Category Archives: Place Names

Adelaide

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Old German
Meaning: “noble kind; noble sort.”
Eng (AD-ə-layd)

An English form of the German name, Adelheid, it is composed of the Germanic elements, adel (noble) and heid (kind, sort, type). It was borne by a 10th-century saint and wife of Otto the Great.

Its popularity in the English-speaking world was sparked in the 19th-century when William IV took Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen as his wife. As a result, several places throughout the former British Empire were named in her honour, including Adelaide, Australia.

In addition, the name has been borne by several other royal personages throughout history.

Currently, Adelaide is the 434th most popular name in the United States, (2010).

Other forms of the name include:

  • Adelgjejda Адэльгейда (Belarusian)
  • Adeljajda АдэлЯйда (Belarusian)
  • Adelaid (Breton)
  • Adelaida Аделаида (Catalan/Czech/Hungarian/Russian/Slovene/Spanish)
  • Adléta (Czech)
  • Adelaide (Danish/English/Italian/Portuguese/Swedish)
  • Alhed (Danish)
  • Adelheid (Dutch/Finnish/German/Norwegian)
  • Adelheidis (Dutch)
  • Aleida (Dutch/German)
  • Alida (Dutch/Hungarian/Latvian)
  • Aadelheide (Estonian)
  • Alide (Estonian)
  • Adélaïde (French)
  • Alette (French/Norwegian)
  • Aleit (Frisian)
  • Elke (Frisian)
  • Talea (Frisian)
  • Tale (Frisian)
  • Talia/Thalia (Frisian)
  • Talisa (Frisian)
  • Talke/Thalke (Frisian)
  • Adelaira (Galician)
  • Delaira (Galician)
  • Alheit (German)
  • Alke (German)
  • Heide (German)
  • Heidi (German)
  • Adina (Hungarian)
  • Aletta (Hungarian/Italian)
  • Alett (Hungarian)
  • Alitta (Hungarian)
  • Adelasia (Italian: archaic)
  • Aalis (Medieval French)
  • Alides (Norwegian: archaic)
  • Adalais (Occitanian)
  • Asalais or Azalaïs (Occitanian)
  • Ahlheid (Plattdeutsch)
  • Ahlheit (Plattdeutsch)
  • Adelajda (Polish)

Common English diminutives are: Addie, Del and Lady.

The designated name-days are: January 30 (Poland), February 5 (Poland), December 12 (Poland), December 16 (Estonia/Germany/Poland), December 17 (France).

Source

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/adelaide

Asia

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Greek Ασιη Ασια
Meaning: uncertain
Eng (AY-juh)

The name is found in Greek mythology as the name of the daughter, (also referred to as Clymene and Clymene-Asie), of Oceanus and Tethys, the wife of Lepatus and mother of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius. It was also the name of a Lydian nymph.

The etymology of the name is uncertain, the myth of Asia existed long before the area of what is now known as Turkey got its name. Herodotus argued that the region was in fact named for the Lydian nymph, while the ancient Lydians themselves claimed that their homeland got its name from a Sardisian prince named Asies.

In the English-speaking world, the earliest usage of the name seems to trace back to Asia Frigga Booth Clarke (1835-1888), the sister to the infamous presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth. Her father, Junius Brutus Booth, a famous actor in his time, chose the name as he believed the Garden of Eden was located in the continent of Asia. Asia Clarke is most noted for her memoires entitled John Wilkes Booth: a sister’s memoir.

Coincidentally, it is also the default Polish diminutive form of Joanna. In this case, it is pronounced (AH-shah).

Currently, Asia is the 23rd most popular female name in Italy (2008) and the 532nd most popular female name in the United States, (2010).

It is currently borne by Italian actress Asia Argento (b.1975).

The name has always been used as a female name in Greece.

