- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “Nile River.”
- Eng (NYE-lus); Grk (NAY-lose); It (NEE-lo)
The name ultimately comes from Greek Νεῖλος (Neílos), the ancient Greek name of the River Nile.
In Ancient Egyptian, the river was called jtr-w (Iteru, “Great River”). The Greek form Neílos may reflect a Semitic root n-h-r, meaning “river,” which is also the source of Hebrew nahar and related words.
In Greek mythology, Neilos was personified as the river-god of the Nile, one of the Potamoi (river deities).
The Latinized form Nilus became a well-known monastic name and is borne by several Christian saints, including St. Nilus the Syrian, a disciple of St. John Chrysostom, and St. Nilus of Sinai.
Nil is the Slavic form used for males. In Turkey, the same name arose independently as a female given name of the same etymology.
In Italian, it may also be used as a short form of Danilo.
An Italian feminine form is Nila.
Nile is an English name that was often used in reference to the surname. It may make an interesting modern adaptation for parents looking for a cool but modern saints name.
Other forms include:
- Nilos, Nylos ܢܝܠܘܣ,Ⲛⲓⲗⲟⲥ, نيلوس (Assyrian, Coptic, Egyptian-Arabic)
- Nil Ніл Ніл (Belarusian, Catalan, French, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Ukrainian)
- Neilos Νείλος (Greek)
- Nilo (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
- Nilus (English, German, Latin)
- Nile (English)
Sources
- https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilo_(nome)
- https://www.behindthename.com/name/nilo
- https://www.behindthename.com/name/nil
