is sort of cool. [name]Clodagh[/name] was new to me but I really like it.
[name]Soraya[/name] [name]Ireland[/name] - I love [name]Soraya[/name], but am not crazy about [name]Ireland[/name] as a first name. Also I probably mentioned this already, but [name]Soraya[/name] does NOT mean princess, it is the name of a constellation.
[name]Norah[/name] [name]Imani[/name] - These are both nice names. FWIW, though, I only know of [name]Iman[/name] as a Persian name. [name]Imani[/name] is more common among African-Americans, in my experience.
[name]Lila[/name] [name]Sloane[/name] - this is nice, but are you pronouncing it [name]LEE[/name]-la or LYE-la? The first is Persian, the second not so much. And with the LYE-la pronounciation, I’ve actually lost count of how many little girls with that name I know, so I’d stay away.
[name]Delaney[/name] [name]Samira[/name] - not bad. I’m sort of tempted to combine it into the Persian name Delara, which means “beloved.”
[name]Jasmine[/name] [name]Talullah[/name] - I am pretty sick of [name]Jasmine[/name], to be honest. Plus [name]Jasmine[/name] is just the English translation of Persian [name]Yasmin[/name] or Yasaman, not an actual Persian name. But I like [name]Tallulah[/name] a lot, and might have picked it if it were in the first name slot.
[name]Moira[/name] [name]Vashti[/name] / [name]Vashti[/name] [name]Moira[/name] - I like but don’t love both of these. I prefer the flow of [name]Vashti[/name] [name]Moira[/name], though.
[name]Bridget[/name] [name]Farrah[/name] - not doing it for me for some reason.
I do not mean to discredit your information but are you sure about the meaning of [name]Soraya[/name]? I am a nurse and I work for a doctor that came to [name]America[/name] from Iran and still has many relatives in the Middle [name]East[/name]. He and his wife, who is also Iranian, named their daughter [name]Soraya[/name] and told me specifically that they gave her this name because it means princess. Nameberry also has the meaning as princess. So it could also be the name of a constellation, but it obviously also means princess.
[name]Lila[/name] [name]Sloane[/name] - I [name]LOVE[/name] this, I would use it for my own daughter!
[name]Alana[/name] [name]Shirin[/name] - [name]Love[/name] [name]Alana[/name] and the sound of [name]Shirin[/name]
[name]Soraya[/name] [name]Ireland[/name] - The princess of [name]Ireland[/name] meaning is just adorable!! I think this is a perfect blend of your cultures!
[name]Norah[/name] [name]Imani[/name] - I think it is cute, every [name]Imani[/name] I have known was African American but the origins of the name are Arabic so I can see how it would work for you
[name]Anahita[/name] [name]Cassidy[/name] - this is lovely, I love the sound of it!
[name]Bridget[/name] [name]Farrah[/name] - very cute
[name]Parisa[/name] [name]Clodagh[/name] - This one is a little out there for me, but not bad
[name]Delaney[/name] [name]Samira[/name] - I love [name]Delaney[/name] not sure about [name]Samira[/name] though
[name]Jasmine[/name] [name]Talullah[/name] - I think this name is fit for a princess! All frills and all girl
[name]Moira[/name] [name]Vashti[/name] / [name]Vashti[/name] [name]Moira[/name] - not sure about them together but I do like both names.
Totally fair question! Let me tell you what I know and you can decide if it’s believable.
The constellation Pleiades is known as al-Thurayya in Arabic. (I just now looked it up and according to one book it comes from the word for “cluster,” which I guess makes sense!) Also see Pleiades in folklore and literature - Wikipedia. This name was borrowed into Persian and other languages as [name]Soraya[/name] (sometimes the spelling varies: Surayya, Sorayya, etc.; Persian doesn’t have the “th” sound.)
I really don’t speak Arabic, but as far as I know the Arabic name that means princess is [name]Amira[/name]. The Persian word for princess is Shahdokht or Shahzadeh-khanoom (some other terms are used as well, but nothing like [name]Soraya[/name]).
Now, [name]Soraya[/name] being originally an Arabic name itself, the name for the Pleiades constellation in Persian is actually Parvin. So it’s likely that many Iranians might not know the literal translation. (Not everyone is a name nerd like the berries!) I think [name]Soraya[/name] may be associated with princesses because there was a very famous queen named [name]Soraya[/name] (the incredibly glamorous [name]Soraya[/name] Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, who was the second wife of [name]Reza[/name] Pahlavi, and had the title [name]Princess[/name] after their divorce). And also the last queen of Afghanistan (who was an awesome women’s rights advocate, too!) was named [name]Soraya[/name]. (A lot of Afghans speak a dialect of Persian so it’s not surprising that there would be name overlap.)
As for why it’s on Nameberry as “princess” – I honestly have no idea, but here’s a guess. I think some American baby name book in the past got it wrong; then that baby name book was used as a source for lots of other books and websites. This kind of false information-spreading happens ALL the time, especially on the Internet. (No offense, [name]Pam[/name] and [name]Linda[/name], if you are reading this! You can’t be expected to cross-check the etymology of every name you cover!) This is speculation, but there may also be influence from the name [name]Suri[/name], which apparently means “princess” in Hebrew (related to [name]Sarah[/name]?) – they are close enough that people might assume they are related.
Very sorry, irishlady, for hijacking your thread! But this is an awesome name no matter what the original meaning.
I really like [name]Lila[/name] [name]Sloane[/name]! [name]Love[/name] it, actually. [name]Lila[/name] is one of my favorites, and I think the more gender-neutral [name]Sloane[/name] pairs with it really well. I like the idea of [name]Parisa[/name] [name]Clodagh[/name] a lot, too–I always thought [name]Ari[/name] and Ris/[name]Reese[/name] would be cute nns for it. Or even [name]Pari[/name]/[name]Perrie[/name]. I love [name]Delaney[/name], [name]Tallulah[/name], and [name]Moira[/name] from your list, as well.
I’m not a huge fan of [name]Alana[/name], but I absolutely love [name]Shirin[/name]! A friend of mine has a niece whose MN is [name]Shirin[/name] (in honor of their grandmother), and I always thought it was an interesting pick. I think [name]Delaney[/name] [name]Shirin[/name] would be really cute, or even [name]Bridget[/name] [name]Shirin[/name].
They’re all very nice, but the [name]Lila[/name] and [name]Parisa[/name] combos were the ones that struck me the most. And [name]Norah[/name] [name]Imani[/name]! I don’t know why I didn’t even see that. I love [name]Norah[/name], and [name]Imani[/name] works with it really well. I think [name]Norah[/name] [name]Shirin[/name] would be really sweet, too, if you’re interested in that.
