The name is composed of the Kanji 花 (flower) and 咲 (bloom, blossom, flourish). Other Kanji combinations are possible with different meanings.
Sources
The name is a Japanese female name which can have several different meaning depending on the Kanji used. The following Kanji combinations include:
Other Kanji are possible.
It is also a Persian surname, meaning “of Amir.” It is the name of a American fashion designer, Mark Amiri, who founded the fashion house AMIRI. The latter may be the reason why this name suddenly appeared in the U.S. Top 1000. It has appeared in both the male and female charts, coming in at #521 for males and #876 in 2022.
Sources
The name comes directly from the Farsi word کیمیا (kimia), which originally had a connotation of something rare or unique but later came to form the base word and concept of alchemy. It appears in Persian literature, starting in the 10th-century (CE).
Another spelling is Kimya.
Among the Persian diaspora in Western countries, the name is often shortened to Kim.
Alternately, Kimiya can also be a Japanese male name that changes meaning, depending on the kanji used.
Sources
This is another cross-cultural name that stems from across the globe. It is pronounced (I-zah) in all of its incarnations.
Its recent appearance in the U.K. Top 500 is most likely due to its use among the Pakistani community, in which case it derives from the Arabic Aydhah meaning, “replacement; substitute.” Others have suggested it derives from the Arabic عزّ (‘izz) meaning “glory, honour, majesty, power.” Aiza is also used as a Central Asian form of Aydhah. Another transliteration is Aizah.
Aiza is a Basque name and is recorded as a female name as early as the 12th-century in Navarre, it is the feminine form of Aizo which is of uncertain meaning. It has been suggested to be from aits (rock, stone). Although, there was a Basque king who had the feminine form as his byname, it is sometimes hispanified as Arista, which in his case may have been a corruption of the Basque Aritza (oak). As a result, Aiza appears as a surname throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Aiza has also been suggested to mean”cliff, rock” or “abyss.” Another Basque feminine form is Aizeti.
Aiza has also been very rarely used as feminine given-name in Latvia, its inspiration may be the Latvian word for river or gorge or it may be a contraction of another unknown name. The database of Latvian name statistics indicates the name has been used at least 6 times.
Finally, Aiza can be Japanese, from the Kanji characters 愛 (ai) meaning “love, affection” and 座 (za) meaning “seat; pin; cushion.”
Currently, Aiza is the 314th Most Popular Female Name in England & Wales (2018).
Sources
Pronounced I-yah, this name has several different origins and meanings.
Aya is a popular Japanese female name, depending on the kanji used, it has several different meanings, the most popular being 彩 (aya) meaning “colour,” or 綾 (aya) meaning “design.” In the Japanese case, it is also occasionally used on males. Other meanings and kanji characters used to represent the name include:
It was borne by an Ancient Egyptian queen of the Thirteenth Dynasty (between 1803 and 1649 BCE). Its meaning and etymology in this case is unknown.
Aya is also an Akan name, denoting a girl born on a Thursday. Its masculine form being Yao.
In Hebrew, Aya is an acronym for ארץ ישראל היפה (the beautiful land of Israel) and allegedly from איה, איא meaning “bird” or “to fly swiftly.” It is borne by a minor male character in the Bible but seems to exclusively be used on females in modern Israel. There is a famous Israeli pop-singer who bears this name, Aya Korem.
Ayah آية is Arabic meaning “sign; clue” and refers to Quranic verses. It is also sometimes transliterated as Aya or Aja among Bosnians, Albanian and Central Asians. Another variation is Ayat, sometimes spelled Ayaat.
In Akkadian, the name means dawn and was borne by an ancient Sumerian goddess, the consort of Shamesh. The name is still used among Assyrian Christians who trace their heritage back to the Akkadian peoples.
In Tamil, spelled ஆயா, it means “old woman,” “grandmother,” or ” caretaker” and in the Nepalese language of Raute it means “sister-in-law.”
In Scandinavia, Aija, Aja & Aya are offshoots of Maria, they started off as diminutive forms but are now used as independent names. Aya is currently the 22nd Most Popular Female Name in Denmark (2018). However, I am unable to determine if in this case, it is used by Muslim families in reference to the Arabic form or if it is used by non-Muslim families in reference to its Scandinavian form. Aija can also be a Finnish form of Eija, which is from an exclamation eijaa!
In Latvia, Aija is most likely derived from aijāt (to rock, to lull) and was popularized as a given-name at the turn of the 20th-Century when it was used by Latvian author Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš for the title character in his eponymous novel, Aija (1911).
Aja is a Bosnian, Albanian & Central Asian form of the Arabic, Ayah.
In Mongolian, it is derived from ая (aya), meaning “melody.”
In Europe, Aya appears on several popularity charts, most likely used in reference to its Arabic origins by Muslim immigrants, its rankings in other countries are as follows:
Sources
Origin: Basque
Meaning: “mother city; the end”
Gender: Feminine
(ah-MYE-ah)
Amaya is the name of a village in Castille-Léon, Spain. It is believed to be from the Basque meaning “mother city” or is perhaps related to the Basque Amaia (the end). The name is often hispanicized as Amaya and is also a common Spanish surname of the same origin. In history, the village of Amaya played a key role in the Roman conquest of Hispania and later among the Visigoths. As a given name, the name was popularized by the Spanish novel Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII (Amaya, or the Basques in the 8th century) by Francisco Navarro-Villoslada (1879). Amaya is the name of the main heroin in the novel. The book later inspired a Spanish opera, Amaya (1920) by Jesús Guridi.
