New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesKayla, Kaylee, Kaylin and spelling variations thereof
I'm working on my own little personal database of what names mean, and I'm really loving this site. One thing that I have a question on the etymology of is these Kay- names that are so popular right now. BtN has them all relating back to Kayley, meaning "slender" from Irish Gaelic.
From somewhere I have Kayla listed as Hebrew or English/Hebrew name meaning "crown of laurels". Has anyone heard this meaning and can they vouch for it?
Also from somewhere I have many of the Kaylin variations as Arabic meaning "Beloved". Has anyone seen that?
Are they all really forms of Kayley or are these other meanings also accurate?
Also on a teensy sidenote I'm pretty shocked at the stuff about Katherine. Is it really not from the Greek "pure"? I've NEVER seen anything else, yet this site says that is incorrect. WOW! My sister Katrina won't be so happy to find out her name doesn't mean Pure.
Man I'd love to write a book about this. Being on this site has made me really want to delve back into this stuff. I'd like to trace the etymology as well as the popularity to talk about it (like Kayla getting it's big boost from Days of Our Lives, into all the Kaylee etc names being popular or the fact that Lexis/Lexus is on the charts undoubtedly influenced by both Alexis and the car).
1
Replies
I've got a niece whose name is Michaela; she's always been known as Kayla, pronounced with the Kay to rhyme with May, not with Why.
And then I taught a Michaela who was likewise known as Kayla, but she pronounced it with the Kay rhyming with Why.
So there is also that possibility.
As for Linneth, I knew one of those, too. Her parents couldn't agree on a name, so in her case it was a merger between Gwyneth and, I think, Lindsey (or possibly Linda).
And then I taught a Michaela who was likewise known as Kayla, but she pronounced it with the Kay rhyming with Why.
So there is also that possibility.
As for Linneth, I knew one of those, too. Her parents couldn't agree on a name, so in her case it was a merger between Gwyneth and, I think, Lindsey (or possibly Linda).
1
Lol - after Array & my conversation I typed "Linneth" into Google, and got loads of hits! I guess I did pick it up from somewhere. There's probably dozens of derivations - I just picked the one that seemed most appropriate to me :-D
1
They seem to be accurate from what I can see.
Kayla can't mean "crown of laurels" in Hebrew as Atarah means "crown" and they're clealy not anything alike.
Likewise, 'Aziz means "beloved" in Arabic, not Kaylin.
The thing about names like Kayla and Kaylin is that they're trendy, and many, many name sites make themselves appealing to big audiences by giving trendy names with fairly boring meanings, like Kayley and its variants, nice, interesting or appealing meanings. BtN doesn't do that, as I'm sure you've seen, so yes, all of those names can be traced back to the Irish Gaelic Kayley.
As for Katherine - I haven't had a chance to delve into the etymology myself, but I trust the judgement of Mike C (site creator) when it comes to controversial meanings. Chances are, he's right.
:-)
Kayla can't mean "crown of laurels" in Hebrew as Atarah means "crown" and they're clealy not anything alike.
Likewise, 'Aziz means "beloved" in Arabic, not Kaylin.
The thing about names like Kayla and Kaylin is that they're trendy, and many, many name sites make themselves appealing to big audiences by giving trendy names with fairly boring meanings, like Kayley and its variants, nice, interesting or appealing meanings. BtN doesn't do that, as I'm sure you've seen, so yes, all of those names can be traced back to the Irish Gaelic Kayley.
As for Katherine - I haven't had a chance to delve into the etymology myself, but I trust the judgement of Mike C (site creator) when it comes to controversial meanings. Chances are, he's right.
:-)
1
"Also from somewhere I have many of the Kaylin variations as Arabic meaning "Beloved". Has anyone seen that?"
I think that would probably mean that they're assuming that Kaylin is a variation of Kalila, an Arabic name that means "beloved". Personally, I don't think that's very likely, though. I'd guess that Kaylin is just an elaboration of Kay--rather like Kayleen, the name of one of my sister's friends.
I haven't heard this idea that Kayla means "crown of laurels". I don't suppose you have more information about where you got this?
