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I'm curious about the feminine origin of the name. I've talked to a few people and I know the following:
- It's the Swedish rune for water
- It's the name of a Goddess
And I also got this from the comments section:
This name isn't just short for Isabella. It has another, separate origin. "Isa" is the name for a Germanic rune, equivalent to the English short "i", as in "sit". It looks the same as our "I" and it means "ice". I love that meaning. Ice can be beautiful, but it is also dangerous. The old Norse equivalent is "is", and the rune is sometimes called that. Many of the words for "ice" in the Germanic languages are descended from "Isa"; Eis (German), ice (English), is (Norwegian), Ijs (Dutch), to name a few. Correct if I'm wrong, but I think it is pronounced EI-sah, which is much nicer than IZ-ah in my opinion.
Any truth to any of this? I'm very curious, because I love the name.
http://www.makemymood.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/weird.jpg
- It's the Swedish rune for water
- It's the name of a Goddess
And I also got this from the comments section:
This name isn't just short for Isabella. It has another, separate origin. "Isa" is the name for a Germanic rune, equivalent to the English short "i", as in "sit". It looks the same as our "I" and it means "ice". I love that meaning. Ice can be beautiful, but it is also dangerous. The old Norse equivalent is "is", and the rune is sometimes called that. Many of the words for "ice" in the Germanic languages are descended from "Isa"; Eis (German), ice (English), is (Norwegian), Ijs (Dutch), to name a few. Correct if I'm wrong, but I think it is pronounced EI-sah, which is much nicer than IZ-ah in my opinion.
Any truth to any of this? I'm very curious, because I love the name.
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Replies
Of course ISA can serve as a short form of names like ISABEL or LUISA. However, it is also a historic name of its own right. It appears as ISI, ISA, ISO, HISO etc. or in composite (two stem) names like ISIBOLD, ISABERT, ISOHARD etc.
E.Förstemann (Altdeutsches Namenbuch, vol. I, München, Reprint of the second edition, 1966, col. 970) tries to explain it as Eis ("ice"), related to Eisen ("iron"). However H.Kaufmann (Altdeutsche Personennamen, Ergänzungsband, 1968, p. 217) contradicts this interpretation and states that the element ISA is but a contracted form of ISANA, iron. This goes along with Germanic naming patterns a lot better than "ice." There doesn't seem to be any etymological relation between "Eis" and "Eisen."
Besides, ISA is the Arabic form of JESUS.
I can't find anything about a goddess called ISA.
This is all I can contribute.
E.Förstemann (Altdeutsches Namenbuch, vol. I, München, Reprint of the second edition, 1966, col. 970) tries to explain it as Eis ("ice"), related to Eisen ("iron"). However H.Kaufmann (Altdeutsche Personennamen, Ergänzungsband, 1968, p. 217) contradicts this interpretation and states that the element ISA is but a contracted form of ISANA, iron. This goes along with Germanic naming patterns a lot better than "ice." There doesn't seem to be any etymological relation between "Eis" and "Eisen."
Besides, ISA is the Arabic form of JESUS.
I can't find anything about a goddess called ISA.
This is all I can contribute.
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I agree with you 10000% , also it's true Isa in arabic means Jesus.
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I don't really know anything about the name, just wanted to say I know another young woman by this name, and I think it's really pretty! And, no, it's not short for Isabella or anything else, it's just Isa.
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My English great-aunt Isabella, universally known as Bella, used to put her name on envelopes as part of her return address, and there it was always Isa. (With a full stop: Mrs. Isa. Lastname.) Other relatives confirmed that it was pronounced IEza, though Isabella had the usual pronunciation.
Would it even be correct to say that the name of a rune is used as a given name in modern English? They might well share the same spelling, as do polish (for furniture) and Polish (from Poland), but so what? Everything else is different.
Would it even be correct to say that the name of a rune is used as a given name in modern English? They might well share the same spelling, as do polish (for furniture) and Polish (from Poland), but so what? Everything else is different.
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