Category Archives: Polish Names

Malcolm

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Scottish
Meaning: “follower of St. Columba.”
Eng (MAL-kəm)

The name is composed of the Scots Gaelic elements Máel (follower) and Coluim (Columba). The name was borne by four Scottish kings, the most famous being Malcolm III who killed the usurper Macbeth and whom the 1606 Shakespeare play Macbeth is based on.

Currently, Malcolm is the 527th most popular male name in the United States, (2010).

Other, more unusual forms of the name include:

  • Malcom (German)
  • Máel Coluim (Scottish)
  • Malkolm (Polish/Swedish)
An obscure Scottish feminine form is Malina.
The name was also borne by civil rights activist, Malcolm X (1925-1965)
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Serena

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “clear; serene; calm; dry.”
Eng (sə-REEN-ə); It (se-RE-nah)

The name is derived from the Late Latin male name, Serenus, which comes directly from the Latin word meaning “serene, calm, clear, tranquil” and is related to the Greek word  ξηρός (xeros) meaning “dry”, a term used to describe clear weather.

The name was borne by several early Roman martyrs, including the legendary wife of Diocletian, who was murdered by her own husband after defending two Christians her husband had condemned. She is venerated as the patron saint of Lazio in Italy.

It was also borne by the niece of the Emperor Theodosius I, (b.365).

Currently, it is the 398th most popular female name in the United States, (2018).

It’s rankings in other countries are as follows:

  • #58 (Italy, 2018)
  • #325 (France, 2018)
  • #386 Séréna (France, 2018)
  • #458 (England & Wales, 2018)

Other forms of the name include:

  • Serina (English/Norwegian/Romansch)
  • Séréna (French)
  • Szeréna (Hungarian)
  • Szerénke (Hungarian)
  • Serenetta (Italian)
  • Serenilla (Italian)
  • Serine (French/Nowergian)
  • Seraine/Sereine (Old French)
  • Seraina (Romansch)
  • Sereina (Romansch)
Masculine forms include:
  • Seré (Catalan)
  • Sérène (French)
  • Szerénusz (Hungarian)
  • Sereno (Italian/Spanish)
  • Serenillo (Italian)
  • Serenus (Latin)
  • Seren (Polish, rare)

The name is borne by tennis player, Serena Williams (b.1981).

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Moses

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Debated
Meaning: debated

The name is borne in the Old Testament and in the Qu’ran by the a renowned prophet and law giver, who according to tradition was placed in a basket by his Hebrew mother and found by the daughter of Pharaoh (in Judeo-Christian religion) or the wife of Pharaoh (in Islamic tradition) and raised as an Egyptian prince. It is from this tradition that the name is believed to be derived from the Hebrew element משה (mšh) as stated in  Exodus 2:10:

“[…] she called his name Moses (משה): and she said, Because I drew him (משיתהו) out of the water.” (KJV).

 

It has been suggested that the name is in fact of Egyptian origins, being related to the Coptic elements, mo (water) and uses (saved; delivered) hence: “saved from the water.” Another suggestion is the Egyptian element, ms (child; born) as found in such ancient Egyptian male names as Tuth-Mose and Ram-messes.

The name has always been common among Jews, Muslims and Orthodox Christians, but did not catch on in the English-speaking world until after the Protestant Reformation. Medieval Jews of England used the Middle English form of Moss.

It is currently the 509th most popular male name in the United States, (2010).