Alternately, Amaya has been listed as a Japanese female name meaning “night rain.” There seems to be a debate regarding the actual existence of this name’s use in Japan. I was unable to verify if Amaya is in fact a truly Japanese name, but many sites list Amaya as composition of the kanji characters 雨 = ama, 夜 = ya (hence: night rain). Amaya may be a newly invented manga name that has only recently come into use in Japan, though there are several well-known Japanese people who have this is as a surname. If any of my readers have any more details regarding its use as a female given-name in Japan, please come forward.
In the English-speaking world, Amaya has recently risen up the charts. In the United States, it is currently the 204th most popular female (2016) and in the UK, the 159th most popular.
In the US, the name seems to have gone up and down since 2000. It peaked at #181 in 2003. Its alternate American spelling of Amayah currently ranks in at #980. Amaia on the other hand has yet to make an appearance in the charts.
In the Netherlands, Amaya currently ranks in as the 393rd most popular female name (2016).
In France, the name has had some minor use among people of Basque descent.
In English, possible short forms include: Amy, Maia and Maya.
Sources
Pronunciation: KYE-rah; KYE-ree
Kaira and Kairi are Estonian, (Kaira is also used in Latvia) and are most likely a contraction of Katarina and Maria. Some sources list these names as meaning “passionate” in Latvian, but the Latvian word for “passionate” does not resemble either names. Latvian sources state Kaira is a borrowing from their Estonian neighbors, but have no etymological meaning attached to it. Kaira first appeared in use in Latvia in the 19th-century and is listed on the calendar.
Kairi has also been in use in Finland sporadically since the 1900s.
In recent years, Kairi is associated with a character from Kingdom of Hearts. The creator Tetsuya Nomura claimed the name is from the Japanese kai (海) “sea.”
Sources
I thought at the beginning of each month, I would post a list of names associated with the that particular month. Below is a list of names I have previously written about associated with January
Agnes: January 21st is the feast of St. Agnes and according to folklore, on January 20th, which John Keats’ was inspired to write a poem about, unmarried girls are supposed to see a future glimpse of their husband in their dreams the night before, provided they do not eat that day.
Frost: January is often associated with cold temperatures and frosty weather. Here are some name associated with frost
Sarma, Sarmite: These 2 Latvian lovelies come directly from the Latvian word for hoarfrost. The latter is pronounced sar-MEE-teh.
Kirsi: This Finnish female name is associated with the cherry fruit but also means “frost” in Finnish.
Other names that mean “frost” or words for frost from other languages include:
Male
Female
Snow: Also one of the snowiest months of the year, some names that mean “snow.”
Other names meaning snow that I have yet to write about include
Male
Female
Ice, the following are names that mean “ice”
Male
Female
Epiphany: January 6th officially marks the end of the Christmas season, when the Magi finally were able to locate the Christ child and bestow gifts upon him.
Garnet is the birthstone of January. Below is a list of words from other languages that mean “garnet” and would make awesome names
Likewise, Carnation is the birthflower, its Latin name is Dianthus, which was a name before it was a flower. Below is a list of words from other languages that mean “carnation” and would make awesome names. Also mixed in are some names with the meaning of “carnation” or just have carnation associations
And for boys, other than Dianthus, there is the Italian Garafano
The Chinese plum is the flower emblam for Spring, in Chinese it is called Meihua and its Japanese name is Ume. In Korean it is called Maesil and Vietnamese it is called Mai.
In Japan, the flower emblem for January is the Camellia.
Another January birthflower is the snowdrop
The Zodiac signs associated with January are Capricorn and Aquarius. Capricorn means goat and Aquarius waterbearer. Some names that mean both
The ruling planet of Capricorn and Aquarius is Saturn, so Saturnina or Saturnin/Saturnino are also names to consider.
Finally, here are names that mean “January,” some come directly from words, others are a translation of the Latin male name Januarius.
Male
Female
To help usher in the New Year, here are some baby names that mean “new” or have some sort of association with the New Year.
Male
Female
I thought this would be a straightforward post when I first decided to feature this name, but as I did more research, the name started to provide some interesting and complicated layers.
The name’s recent use is most likely in reference to the Lakota-Dakota-Sioux Native American word meaning, “friend.” It is sometimes transliterated as Kota.
It is also the name of a tree that grows in Asia, also known as the Ehretia acuminata it is commonly referred to as Koda in Australia, though I couldn’t find the etymology in this case.
Other links include:
The name came into widespread use for boys after it was used on a character in the 2003 animated film, Brother Bear.
It gets complicated when I dug through the historical records. The earliest records I could find for Koda were to two females who were born in the 18th-century in the United States. I am not certain if in this case, the name was used in reference to its indigenous source. It definitely became more common in the 1800s, and it was far more common on females than for males. Some of these bearers were born in Yugoslavia and Poland. Being Polish myself, I have never heard of this name, so perhaps it is a mistranslation for some other name, but I do not know for what. I am rather familiar with Serbo-Croatian names as well and I cannot think of what its source could be. It does appear on males in 19th-century records, but there are far less of them, and many of them are German immigrants (perhaps related to Konrad). In any case, the majority of the records are of white American females.
These days, the name seems to have become mostly a male name, which goes to show that sometimes, names that started off as female can also be stolen by the boys; as some namenerds have lamented about for years when it comes to trendy male-turned-female names such as Ashley, Avery and Sydney.
The name first appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 Male Names in 2004, coming in as the 935th most popular male name. It fell off the charts and reappeared in 2016, ranking in at 927.
Sources
http://www.native-languages.org/dakota.htm#language
https://www.behindthename.com/name/koda/submitted
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koda
https://www.familysearch.org
Legitimate Baby Names 