Isaura

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)

 

Maimouna

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic ميمونه میمونه
Meaning: “auspicious.”
(may-MOO-nah)

 

The name is derived from the Arabic ميمون, (meymewn) meaning, “auspicious.”

This was the name of one of the wives of the Prophet Mohammed. Maimouna bint al-Harith (594-674).

Maimouna appears under several different transliterations. In the Maghreb, it is often transliterated to Maïmouna (the French spelling).

As of 2009, Maïmouna was the 404th most popular female name in France.

Other forms of the name include:

  • Mejmuna Меймуна (Albanian/Bosnian/Bulgarian/Central Asian)
  • Meymune (Azeri/Kurdish/Turkish)
It is also sometimes transliterated as Maymouna, Meymouna or Maimuna.

Walid

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic
Meaning: “newborn.”
(WAH-leed)

The name is derived the Arabic ولد (walada), “to give birth.”

It is primarily used in honour of Al-Walid I (668 – 715) and Ummayid Caliph who had ruled in the early 700s. He is known for instituting Arabic as the official language across the Islamic World and his conquer of Spain.

As of 2009, Walid was the 163rd most popular male name in France.

Other forms of the name include:

  • Velid (Albanian/Azeri/Bosnian/Bulgarian/Central Asian/Turkish)

Naim

The name could be from the Hebrew נעים‎ meaning, (pleasant) or the Arabic نعیم‎ (tranquil).

As of 2009, Naïm (Maghrebin orthograph) was the 182nd most popular male name in France.

A feminine form is Naima.

Sami

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic سامي
Meaning: “high; elevated; supreme.”
(SAH-mee)

The name is derived from the Arabic meaning, “high; elevated; supreme.”

However, it could also be a Finnish short form of Samuel. In Finland, it has often been used as an independent given name and in recent years is most likely used in reference to the language and ethnic group which is found in Finland, Norway and Russia, perhaps among people of Sami heritage. Sami is also the name of a lake in Finland.

As of 2009, Sami was the 183rd most popular male name in France while in 2010 he came in as the 193rd most popular male name in the Netherlands.

A feminine form of the Arabic is Samia.