Sources

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/asia-1
  2. http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheAsie.html
  3. Hesiod, Theogony – Greek Epic C8th-7th BC
  4. Apollodorus, The Library – Greek Mythography C2nd BC
  5. Herodotus, Histories – Greek History C5th BC

 

Mina

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The name has several origins, meanings and derivatives depending on where in the world you find the bearer of the name. In the Western world, it is a female name, a contracted form of Wilhelmina and Hermina. It was always common in Germanic and Scandinavian countries, but was first introduced into the English-speaking world through Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897).

It is also an Indian name, derived from the Sanskrit word for fish मीना , it is sometimes transliterated as Meena. In Hinduism, it is the name of the daughter of the Goddess Usha and the God Kubera.

It is also a common Persian female name, being derived from the Farsi word for “blue glass; enamel; lapis lazuli.” It also coincides with the name of a valley near Mecca, and is therefore found as feminine given name in the Arabic-speaking world. In Arabic it means “port; harbor.”

Among Coptic Christians, it is a very popular male name. It is borne by a renowned early Christian Egyptian martyr and saint, known in the Western world as St. Menas. Mīna  مينا‎‎ is its original Coptic version and according to legend, the saint’s mother heard a voice saying “amen” while praying for a pregnancy.

Currently, Mina is 41st most popular female name in Norway (2010), the 314th most popular in France (2009) and the 961st most popular in the United States (2010).

The designated name-days are: November 24 (Poland) and December 23 (Lithuania/Poland).

Other forms its masculine Egyptian counterpart include:

Menna (Catalan)
Ménas (French)
Menas (Greek)
Mena (Italian: RARE)

Source

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/mina-1
  2. http://www.behindthename.com/name/mina-2

 

 

Sanaa

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Swahili
Meaning: “art”

The name comes directly from the Swahili word for “art.” It is currently the 786th most popular female name in the United States, 2010.

Currently, it is borne by actress, Sanaa Lathan (b.1971)

It is also coincidentally the name of the capital of Yemen, in this case it is derived from a South Arabian word meaning “well fortified.”

Source 

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/sanaa

 

Landry

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: German
Meaning: “land ruler.”
Eng (LAN-dree); Fre (LAWn-DREE)

Considered the second oldest surname in France, it is a name steeped in history and religion. It is currently one of the most popular male names among Cajun-Americans.

The earliest record of the name Landry is in the 5th-century, where it is recorded as the name of the Bishop of  Sées, later canonized as a saint. In the 5th-century it was borne by another male saint, St. Landry the Bishop of Paris, he is particularly noted for founding the first hospital in Paris, the Hôtel-Dieu. Another Medieval saint who bears the name is St. Landry of Metz.

The name was such a common given name in Medieval France that it later carried over as a patronymic.

St. Landry Parish in Louisiana was named by French settlers in honour of St. Landry of Paris. The name has since fallen out of fashion in France but has remained a classic among the Acadians of Louisiana. In fact, it is currently the 891st most popular male name in the United States, 2010.

The name is derived from the Frankish name, Landericus, which is composed of the Germanic elements, land (land) and ric (power; rule; might).

The name is currently borne by American football player, Landry Jones (b.1989).

It is the name of a town in France, which was also named in honour of St. Landry of Paris.

Other forms of the name include:

Landerik (Czech)
Landerico (Italian/Spanish)
Landeryk (Polish)

Source

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/top/lists/us/2010

Moriah, Marwa

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Moriah is found twice in the Old Testament as the name of the mountain on which Isaac was to be sacrificed by Abraham and the hill on which Solomon built the temple. Its meaning is debated among Biblical scholars, however, many agree that it may mean “land of the Amorites.”

Its usage as an English given name only seems to go as far back as the 1980s, when it first appeared in the U.S. top 1000 most popular female names. It seems to have first caught among Evangelical Christian parents.

However, it has always been used as a female given name in the Arab world, in the form of Marwa(h)  مروة.

In Arabic Mount Moriah is known as Marwah, and in Islamic tradition Abraham (Ibrahim) had deserted Hagar and Ismael between Al-Safa and Al-Marwa, two hills near Mecca.

In Arabic Marwa can have several different meanings, it can either be the name of a fragrant plant and is used as a word to describe the quartz. Two other forms of the name include the Turkish Merve and the Bosnian Merva.

