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Help[Opinions] Safiya (and other names on my mind)
I really love the name Safiya, it was one of my favourites for a long time and now I'm appreciating it again. The only problem is how to write it, I think Safiyyah and Safiyya are better transliterations but in English it looks like too many letters. Safia is the simplest spelling but maybe too close to Sofia? And there's the Turkish Safiye. What do you think? Do you prefer it to another favourite of mine, Mariam?
I've also come across/been thinking about quite a few lovely names recently which either aren't on the name database here or haven't been talked about much, so I thought I'd mention them and see if any interest you, whether you love them or hate them. All of these are female:
Ani
Anahid / Nahid
Aina
Hava
Naira / Nairi (3 syllables, like Nayira. It's different to the Naira listed here, an Armenian name used as a synonym for Armenia)
Elza
Milana / Milena
Ruslana
Lilit
Odeta / Odetta
Anush
Narine
Zulfia / Zulfiya / Zülfiye
Ruslana
Gulnara
Arevik
Zuhra / Zühre
Zemfira
Azra
Inara
Marjan (related to Marjani, j makes a zh sound)
Darejan (j makes a zh sound)
Eteri
Nabila
Taisa (ta-ee-sa)
Seda
Ruya
Lera (diminutive of Valeria)
OK, sorry this ended up so long!
I've also come across/been thinking about quite a few lovely names recently which either aren't on the name database here or haven't been talked about much, so I thought I'd mention them and see if any interest you, whether you love them or hate them. All of these are female:
Ani
Anahid / Nahid
Aina
Hava
Naira / Nairi (3 syllables, like Nayira. It's different to the Naira listed here, an Armenian name used as a synonym for Armenia)
Elza
Milana / Milena
Ruslana
Lilit
Odeta / Odetta
Anush
Narine
Zulfia / Zulfiya / Zülfiye
Ruslana
Gulnara
Arevik
Zuhra / Zühre
Zemfira
Azra
Inara
Marjan (related to Marjani, j makes a zh sound)
Darejan (j makes a zh sound)
Eteri
Nabila
Taisa (ta-ee-sa)
Seda
Ruya
Lera (diminutive of Valeria)
OK, sorry this ended up so long!
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
I love Safiya (since Sofia/ Sofija is my fave name, I guess it makes sense). And I definitely like it better than Mariam (I only like Meryem).
Out of the other I'm a fan of:
Naira / Nairi
Milana / Milena
Ruslana -but I like Ruslan better
Zulfia / Zulfiya / Zülfiye
Zuhra - it's quite dated here
Azra - I have a god friend with this name
Inara
Lera -since I love Lena and Lara, this makes sense
Out of the other I'm a fan of:
Naira / Nairi
Milana / Milena
Ruslana -but I like Ruslan better
Zulfia / Zulfiya / Zülfiye
Zuhra - it's quite dated here
Azra - I have a god friend with this name
Inara
Lera -since I love Lena and Lara, this makes sense
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Just needed to say: Inara=Firefly!!!
:)
:)
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It's not too long at all! - it's always great to see non-Anglo names on here.
I think I'd go with the Safiya spelling just to make it distinct from Sofia. It is pretty.
From your list I like these best:
Hava
Naira
Anush
Narine*
Arevik
Zuhra
Inara
Marjan
Darejan*
Nabila
Taisa*
* = do you have any etymology for these?
I think I'd go with the Safiya spelling just to make it distinct from Sofia. It is pretty.
From your list I like these best:
Hava
Naira
Anush
Narine*
Arevik
Zuhra
Inara
Marjan
Darejan*
Nabila
Taisa*
* = do you have any etymology for these?
1
I'm glad!
Narine is Armenian, I think it's usually written Narineh. It could be derived from the Arabic word nar, "fire", or from Persian nar meaning "pomegranate" (the same root as Gulnara). There's also the Armenian name Nare / Nareh which might be more common.
Darejan is an interesting one! It comes up as the name of Georgian queens and princess especially in the 17 - 18th century. I found it from the medieval book of Amiran-Darejaniani (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiran-Darejaniani), Amiran son of Darejan. I would guess that that isn't a matronym and Darejan was used for males as well? I can't find much about it and I don't know if it's used much now, it doesn't seem very common. The -jan is from the Persian meaning soul (like Turkish Can, it is quite a common element in names) and can be used as an endearing suffix, but I'm not sure about Dare-, it could be derived from/related to the Persian names Dariush or Darya.
Taisa is an uncommon variant of Taisiya, Taisiya is the usual version.
Narine is Armenian, I think it's usually written Narineh. It could be derived from the Arabic word nar, "fire", or from Persian nar meaning "pomegranate" (the same root as Gulnara). There's also the Armenian name Nare / Nareh which might be more common.
Darejan is an interesting one! It comes up as the name of Georgian queens and princess especially in the 17 - 18th century. I found it from the medieval book of Amiran-Darejaniani (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiran-Darejaniani), Amiran son of Darejan. I would guess that that isn't a matronym and Darejan was used for males as well? I can't find much about it and I don't know if it's used much now, it doesn't seem very common. The -jan is from the Persian meaning soul (like Turkish Can, it is quite a common element in names) and can be used as an endearing suffix, but I'm not sure about Dare-, it could be derived from/related to the Persian names Dariush or Darya.
Taisa is an uncommon variant of Taisiya, Taisiya is the usual version.
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