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Hi all,

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I'm checking some informations about etymologies and meanings. Usually, I'm able to find the origin of some mistakes but right now there are two minor problems where I'm blocked.

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First: the name Aroa.

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It seems that this name is Basque but Albaigès lists it as an old Germanic name from the Germanic root ara with the meaning of "(person) of good intention, good person"; Consuelo García Gallarín says that Aroa is Germanic, too, but she derives it from the root ara, variant of arin, "eagle".

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The problem is double:

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1) The only references to a supposed Germanic origin of Aroa are in Albaigès's works and works that use his works as source. Perhaps Aroa is listed in Förstemann's works or in "Historisches Deutsches Vornamenbuch" by Seibicke?

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2) The only reference to ara as Germanic root meaning "good person" or some similar (and not as variant of arin, "eagle") is in Albaigès's works (he affirms that ara with this meaning is the etym of Arey, too, but it is a mistake because Arey comes from Arigius or from Aredius). Is ara listed as Germanic root with this meaning in some work about Germanic names?

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Second: the name Ainara.

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Ainara is a Basque name meaning "swallow" but this last year a rumour has spreaded in the web: Ainara is a Greek name meaning "decorated (with a medal)". I suppose that the mistake comes from some names website or from some little framed "informations" with the origin and the meaning of the names which are very popular as birthday gift and which can be bought in markets and fairs.

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I don't know with which Greek word or root (meaning something as "decorated (with a medal)" or "medal" or "distinguished"...) they are mistaking Ainara.

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Any clue?

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Thank you very much for your help.

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Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.com