- Origin: Guanche; Canarian Spanish
- Gender: Female
- Meaning: uncertain
- Pron: ee-TYE-sah
The name is found in an early Spanish documents as the name of a 6-year old Guanche girl who was sold as a slave in Valencia in 1494.
It’s meaning is unknown but it has been speculated be derived from the Guanche word, *tahighəssah, meaning, bones” or “skeleton.”
Guanche is the indigenous language of the Canary Islands. It is now extinct but was a close relative of the Berber languages.
The name was revived on the Canary Islands in the 1970s, and has been hispanicized as Itaisa.
A notable bearer is Canarian-Mexican actress, Itahisa Machado (b. 1980)
Another spelling is Ithaysa.
Sources