Other forms of the name include:

  • Moses (Afrikaans/English/German/Scandinavian/Welsh)
  • Moisiu (Albanian)
  • Musa موسى Муса (Amharic/Arabic/Azeri/Bosnian/Kabyle/Swahili/Tatar/Turkish)
  • Moisen (Aragonese)
  • Movses Մովսես (Armenian)
  • Moises (Basque)
  • Majsjej Майсей (Belarusian)
  • Moizez (Breton)
  • Moisej Моисей (Bulgarian)
  • Moisès (Catalan)
  • Moisije Мојсије (Croatian/Serbian)
  • Moše (Croatian)
  • Mojžíš (Czech/Slovak)
  • Mozes (Dutch)
  • Mooses (Estonian/Finnish)
  • Móses (Faroese/Icelandic)
  • Moïse (French)
  • Maois (Gaelic)
  • Mose მოსე (Georgian/German/Romansch/Swedish)
  • Mouses Μωυσης (Greek)
  • Moshe מֹשֶׁה (Hebrew/Ladino)
  • Mózes (Hungarian)
  • Mosè (Italian)
  • Müsa Мұса (Kazakh)
  • Mosa (Kurdish)
  • Mûsa (Kurdish)
  • Moyses (Latin)
  • Mozus (Latvian)
  • Mozė (Lithuanian)
  • Мојсеј (Macedonian)
  • Moss (Middle English)
  • Moïses (Occitanian/Provençal)
  • Mojżesz (Polish)
  • Moisés (Portuguese/Spanish)
  • Moise (Romanian)
  • Moisej Моісей (Rusyn/Ruthenian)
  • Moiséj Моисе́й (Russian)
  • Muozė (Saimogaitian)
  • Mojzes (Slovene)
  • Muuse (Somalian)
  • Mojsej Мойсей (Ukrainian)
  • Moosõs (Voro)
  • Moishe (Yiddish)
Recently, actress Gwyneth Paltrow bestowed this name on her second child, Moses Bruce Anthony Martin (b. 2006)
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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

 

Gloria

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “glory.”
Eng (GLAWR-ee-ə)

The name comes directly from the Latin word for glory and its usage as a given name is relatively recent in naming history. Its first appearance seems to be the name of the protagonist of E.D.E.N. Southworth’s 1891 novel, Gloria: A Novel.

Born Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte, Southworth was a popular novelist of her time, and seems to have had a habit of bestowing interesting names on her female characters, particularly names which come directly from Latin words. Her most famous example being her tomboyish character, Capitola Black in her most famous work, The Hidden Hand (1889).

Gloria was used again by George Bernard Shaw for a character in his 1898 play You Never Can Tell.

Due to its seemingly religious connotations, the name skyrocketed among Catholic families during the Depression Era. In this case, the name may have been used in reference to the Great Doxolgy or hymn sung during Catholic masses Gloria in Excelsis Deo. 

Currently, Gloria is the 503rd most popular female name in the United States, (2010).

Other forms of the name include:

  • Glorietta (Italian)
  • Glorinda (Italian)

An obscure Italian diminutive is Gloriuccia.

There is also a very obscure masculine Italian form: Glorio.

Famous bearers include:

  • Gloria Swanson (actress, 1899-1983)
  • Gloria Steinem (feminist, b.1934)
  • Gloria Gaynor (singer, b.1948)
  • Gloria (Bulgarian pop-singer, b.1973)
  • Gloria Princess of Thurn & Taxis (b.1960)
  • Gloria Estefan (singer, b.1957)
In Poland, the designated name-day is May 13.

Source

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

 

Uriah

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Hebrew אוּרִיָה
Meaning: “yahweh is my light.”
Eng (yoo-RIE-ə)

The name is borne by several characters in the Old Testament, one of the most famous being Uriah the Hittite. King David had sent him out in the forefront of battle in the hopes that he would be killed, so that David could marry Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba.

The name also appears in the Bible in the form of Urijah.

The name was always common among Jews but did not catch on in the Christian world until after the Protestant Reformation. It was a fairly common name in early America.

Charles Dickens used the name for an antagonist in his 1850 novel David Copperfield. Due to the character’s reputation, the term Uriah Heep is often used to describe a “yes man.”

Currently, Uriah is the 548th most popular male name in the United States, while his alternative, Urijah, ranked in at # 623, (2010).

