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ArchivesRe: meaning/origin
in reply to a message by Sieta (female Dutch)
I got the following from some Afrikaans etymologists/lexicographers ... so it's reliable, if not helpful:
Sita, met variant Zita, kan blykbaar 'n Persiese naam wees wat 'maagd' beteken, of 'n Etruskiese naam wat 'jong meisie' beteken. Verder is daar ook 'n moontlikheid dat dit van Spaans kom, en 'rosie' beteken, of dit is 'n Franse naam wat 'slaapkamer' beteken.
Ek kan nie iets kry wat 'n aanduiding is dat dit 'n ingekorte naam is, bv. van iets soos Rosita, ens. nie.
And the translation:
Sita, variation Zita, can apparently be a Persian name meaning 'virgin', or an Etruscan name meaning 'young girl'. It is also possible that it might come from Spanish and mean 'little rose'; or it could mean 'bedroom' in French. I can find no suggestion that it is a short form of a name like Rosita etc.
As you can see, the learned gentlemen didn't pause to consider that they are spelling it Sita instead of Sieta ... usually I'd be able to track down a real, live Dutch informant, but not today!
Anyway, hope it helps to narrow things down.
Sita, met variant Zita, kan blykbaar 'n Persiese naam wees wat 'maagd' beteken, of 'n Etruskiese naam wat 'jong meisie' beteken. Verder is daar ook 'n moontlikheid dat dit van Spaans kom, en 'rosie' beteken, of dit is 'n Franse naam wat 'slaapkamer' beteken.
Ek kan nie iets kry wat 'n aanduiding is dat dit 'n ingekorte naam is, bv. van iets soos Rosita, ens. nie.
And the translation:
Sita, variation Zita, can apparently be a Persian name meaning 'virgin', or an Etruscan name meaning 'young girl'. It is also possible that it might come from Spanish and mean 'little rose'; or it could mean 'bedroom' in French. I can find no suggestion that it is a short form of a name like Rosita etc.
As you can see, the learned gentlemen didn't pause to consider that they are spelling it Sita instead of Sieta ... usually I'd be able to track down a real, live Dutch informant, but not today!
Anyway, hope it helps to narrow things down.
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Replies
Maybe Sita would mean "little rose" in Spanish from Rosita, a diminutive of Rosa, which means "rose"? I also don't see the "bedroom" thing in French... weird!
~~ Claire ~~
My ! are Alia, Eidel, Enola, Israel, Dudel, Yuri, Lina, Lorelei, Leilani, Owen, Julian, Glorinda, Mirinda
My ? are Hillel, Meshullam, Johnny, Ginny, Cordelia, Fiammetta, Yocheved
My ~ are Tehila, Tilda, Hailey, Gillian, Huldah
My / are Aglaia and July
~~ Claire ~~
My ! are Alia, Eidel, Enola, Israel, Dudel, Yuri, Lina, Lorelei, Leilani, Owen, Julian, Glorinda, Mirinda
My ? are Hillel, Meshullam, Johnny, Ginny, Cordelia, Fiammetta, Yocheved
My ~ are Tehila, Tilda, Hailey, Gillian, Huldah
My / are Aglaia and July
1
Seems odd to me too, though my French is too rudimentary for me to have a real opinion! Nor can I readily imagine naming my daughter 'Bedroom'!
Spanish obviously had a strong presence in the Netherlands before they won their independence, but I'm not aware of any other Spanish influences on their naming practices; in fact, for a good long time giving a Dutch child a Spanish name would have been like naming an English child Adolf in the 1940s ... Dutch Catholics would use saints' names of course in the usual way and some of them would look Spanish, but I'm having difficulty with St Rosita, who sounds pretty unlikely.
Will try for a real Dutch speaker ... perhaps today?
Spanish obviously had a strong presence in the Netherlands before they won their independence, but I'm not aware of any other Spanish influences on their naming practices; in fact, for a good long time giving a Dutch child a Spanish name would have been like naming an English child Adolf in the 1940s ... Dutch Catholics would use saints' names of course in the usual way and some of them would look Spanish, but I'm having difficulty with St Rosita, who sounds pretty unlikely.
Will try for a real Dutch speaker ... perhaps today?
1