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I was wondering what the meaning for the girls name "Shoni" was and if it even is a name. I came across it somewhere (I think online) and thought it sounded lovely but am unsure about it's legitimacy.
So is "Shoni" a name? And if so what is it's meaning?
It's meant to have either Hebrew or Yiddish roots.
I was thinking that maybe it was a variant of Shayna but I'm not sure
*~Loads of Randomness~*
My PNLs: http://www.behindthename.com/pnl/150423
So is "Shoni" a name? And if so what is it's meaning?
It's meant to have either Hebrew or Yiddish roots.
I was thinking that maybe it was a variant of Shayna but I'm not sure
*~Loads of Randomness~*
My PNLs: http://www.behindthename.com/pnl/150423
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Replies
So there is a word in Hebrew pronounced "Shoni," but it means "difference" and I don't really think it's a name. There is also "Shani" which means "crimson," but that is pronounced slightly differently.
If this is Hebrew, I suspect that it might actually just be a shorter form or nickname of Shoshana. I have a relative with that name and a few years ago her granddaughter was named Shini after her, so I think that Shoni being used is probably not impossible.
A quick search of the name on Facebook brings up a number of women from India.
If this is Hebrew, I suspect that it might actually just be a shorter form or nickname of Shoshana. I have a relative with that name and a few years ago her granddaughter was named Shini after her, so I think that Shoni being used is probably not impossible.
A quick search of the name on Facebook brings up a number of women from India.
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It's a submitted name
www.behindthename.com/name/shoni/submitted
www.behindthename.com/name/shoni/submitted
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... but the current explanation doesn't work. Beautiful is indeed "schön" (with o-umlaut) in High German, but in Yiddish this becomes "schen" (pronounced like SHAYN), not "schon" (which is a different word in High German meaning "already, yet, right now"—the Yiddish form of this one is "shoyn"). I don't know enough Hebrew to exclude a Hebrew root, but the normal Hebrew word for beautiful is "yafa" in the feminine form.
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The variants given for Shoni look more like feminized versions of Shane, rather than directly Yiddish or Hebrew. Of course Shona, like Shane, is a derivative of Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yochanan), but that doesn't mean beautiful.
The "Yiddish" may be a red herring. Someone with no knowledge of Yiddish, and a vague grasp of standard German may have heard a phrase such as "das schöne mädchen" and that it meant "the beautiful girl", and come up with Shoni as an Anglicization. Or the name could be made up and the "beautiful" meaning is just a folk etymology base on the German, and there are the historic names Sconea and Sconiberga, so someone may have taken it from OHG without referring to modern German. It looks to me like a version of Shona though.
The "Yiddish" may be a red herring. Someone with no knowledge of Yiddish, and a vague grasp of standard German may have heard a phrase such as "das schöne mädchen" and that it meant "the beautiful girl", and come up with Shoni as an Anglicization. Or the name could be made up and the "beautiful" meaning is just a folk etymology base on the German, and there are the historic names Sconea and Sconiberga, so someone may have taken it from OHG without referring to modern German. It looks to me like a version of Shona though.
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