Other forms of the name include:

Uries (Catalan)
Urijáš (Czech)
Urie (French/Romanian)
Urijah Урия (German/Russian)
Ourias Ουριας (Greek)
Uriyah אוּרִיָה (Hebrew)
Uria (Italian)
Urias (Late Latin)
Uriasz (Polish)
Urias (Portuguese)
Uriáš (Slovakian)
Urijá (Slovakian)
Urías (Spanish)

A common modern Hebrew short form is Uri.

Sources

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/uriah
  2. http://books.google.com
  3. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/yes-man
  4. Magonet, Jonathan (1992) Bible Lives London: SCM, 93 – 4

‘Aisha, Aisha

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic عائشة
Meaning: “alive”
(ah-EE-shah)

The name has to be one of the most popular female names among Sunni Muslims as it was borne by the second wife of the prophet Muhammed and according to the Sunnis, she was his favorite wife. After Muhammed’s death, ‘Aisha went to war against Ali the fourth, and as a result, she is viewed negatively among some Shi’a Muslims.

The name itself is derived from the Arabic meaning, “alive” and it is currently the 96th most popular female name in England (2009).

In the United States, it first caught on as a given name among non-Muslims during the 1970s, particularly among African-Americans. The inspiration may have been Princess Aisha of Jordan, daughter of King Hussein (b.1968) and in 1975, Stevie Nicks named her first daughter, Aisha.

Its rankings in other countries are as follows:

# 25 (Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2010 as Ajša)
#478 (the Netherlands, 2010)
#682 (United States, 2010)

Other forms of the name include:

Aisha (Albanian)
Ajshja (Albanian)
Aixa (Asturian: obscure, used in the Middle Ages among the Moors’ of Asturia)
Aiša/Ajša (Bosnian)
Àïxa (Catalan obscure, used in the Middle Ages among the Moors’)
Aïché/Aché (Chadian)
Aïsja (Dutch)
Aisha  بکر (Farsi)
Aïcha (French: used among French-speaking Arabs)
Aischa (German)
Ayesha आयेशा (Indian)
Aisyah (Indonesian/Malay)
Ajsha Айша (Kazakh/Chechen)
Aisza (Polish: obscure. This was used among Polish-Tatar Muslims of the Polish-Common Wealth during the 16th-century)
Aissatou (Senegalese)
Caa’isha (Somalian)
Aisa (Spanish: obscure, used in Medieval Spain among Spanish Muslims)
Asha (Swahili)
Eshe (Swahili)
Gayshә Гайшә (Tatar)
Aişe (Turkish: archaic)
Ayşe (Turkish)

Elisha

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Hebrew אֱלִישַׁע
Meaning: “my God is salvation”
Eng (ee-LIE-shah)

The name comes from the Hebrew (Elishu’a)  אֱלִישׁוּעַ and is found in the Old Testament and in the Quran as the name of a prophet and successor to Elijah.

In the English-speaking world, the name did not become common until after the Protestant Reformation.

Currently, Elisha is the 656th most popular male name in the United States, (2010).

Other forms of the name include:

Elyasa  الْيَسَع‎ (Arabic)
Eliseu (Catalan/Portuguese)
Elíša (Czech)
Elisa (Dutch/Finnish/Swedish: obscure)
Élisée (French)
Elise ელისე (Georgian)
Elischa (German)
Elisäus (German)
Elisaίos Ελισαίος (Greek: modern)
Eliseo (Italian/Spanish)
Eliseus (Latin)
Eliziejus (Lithuanian)
Elisie Елисие (Macedonian)
Elisja (Norwegian)
Elizeusz (Polish)
Elisei (Romanian)
Elisej Елисей (Russian)
Elizeus (Slovene)
Jelisej Јелисеј (Serbian)
Elyesa (Turkish)
Yelyséj Єлисе́й (Ukrainian)

The designated name day is June 14.

Source

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

Tabitha

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Aramaic
Meaning: “gazelle.”
(TAB-bih-thuh)

The name is found in the New Testament as the name of a woman brought back to life by the Apostle Peter, she is also referred to as Dorcas which is the Greek equivalent of the name (see Acts 9:36).