I think that your book would be interesting. It'd be like a "Beyond Jennifer and Jason" that doesn't suck like a Hoover! ;)
Array
I think that would probably mean that they're assuming that Kaylin is a variation of Kalila, an Arabic name that means "beloved". Personally, I don't think that's very likely, though. I'd guess that Kaylin is just an elaboration of Kay--rather like Kayleen, the name of one of my sister's friends.
I haven't heard this idea that Kayla means "crown of laurels". I don't suppose you have more information about where you got this?
I think that your book would be interesting. It'd be like a "Beyond Jennifer and Jason" that doesn't suck like a Hoover! ;)
Array
1
Where I got the info
Well in "Puffy, Xena, Quentin, and Uma" by Joal Ryan, she says that Kayla is Yiddish, meaning "laurel crown" or it's a variation of Katherine. In Bruce Lansky's "35,000+ Baby Names", he says that Kaila is Hebrew meaning "laurel; crown" and Kaela is Hebrew, Arabic meaning "beloved sweetheart" (and yes he does call it a short form of Kalila or Kelila). For Kayla he says it's Arabic or Hebrew "laurel; crown".
And that's just Kayla and 2 name books! I also got some of my stuff off all kinds of websites. I'm having a ball going through my database and changing things to what I find here, but I am gonna ask about some of it just to see what you all have seen/heard.
Let's see Lansky has:
Kaelyn as an American combo of Kae + Lynn;
Kalyn, Kaylin as american alternate form of Kaylyn
Kayleen, Kaylene is Hebrew, beloved, sweetheart or alternate form of Kayla
Kaylyn is American combo of Kay + Lynn
Kailee, Kailey as American familiar forms of Kaila
Kaley as an american alternatate form of Caley, Kaylee
Kaylee is american form of Kayla
Kayleigh is american alternate form of Kaylee
All other spellings are listed under these or not at all -- and I didn't even check the C page! LOL
Ryan only has Kayla, Kayli, and Kaylyn listed as separate names; the others just variants under them. Kayli says English, variation of Kayla "laurel crown" and Kaylyn says English, combination of Kay and Lynn.
So which spelling of which name would be closest to the original?
Well in "Puffy, Xena, Quentin, and Uma" by Joal Ryan, she says that Kayla is Yiddish, meaning "laurel crown" or it's a variation of Katherine. In Bruce Lansky's "35,000+ Baby Names", he says that Kaila is Hebrew meaning "laurel; crown" and Kaela is Hebrew, Arabic meaning "beloved sweetheart" (and yes he does call it a short form of Kalila or Kelila). For Kayla he says it's Arabic or Hebrew "laurel; crown".
And that's just Kayla and 2 name books! I also got some of my stuff off all kinds of websites. I'm having a ball going through my database and changing things to what I find here, but I am gonna ask about some of it just to see what you all have seen/heard.
Let's see Lansky has:
Kaelyn as an American combo of Kae + Lynn;
Kalyn, Kaylin as american alternate form of Kaylyn
Kayleen, Kaylene is Hebrew, beloved, sweetheart or alternate form of Kayla
Kaylyn is American combo of Kay + Lynn
Kailee, Kailey as American familiar forms of Kaila
Kaley as an american alternatate form of Caley, Kaylee
Kaylee is american form of Kayla
Kayleigh is american alternate form of Kaylee
All other spellings are listed under these or not at all -- and I didn't even check the C page! LOL
Ryan only has Kayla, Kayli, and Kaylyn listed as separate names; the others just variants under them. Kayli says English, variation of Kayla "laurel crown" and Kaylyn says English, combination of Kay and Lynn.
So which spelling of which name would be closest to the original?
1
There probably isn't an original spelling, unfortunately! Names like Kaylyn etc get invented and reinvented by people all the time. Kayley is the original Gaelic name, so that's about as original as you'll get - the others are all composites (Kayley & Lyn = Kaylyn) or elaborations (Kayley to Kayla or Kayleigh, etc). :-)
1
Which are quite near the same thing in my mind, heh. Silly me. Sorry about that. I'm stupid sometimes. :)
Anyway, Kalila is often mislabeled as meaning "beloved" (they do so in the New Age Baby Name Book, which is known for being quite inaccurate), and the idea that Kaylin is Arabic and means beloved could easily stem from that.
