New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesZephany/Zephne
Two Cape Town women. One, aged 25, made headlines some years ago when it was discovered that she had been abducted from hospital as a new-born and brought up under, of course, different names. Her biological parents had another daughter and the two attended the same school: they resembled each other so much that enquiries began, DNA tests were performed, and Zephany's true identity was established, ending many years of heartache for her birth parents and resulting in her assumed mother being sentenced to time in prison.
The other, who retired some years ago as a professor of medicine at the University of Cape Town medical school, is named Zephne. There doesn't seem to be any link or relationship between the two: I haven't been in contact with either and do not intend to try. But I have never encountered Zephne or Zephany before, and I'd be interested to know if there are any other sightings. Zephany seems like an elaboration of Stephanie, but maybe not. Zephne has two syllables, like Daphne, but the first vowel is different.
The other, who retired some years ago as a professor of medicine at the University of Cape Town medical school, is named Zephne. There doesn't seem to be any link or relationship between the two: I haven't been in contact with either and do not intend to try. But I have never encountered Zephne or Zephany before, and I'd be interested to know if there are any other sightings. Zephany seems like an elaboration of Stephanie, but maybe not. Zephne has two syllables, like Daphne, but the first vowel is different.
This message was edited 3/21/2023, 12:40 PM
3
Replies
I have thought for years that Zephany should be a modern English masculine form of Zephaniah as Zachary is for Zachariah and Jeremy for Jeremiah. (Zedeky would also work for Zedekiah.) I don't recall having seen it as a female name before, but it certainly could have been created as a blend of Stephanie with a name starting with Z.
A bit of Googling certainly shows that Zephne is a South African name. I quickly found several examples, including one born in South Africa who now lives in Brazil. There is a woman named Zephne Weston who seems to have a real estate business and to be a contestant in the "Mrs. South Africa" contest. References to her and to at least one other Zephne often put an accent mark over the final "e", which makes me wonder if they are pronouncing it more like "Zef-nay" than "Zef-nee".
A bit of Googling certainly shows that Zephne is a South African name. I quickly found several examples, including one born in South Africa who now lives in Brazil. There is a woman named Zephne Weston who seems to have a real estate business and to be a contestant in the "Mrs. South Africa" contest. References to her and to at least one other Zephne often put an accent mark over the final "e", which makes me wonder if they are pronouncing it more like "Zef-nay" than "Zef-nee".
This message was edited 8/24/2023, 8:43 PM
1
Zephne seems to be used in Afrikaans (https://www.behindthename.com/name/zephne/submitted).
Maybe it is a combination of two names? Contractions are common in that language, and I'm guessing the combined names are Elizabeth / Elisabeth and Daphne.
Maybe it is a combination of two names? Contractions are common in that language, and I'm guessing the combined names are Elizabeth / Elisabeth and Daphne.
2