The name comes directly from the Arabic word for heart. It is used equally among Arab- Muslims & Christians. Among Christians, particularly Palestinians, Chaldeans and Lebanese Christians who profess Roman Catholicism, it is used in reference to the Sacred Heart of Jesus or the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the same way the Spanish name Corazónis used in the Spanish-speaking world, though in the Arabic case, the name is strictly masculine.
Among Muslims, the term fu’ad is used at least 5 times in the Quran. The name is used throughout the Islamic world.
It is even used among Non-Arab groups in the Middle East, such as Mizrachi Jews.
The Awakening of Adonis (1899-1900) by John William Waterhouse
Adonis is borne in Greek mythology by the god of beauty and desire. According to the most popular myth, he was born of the incestuous union of Theias and his daughter Myrrha. Myrrha had tricked her own father into having sex with her. The gods transformed Myrrha into a myrrh tree after Theias attempted to kill her whilst pregnant with Adonis. Adonis was beloved of Aphrodite and mothered by Persephone, but he was subsequently killed by a boar when Artemis, or in some versions, Ares, sent a boar to kill Adonis out of jealousy. When Adonis died, Aphrodite cried tears which mingled with Adonis’ blood, producing the Anemone flower. Aphrodite instituted the Adonia festival in his commemoration, whereby all women had a mass mock funeral of Adonis by growing plants in potsherds on their rooftops and performing a mass funeral ritual as soon as the plants sprouted.
It is likely Adonis was imported by the Greeks from the Phoenicians, the latter being the descendants of the Sumerians, Mesopotamians & Babylonians. It is believed by most scholars that Adonis is an adaptation of the Sumerian story of Dumuzid & Inanna (later Tammuz & Ishtar), in which a ritual funeral rite was also performed by women across the former Babylonian empire. Adonis itself is a Hellenized form of the Canaanite, adon, which means “lord” and was often used as an appellation by the Canaanites for the god Tammuz. The Jews adopted this appellation for Yahweh in the form of Adonai (my lord).
Adonis is borne by an 8th-century French saint of Vienne. He is also listed asAdon & Ado. Adonis has sporadically been used as a given-name in Greece, anglophone, francophone & hispanophone countries. The French feminine off-shoots, though rare these days, are Adonise (AH-do-NEEZ) and Adonie, and were actually prevalent in 18th-centurry Quebec & New Orleans. An obscure Italian feminine form is Adonella.
There is the male Biblical Hebrew name, Adonijah meaning (my lord is Yahweh). It is borne by a son of King David and was Hellenized in the Septuagint as Adonias.
Other forms include:
Adonies (Catalan)
Adonia (Dutch, Italian, Swedish)
AdonijaАдония (French, German, Russian)
Adonias Αδωνίας (French, Greek, Portuguese)
Adonías (Galician)
Adonja (Norwegian)
Adoniasz (Polish)
Adonías (Spanish)
Adoniya Адонія (Ukrainian)
Currently, Adonis is the 242nd most popular male name in the United States and the 461st most popular in France.
The name is composed of the Semitic elements, hanno (grace) and ba’al (Ba’al, Lord). It is a Semitic theophoric name, the equivalent of the Hebrew Haniel (grace of God). It is recorded in the Punic as 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋. The name is borne by Hannibal Barca, (3rd-century BCE), the Carthaginian general who attempted to invade Rome.
The name was supposedly common among the Phoenicians; it is the name of several other Phoenician personages recorded in history.
The name has been in and out of occasional use throughout Europe and is commonly used among Assyrian families.
The name is composed of the Welsh elements, iôr (lord) and berth (fair; handsome). It is traditionally used as a Welsh form ofEdward, though the names are not related.
It is an ancient Welsh name that is found in the Mabinogion and as borne by several Medieval Welsh kings.
A traditional diminutive form, which is also used as an independent given-name, is Iolo (YOH-lo).
The name comes from the Arabic الشفاء (al-Shifaa), meaning, “cure, remedy, healing.”
Al-Shifaa bint Abdullah, nee Layla, was a companion of the prophet Muhammed. She was known as a healer, which is how she ended up with the sobriquet, Al-Shifaa, and is said to have taught literacy to the population of Medina.
Ṣadé is from the Yoruba name, Fọláṣadé, which is composed of the elements, fi (use); ọlá (royalty, wealth), ṣe (perform) and adé (crown).
Ṣadé itself, and its anglicized offshoots of Sharday and sometimes Shardae, was popularized in the English-speaking world by Nigerian-British singer, Ṣadé Adu (nee Helen Fọláṣadé Adu, b. 1959).
Ṣadé appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 between 1985-2002, and peaked at #213 in 1986.
Other anglicized offshoots include Chardae and Charday.
