Mirabai?
Does anyone knows what this name means and what nationality it is. I heard it ages ago on a girl and it sounded beautiful, mainly because she had dark hair and green eyes. .:::BSCHOER10:::.~QUEEN OF THE GEEKS~
("Open to comments/suggestions/bribes/chocolates/vodka-shots etc")
vote up1vote down

Replies

bai means boy or son, so for a daughter, leave off the bai.
vote up1vote down
Which language are you talking about?
vote up1vote down
Here is a link to a biography of the famous Indian poet named Mirabai:http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine12.htmlMirabai seems to be the same person who is referenced under the entry for the name Mira on this site. Perhaps the -bai is simply an honorific, but I haven't been able to find out for sure.
vote up1vote down
The -bAi bit is easy: in the languages of western India (Hindi/Marathi etc.), it is a feminine honorific. As a relation term it means mother in some languages. It also has the derived meanings of a lady of art, a dancer, or prostitute in some languages.The Meera (as it is sometimes spelt: both vowels are long) bit is more complicated. I do not understand where the meaning `prosperous' given on this site comes from: I am not familiar with this meaning in Sanskrit. The closest to mIrA I can find in Sanskrit is mirA, a limit, or mIra, an ocean, and I think both of these are unrelated. I suspect the name may actually have connection with Farsi mIr meaning main. (My Sanskrit dictionary claims mIramIrA is a woman's name, but it does not provide that with a derivation of a meaning.)
vote up1vote down
I think the bay can be used for both males and females, I know an Indian guy and some people put the -bay after his surname, meaning "brother", didnt know you can use the same term for ladies... interesting from the linuistig point of view.
vote up1vote down
Actually, it is probably not the same term: can't be more specific without knowing which Indian language you are talking about (With more than 14 languages and over a couple of hundred mutually unintelligible dialects, it is a bit difficult: thus in some languages bAi means elder sister, not mother).The problem is that many of these languages have two phonemes a b- and a bh- which differ in aspiration (i.e. not b- followed by -h- but b- with breathing out). Voiced aspirated consonants are missing in most Latin and Germanic languages I know, so they both become b- in English.With that intro, the Sanskrit bhrAtR (cognate with brother, of course) gave rise to bhAi in many modern languages. I think this is the word you are talking about.
vote up1vote down