Moria

Meant "sacred olive tree" in Greek, referring to a type of olive tree in ancient Greece that was believed to have 'been propagated from the original olive which Athena herself had caused to spring up on the Acropolis'; uprooting one of the sacred μορίαι (moriai) was an offense punishable by dispossession and banishment.

Though the etymology is probably unrelated, this is the name of a naiad in Greek mythology, whose story 'appears to be a Lydian version of the tale of Pelops, the boy restored to life by the Moirai' (when her brother was killed by a monstrous serpent, Moria brought him back to life using a magical herb). In this case it is perhaps related to Greek μόρος (moros) meaning "fate, destiny, doom".

Modern instances of this name may be misspellings of Maria or Moira. In the case of the character in Ben Jonson's satirical play Cynthia's Revels (1600), who 'talks anything of anything', it was probably intended to be a feminine derivative of Greek μωρός (moros) meaning "simpleton".

From Japanese 森 (mori) meaning "forest" combined with 亜 (a) meaning "second, Asia" or 愛 (a) meaning "love, affection". Other kanji combinations are possible.

Hebrew form of Moriah.