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Apparantely it's an Indian name
by which I mean Indian as in "from India", not Native American (it is definitely not Native American).
Someone did a lot of research on this and proved it is not Native American. I wish I could find the site, but they had some prove that it's an Indian name that is used there quite often and pronounced AH-yah-na.
by which I mean Indian as in "from India", not Native American (it is definitely not Native American).
Someone did a lot of research on this and proved it is not Native American. I wish I could find the site, but they had some prove that it's an Indian name that is used there quite often and pronounced AH-yah-na.
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Hmmm... any details? Where in India? Which language? Male or female?
(There is an Indian male name Ayan discussed here before; though at that time I did not mention that the most famous of them is called that as a lenition of the Sanskrit abhimanyu, desired, from abhi- (towards, against, etc., cognate with Greek ἀμφί etc.) + man- (to think, belive etc. cognate with Greek μένω, English mean etc.) = to think of, desire, threaten, injure, allow, agree, be proud etc.)
(There is an Indian male name Ayan discussed here before; though at that time I did not mention that the most famous of them is called that as a lenition of the Sanskrit abhimanyu, desired, from abhi- (towards, against, etc., cognate with Greek ἀμφί etc.) + man- (to think, belive etc. cognate with Greek μένω, English mean etc.) = to think of, desire, threaten, injure, allow, agree, be proud etc.)
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Unfortunately, this is not true.
It definitely is not Cherokee, and there is little evidence that it comes from any other Native American language.
http://www.native-languages.org/wrongnames.htm
It definitely is not Cherokee, and there is little evidence that it comes from any other Native American language.
http://www.native-languages.org/wrongnames.htm
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Africa is really, really big. Which part of it does Ayanna come from? (Hint: I've never encountered it down on the southern tip.)
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This name is from Ethiopia, but I have not been able to find out which language it is from for sure.
It was introduced into the African-American community by a book of African names published in 1970 where it was said to be "East African" and to mean "beautiful flower." I have no idea whether or not that meaning is really correct. However, through Googling it is obvious the name is in use in Ethiopia, though it is usually spelled Ayana, (but occasionally Ayanna) there and almost always seems to be a male name.
Here are some examples of Ethiopians named Ayana:
http://www.ethiopic.com/Ayana_Birru.htm
http://www.developingtelecoms.com/content/view/302/59/
The "beautiful flower" meaning turns up again and again, but I am reluctant to accept it without confirmation from someone who knows Ethiopian languages precisely because the name is normally male, not female, back in Ethiopia itself.
It was introduced into the African-American community by a book of African names published in 1970 where it was said to be "East African" and to mean "beautiful flower." I have no idea whether or not that meaning is really correct. However, through Googling it is obvious the name is in use in Ethiopia, though it is usually spelled Ayana, (but occasionally Ayanna) there and almost always seems to be a male name.
Here are some examples of Ethiopians named Ayana:
http://www.ethiopic.com/Ayana_Birru.htm
http://www.developingtelecoms.com/content/view/302/59/
The "beautiful flower" meaning turns up again and again, but I am reluctant to accept it without confirmation from someone who knows Ethiopian languages precisely because the name is normally male, not female, back in Ethiopia itself.
This message was edited 3/23/2009, 5:55 AM
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It is usually pronounced "eye-AH-nuh" or "eye-ANNA" in the United States.
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