- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: unknown
- Gender: feminine
- It (VAY-lee-ah); Eng (VEE-lee-ah)
- Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
The name is of uncertain origin or meaning, it has been suggested to be from an Old Roman gens name, Velius, possibly meaning “concealed.” It may have also been taken from the name of an Ancient Roman city in Salerno, which possibly has the same meaning as above, and has also been suggested to be a contracted form of Evelia or Evelina. It is mainly used in Lazio and Tuscany. It was further popularized in Italy by the 1923 novel by Bruno Cicognani, La Velia.
It is also the name of a genus of aquatic insect in the family veliidae.
It appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 Popular Female Names between 1929 and 1930, peaking at #836 in 1929.
There are also the masculine forms of Velio, Velino (Italian), Velius (Latin) and the Bulgarian, Velian Велиян.
Other forms include:
- Vélie (French)
- Vélia (Hungarian)
- Veliana Велиана, Веляна (Italian, Bulgarian)
- Velina (Italian)
- Welia (Polish)
- Velia (Portuguese, Spanish)
Sources