Meaning of Neralie?
Hi All,I've been asked to find the meaning of the name Neralie and it has be stumped.It is a female name and mostly appears in Australia, particularly in South Australia.Various spellings:
Neralee
Nerali
Neralie
NeralleI am thinking it could stem from Neroli (Italian for Orange Blossom or Italian Princess?)or even Narelle?Any ideas or educated guesses appreciated.Deb :)
vote up1vote down

Replies

I'd always assumed your orange blossom explanation was the right one, but things can be strange in Oz! (Those wonderful people who name their daughters Kylie = Boomerang .. weird!)Is it possible that it might be a native Australian name - there are so many aboriginal languages, many dead or dying, but perhaps a South Australian tribe used it and it caught on?
vote up1vote down
That's a thought Anneza - thanks for the suggestion. I'll do a bit more research in that area. Here's what I have found so far.It could certainly be a form of the Italian Neroli which may mean Orange Blossom but is most often listed as the name of an Italian princess. Nera means Black in Italian too. However it is uncommon for Australians to take to Italian names so readily.If we look to Celtic/English options we can find Ner meaning Lord, Nera meaning Lady and Leigh meaning Meadow/Field/Clearing. So Neralie could mean Lady of the Meadow or similar. There is a celtic myth about a man named Nera which might be a good reason to think the name could be Celtic.Nera is also Greek for Water. Neralie could possibly combine Nera and Leon (lion) to mean something like Lion of the Ocean/Sea.Nera is Indo-European for Strength and PowerNera is old Hebrew for Lamp and Leah means Weary or Mistress/Ruler. Ruler of the Lamp perhaps? Many of our names are Hebrew in origin.
vote up1vote down
hello...so funny but my name is Neralie and I'm very curious bout what mah name meant so thanx fo dat....buh bye
vote up1vote down
Lady of the Lamp, eh? Well, I'd rather be Neralie than Florence!Do ancient Celtic female names actually end in -a? A lot of male names like Offa did, but I can't recall right now if Offa was Celtic or Saxon; I suspect Celtic.Keep us informed if you find anything in South Australia!
vote up1vote down