Gender: Feminine
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “from Isauria.”
Eng (ih-ZORE-uh); Fre (ee-ZORE); Por/Sp (ee-SOW-rah); Pol (ee-ZOW-rah)
The name is essentially a feminine form of the Late Latin male name, Isaurus, which means “from Isauria.”
Isauria was the name of a place in Asia Minor.
Isaurus was borne by an early Christian saint and martyr of Macedon.
In the 1970s, Isaura became somewhat popular in Latin America due to the fame of a Brazilian soap-opera Escrava Isaura (1976-1977). The show was later syndicated in Eastern Europe, where, Izaura, (its Eastern European form) form experienced some usage in both Hungary and Poland.
Its English form of Izora appeared in the U.S. top 1000 between 1880 and 1912. The highest she ranked within those years was in 1880, coming in as the 517th most popular female name. The name was borne by American pop singer, Izora Armstead (1942-2004).
During the Civil War, the name was borne by a Confederate spy, Izora “Zora” Fair of South Carolina, who disguised herself as an African-American slave to sneak into general Sherman’s headquarters where she overheard Sherman’s planned route to Savannah. Her letter was intercepted by the Union Army; her fate is unknown.
As of 2009, its French form of Isaure was the 396th most popular female name in France.
Other forms of the name include:
- Isaura (English/Galician/Italian/Latin/Portuguese/Spanish)
- Izora (English)
- Isaure (French)
- Izaura (Hungarian/Polish)
- Izóra (Hungarian)
The name could be from the Hebrew נעים meaning, (pleasant) or the Arabic نعیم (tranquil).
Gender: Masculine
Gender: Masculine
Gender: Masculine
Gender: Feminine
The name was also borne by the legendary Sidonia von Borcke (1548–1620), a Pomeranian noblewoman who was tried and executed for witchcraft, she became the much the subject in English literature and art during the 19th-century.
Gender: Masculine
Gender: Masculine
Gender: Masculine
Gender: Masculine