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Re: List your sources please. nt
The Tamil meaning of Anai is correct (see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annamalai_Hills for an internet resource), though I have no idea whether it gives rise to Anaya. To the best of my knowledge, the name does not derive from Sanskrit: see http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=215016&board=gen.The Hebrew meaning is attested in prior posts on this board. See e.g. http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=198434&board=gen. The use in Spain was also mentioned (see e.g. http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=312730&board=gen), though the Basque origin and meaning I do not know.
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The derivation of Anaya as a Spanish surname from Basque anai "brother" is found in Hanks & Hodges' A Dictionary of Surnames. The -a at the end is the Basque definite article, so I suppose the full translation of the surname is "the brother". According to both Hanks & Hodges and Gutierre Tibon (in Diccionario Etimologico Comparado de los Apellidos Espanoles, Hispanoamericanos y Filipinos) Anaya was used as a male personal name in Spain in the Middle Ages. However, Tibon also says the surname may sometimes be from Arabic al-nahya, "agua estancada." Google translates "agua estancada" as "suspended water", but as that makes no sense to me perhaps it means "standing water". Maybe someone who knows Spanish can clarify that! :)

This message was edited 10/15/2006, 7:05 PM

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