As a given name, it seems to have been popular among the Puritans and remained very common among early Americans. It was borne by Tabitha Babbitt (1784-1853) an early American woman tool maker credited for inventing the circular saw. It was also borne by Oregon pioneer Tabitha Brown (1780-1858) credited as the foundress of Pacific University.

The name was again brought to the American public’s attention via the 1960s sitcom, Bewitched, in which the daughter of Samantha and Darren Stephens is named Tabitha. There was also a spin-off of the show entitled Tabitha.

Currently, Tabitha 641st most popular female name in the United States. Its German offshoot of Tabea (tah-BEY-ah) is the 139th most popular female name in Germany (2010).

Other forms of the name include:

Tabita (Czech/Slovak. Diminutive is Tabitka)
Tabea (German)
Tavitha Ταβιθά (Greek: modern)
Tábita (Hungarian)
Gazela (Polish: very unusual)

The default English diminutives are either Tabby or Tibby.

The designated name day is October 25.

Sources

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/tabitha
  2. http://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/jahrgang/j2010/top500-2010
  3. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabea

Sylvia

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “wood; forest.”
(SIL-vee-ah)

The name is a feminine form of Silvius, which is derived from the Latin silva meaning, “wood; forest.”

In Roman legend it was borne by the mother of Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome), Rhea Silvia. It has been suggested that at one time she have been worshipped as a minor forest diety.

It was also borne by a 6th-century Italian saint credited as being the mother of St. Gregory the Great.

Before the 16th-century, Silvia’s usage was relegated to continental Europe, it gained notoriety in England after being used by Shakespeare in his 1594 play, The Two Gentleman of Verona. 

The spelling of Sylvia has been the standard in the English-speaking world since the 19th-century.

Currently, it is the 554th most popular female name in the United States, (2010). Her rankings in other countries are as follows:

# 61 (Spain, 2010)
# 282 (the Netherlands, 2010)

Other forms of the name include:

Sylviya Сыльвія (Belarusian)
Silviya Силвия (Bulgarian)
Sílvia (Catalan/Portuguese)
Silvija (Croatian/Lithuanian/Slovene)
Lesana (literally meaning “woods; forest” it is sometimes used as a Czech and Slovakian equivalent of Sylvia)
Silvie (Czech)
Silvia (Estonian/Italian/Romanian/Slovak/Spanish)
Sylvia (Finnish/English/German/Scandinavian)
Sylphide (French)
Sylvaine (French)
Sylviane (French)
Sylvie (French)
Szilvia (Hungarian)
Sylvía (Icelandic)
Silva (Italian/Slovene)
Silvestra (Italian)
Silvana (Italian/Hungarian/Slovene)
Silvania (Italian)
Silviana (Italian)
Silvina (Italian)
Silvietta (Italian)
Sylvi (Norwegian)
Sylwia (Polish)
Sil’vija Сильвия(Russian)
Silvena (Slovene)
Silvenka (Slovene)
Silverija (Slovene)
Silvica (Slovene)
Zülfiye (Turkish)
Síl”viya Сі́львія(Ukrainian)

Common diminutives include:

Silva/Silvinka (Czech)
Sylvette (French)
Silviuccia (Italian)
Lyya or Lyka (Russian)
Syl”va or Sylya (Russian)
Ylya (Russian) 

It is the name of a classical French ballet, Sylvia, ou La nymphe de Diane, (1876).

Sylvia is also the name of a species of warbler.

In recent years the name has been borne by American poet, Sylvia Plath (1932-1963), Queen Silvia of Sweden (b.1943)

Masculine forms include:

Silvije (Croatian)
Silvijo (Croatian/Slovene)
Silvio (Croatian/Italian/Portuguese/Spanish)
Sylvain (French)
Silvius (Latin)
Sylwiusz (Polish)
Silviu (Romanian)

Source

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