Array
Anyway, Kalila is often mislabeled as meaning "beloved" (they do so in the New Age Baby Name Book, which is known for being quite inaccurate), and the idea that Kaylin is Arabic and means beloved could easily stem from that.
Array
1
Oh, I definitely agree about it being an excuse. It simply doesn't make any sense as a 'variation'. I don't see how you'd get Kaylin out of Kalila/Khalilah (I can't handle all those extra H's! I come from a strictly non-H family!).
Kaylin is most likely simply Kaylee with Lynn tacked on (rather like Kimberlin and Amberlyn, thus) or is Kay + Lynn.
Array
Kaylin is most likely simply Kaylee with Lynn tacked on (rather like Kimberlin and Amberlyn, thus) or is Kay + Lynn.
Array
1
I've seen Kimberlin, alas. It pains me a lot. Really ugly. I love the name Lynn, but I hate seeing it tacked onto other names. Especially when it's Amylynn. That hurts, my friend. It really hurts.
Back vaguely on topic, now that we've decided what Kaylin probably has come from, it could have any of these meanings:
Slender lake
Each of the two lake(s?)
Torture lake
My consecration of your name lake
I think I like "torture lake" best. But then, we could get really picky about what the "lin" in it means, and then we'd have lots more to choose from.
Array
Back vaguely on topic, now that we've decided what Kaylin probably has come from, it could have any of these meanings:
Slender lake
Each of the two lake(s?)
Torture lake
My consecration of your name lake
I think I like "torture lake" best. But then, we could get really picky about what the "lin" in it means, and then we'd have lots more to choose from.
Array
1
"Slender lake
Each of the two lake(s?)
Torture lake
My consecration of your name lake"
LOL excellent :-D
Each of the two lake(s?)
Torture lake
My consecration of your name lake"
LOL excellent :-D
1
Lol
I love the name Lynn, and its variants - you might have seen my Linneth / Lynneth polls & posts a while back? :-)
Anyways . . . I think 'slender lake' would come closest, as the bit of "Kayley" that meant 'slender' was the "Kayl" bit, and it seems the most likely of the meanings.
. . . there's other meanings for Lynn? Oh, no! :-D
I love the name Lynn, and its variants - you might have seen my Linneth / Lynneth polls & posts a while back? :-)
Anyways . . . I think 'slender lake' would come closest, as the bit of "Kayley" that meant 'slender' was the "Kayl" bit, and it seems the most likely of the meanings.
. . . there's other meanings for Lynn? Oh, no! :-D
1
I don't check out the polls, unfortunately, heh. Linneth is interesting, though--where'd you find it? I've never seen it before.
"Slender lake" would probably be right, but it just sounds...weird. The meaning makes no sense, heh.
Array
"Slender lake" would probably be right, but it just sounds...weird. The meaning makes no sense, heh.
Array
1
Lol, no, the meaning doesn't make sense at all - unless it was a very slim lake, hehe. Maybe a lake on a brook which is only just wide enough to be called a lake rather than just part of the brook . . . now I'm just thinking about that *way* too much!
I'm not sure whether I found Linneth or just made it up. I used it in a fantasy story when I was in my teens, and I rediscovered it recently and thought "hey, that's actually not bad". It's basically a variation of Lynette, so it has the same meaning of "little lake".
I'm not sure whether I found Linneth or just made it up. I used it in a fantasy story when I was in my teens, and I rediscovered it recently and thought "hey, that's actually not bad". It's basically a variation of Lynette, so it has the same meaning of "little lake".
1
I think that we've effectively over-analyzed this entire Kaylin issue, lol.
Well, Linneth is very pretty. I thought it looked like a weird combination of Lynn and Kenneth originally--which would make it "handsome lake" or "lake born of fire". ;) I think "little lake" is a pretty meaning, though. I love water.
Array
Well, Linneth is very pretty. I thought it looked like a weird combination of Lynn and Kenneth originally--which would make it "handsome lake" or "lake born of fire". ;) I think "little lake" is a pretty meaning, though. I love water.
Array
1