Raabi'a f ArabicMeans
"fourth" in Arabic, a derivative of
أربعة (ʾarbaʿa) meaning "four". This name was borne by an 8th-century Sufi mystic from Basra in Iraq.
Salacia f Roman MythologyDerived from Latin
sal meaning
"salt". This was the name of the Roman goddess of salt water.
Saskia f Dutch, GermanFrom the Old German element
sahso meaning
"a Saxon". The Saxons were a Germanic tribe, their name ultimately deriving from the Germanic word *
sahsą meaning "knife". Saskia van Uylenburgh (1612-1642) was the wife of the Dutch painter Rembrandt.
Sequoia f & m English (Rare)From the name of huge trees that grow in California. The tree got its name from the 19th-century Cherokee scholar
Sequoyah (also known as George Guess), the inventor of the Cherokee writing system.
Shania f English (Modern)In the case of singer Shania Twain (1965-), who chose it as her stage name, it was apparently based on an Ojibwe phrase meaning
"on my way".
Sharia m Arabic (Rare)Means
"divine law, noble law" in Arabic, from the root
شرع (sharaʿa) meaning "to go, to enact".
Shazia f UrduMeaning unknown, possibly of Arabic origin meaning
"rare, unusual".
Sidonia f Late Roman, GeorgianFeminine form of
Sidonius. This is the name of a legendary saint from Georgia. She and her father Abiathar were supposedly converted by Saint
Nino from Judaism to Christianity.
Silvia f Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, German, Dutch, English, Late Roman, Roman MythologyFeminine form of
Silvius.
Rhea Silvia was the mother of
Romulus and
Remus, the founders of Rome. This was also the name of a 6th-century saint, the mother of the pope Gregory the Great. It has been a common name in Italy since the Middle Ages. It was introduced to England by Shakespeare, who used it for a character in his play
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594). It is now more commonly spelled
Sylvia in the English-speaking world.
Sofia f Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Finnish, Estonian, Slovak, Romanian, English, Russian, Ukrainian, BulgarianForm of
Sophia used in various languages.
Sophia f English, Greek, German, Ancient GreekMeans
"wisdom" in Greek. This was the name of an early, probably mythical, saint who died of grief after her three daughters were martyred during the reign of the emperor Hadrian. Legends about her probably arose as a result of a medieval misunderstanding of the phrase
Hagia Sophia "Holy Wisdom", which is the name of a large basilica in Constantinople.
... [more] Talia 2 f English (Australian)From the name of a town in South Australia, perhaps meaning
"near water" in an Australian Aboriginal language.
Tamia f African American (Modern)An invented name, using the initial sound found in names such as
Tamika. It was popularized by the Canadian singer Tamia Hill (1975-), who is known simply as Tamia.
Theia f Greek MythologyPossibly derived from Greek
θεά (thea) meaning
"goddess". In Greek myth this was the name of a Titan goddess of light, glittering and glory. She was the wife of
Hyperion and the mother of the sun god
Helios, the moon goddess
Selene, and the dawn goddess
Eos.
Tia f EnglishShort form of names ending with
tia. It has been suggested that its use since the 1950s is the result of the brand name for the coffee liqueur Tia Maria. In the brand name,
Tia is not a given name; rather, it means "aunt" in Spanish or Portuguese.
Titania f LiteraturePerhaps based on Latin
Titanius meaning
"of the Titans". This name was (first?) used by William Shakespeare in his comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) where it belongs to the queen of the fairies, the wife of
Oberon. This is also a moon of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.
Tsisia f GeorgianDerived from Georgian
ცის (tsis) meaning
"of the sky", the genitive case of
ცა (tsa) meaning "sky, heaven".
Uria m & f HebrewModern Hebrew form of
Uriah, also used as a feminine name.
Valencia f VariousFrom the name of cities in Spain and Venezuela, both derived from Latin
valentia meaning "strength, vigour".
Velia f ItalianFrom the Roman family name
Velius, which possibly means
"concealed" in Latin.
Venetia f English (Rare), GreekFrom the Latin name of the Italian region of Veneto and the city of Venice (see the place name
Venetia). This name was borne by the celebrated English beauty Venetia Stanley (1600-1633), though in her case the name may have been a Latinized form of the Welsh name
Gwynedd. Benjamin Disraeli used it for the heroine of his novel
Venetia (1837).
Victoria f English, Spanish, Romanian, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, French, Late Roman, Roman MythologyMeans
"victory" in Latin, being borne by the Roman goddess of victory. It is also a feminine form of
Victorius. This name was borne by a 4th-century saint and martyr from North Africa.
... [more] Viktoria f German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Greek, Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, BelarusianGerman, Scandinavian and Greek variant of
Victoria. It is also an alternate transcription of Russian/Bulgarian
Виктория or Ukrainian
Вікторія (see
Viktoriya) or Belarusian
Вікторыя (see
Viktoryia), as well as the usual Georgian transcription.
Virginia f English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Greek, Ancient RomanFeminine form of the Roman family name
Verginius or
Virginius, which is of unknown meaning, but long associated with Latin
virgo "maid, virgin". According to a legend, it was the name of a Roman woman killed by her father so as to save her from the clutches of a crooked official.
... [more] Wisteria f English (Rare)From the name of the flowering plant, which was named for the American anatomist Caspar Wistar.
Xenia f Greek, Spanish, Ancient GreekMeans
"hospitality" in Greek, a derivative of
ξένος (xenos) meaning "foreigner, guest". This was the name of a 5th-century saint who is venerated in the Eastern Church.
Xia m & f ChineseFrom Chinese
夏 (xià) meaning "summer, great, grand",
霞 (xiá) meaning "rosy clouds", or other characters that are pronounced similarly.
Yesenia f Spanish (Latin American)From
Jessenia, the genus name of a variety of palm trees found in South America. As a given name, it was popularized by the writer Yolanda Vargas Dulché in the 1970 Mexican telenovela
Yesenia and the 1971 film adaptation.
Zenobia f Ancient GreekMeans
"life of Zeus", derived from Greek
Ζηνός (Zenos) meaning "of
Zeus" and
βίος (bios) meaning "life". This was the name of the queen of the Palmyrene Empire, which broke away from Rome in the 3rd-century and began expanding into Roman territory. She was eventually defeated by the emperor
Aurelian. Her Greek name was used as an approximation of her native Aramaic name.
Zinnia f English (Rare)From the name of the flower, which was itself named for the German botanist Johann Zinn.