Interestingly enough, Moriah has never been used among Jews.

Currently, Moriah ranked in as the 788th most popular female name in the United States (2010), while Marwa‘s rankings are as follows:

# 77 (Catalonia, Spain 2009)
#169 (France, 2008)
#211 (the Netherlands, 2010)

Sources

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/marwa
  2. http://www.behindthename.com/name/moriah

 

 

Lorena

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: English
(loh-RAY-nah)

Though it has a latinate sound, Lorena seems to be a very early American invention. It first appears out of nowhere as the subject of a 1856 song, written by a Rev. H.D.L Webster. It is almost for certain that Webster invented the name himself. The song is about a broken relationship Webster had with a girl named Ella Blocksom. He is said to have been inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s ladylove, Lenore of the Raven, by rearranging the letters, he came up with the sonorous Lorena.

The song was such a hit during the American Civil war that it was often sung by both Confederate and Union soldiers, usually while remembering their far off wives or ladies they courted. No doubt, this caused the name to become a standard and over the past 150 years, it has reached other shores. It is now used across Europe including the former Yugoslavia. In fact, it is currently the 13th most popular female name in Croatia (2009) and the 86th most popular in Bosia and Herzegovnia (2010). Its ranking in other countries, including the United States, are as follows:

#82 (Spain, 2010)
# 238 (the Netherlands, 2010)
#357 (France, 2009)
#964 (United States, 2010)

The name also appears in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind as Scarlett O’Hara’s second daughter by Frank Kennedy, Ella Lorena Kennedy.

It is also the name of a municipality of São Paolo, Brazil, a city in Texas and is used as an alternate name for the Ghost Town of Masonic, California.

Source

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/lorena-2
  2. http://www.behindthename.com/name/lorena-1

Myra

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: English
MY-rah

This week I feature another literary invention, Myra.

The name is believed to have been created by Sir Philip Sidney’s very own biographer, Fulke Greville, the 1st Baron Brooke (1554-1628). Not only was he an Elizabethan administrator but he was also an accomplished poet. Greville is believed to have derived the name from the Latin, myrra (myrrh).

It is also the name of an ancient city in Anatolia.

The name is currently the 964th most popular female name in the United States (2010).

A Spanish version is Mayra, which was the 65th most popular name in Chile in 2006 and the 863rd most popular female name in the United States (2010).

Source

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/myra

Reina

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Spanish or Yiddish  רֵײנָא
Meaning: “queen” or “pure”
(RAY-nah)

The name can either be from the Spanish word for queen or comes from the Yiddish word, rein, meaning “clean; pure.”

In the Spanish-speaking world, the name has been around since Medieval times and was often used as a Regina equivalent.

Among European Jews, the name was used as a Yiddish form of Katherine, sometimes transliterated as Rayna (English), Reina/Raina (German) or Rejna (Polish).

Rayna is coincidentally a Bulgarian female form of Rayno, believed to be derived from Radko, which itself is derived from the Slavic element, rad (care).

It can also likewise be the Latvian word for the Rhine river, and is the name of two different places, one in Estonia and the other in Spain. It is the name of a type of grape used to make red wine.

Another form is the Medieval French, Reine.

Currently, Reina is the 977th most popular female name in the United States (2010), while Rayna ranked in at 899 (2010).

The designated name-day in Estonia is September 7.

Source

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/rayna-2
  2. http://www.behindthename.com/name/reina-2
  3. http://www.behindthename.com/name/reina-1

Araceli

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Latin
Meaning: alter of the sky
Pronunciation: ah-rah-THE-lee (Spanish), ah-rah-SE-lee (Latin American Spanish)

The name is composed of the Latin elements, ara (alter) and coeli (sky).

The name caught on in the Spanish-speaking world due to an epithet to the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señore de Araceli, revered as the patroness of Lucena Spain. There is also a place in Italy which bears the same name.

The name is currently the 821st most popular female name in the United States (2010).  Another form is Arcelia.

Sources:

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/araceli