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Archiveswhat's the true meaning of the name Shana?
does anyone know what the true meaning of the name Shana is? I've only been able to find it as variations of Shauna, Shannon, and Siani. I know it's Irish/Gaelic, and female, does anyone know? It's my name and I've always been curious
This message was edited 10/9/2004, 1:05 PM
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my name is shawnna also.... spelled diff.... i know it means wise.... it is the female name for shawn or john so you can look them up.
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????
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tried it, all i got was: Shana, variation of Siani. Siani, variation on Sian. Sian, variation of Jeanne. Jeanne, fem. of John. and the meaning of john doesnt help me at all
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you could have been a little nicer about it. I wanted MY name's meaning, NOT some other name's meaning. And the name Shana IS a name itself too, maybe I should find a website that's actually helpful.
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Shana, I'm surprised at you . . .
I would have thought you'd been here long enough now to know that etymology doesn't always work that way.
Shana is ultimately derived from John, so it has the same meaning. It is an Irish Gaelic and/or Welsh version of it, to be sure, but it's still ultimately the same name. It's not our fault, so don't attack us for it. If you don't like the truth that's not our problem.
If you've seen it listed somewhere as having a different etymology, we'd be interested to know about it, naturally, but you need to provide that information for us. It is possible that it did originally have another meaning in a Celtic language, due to cultural transfer at the contact point of Celtic and Christian culture. In such situations the conquered Celts were often given Hebrew/Greek/Latin-based names by their Christian conquerers, and often names were chosen which had either a similar sound or a similar meaning. Hence, girls named Eileen were called Helen, or girls named Gladys were called Claudia etc. However, if Sian / Sine / Sean / Seon etc were originally a Celtic name set which was "adopted" as a version of the Jane / John name set, the original meaning is probably lost to us at this point.
I would have thought you'd been here long enough now to know that etymology doesn't always work that way.
Shana is ultimately derived from John, so it has the same meaning. It is an Irish Gaelic and/or Welsh version of it, to be sure, but it's still ultimately the same name. It's not our fault, so don't attack us for it. If you don't like the truth that's not our problem.
If you've seen it listed somewhere as having a different etymology, we'd be interested to know about it, naturally, but you need to provide that information for us. It is possible that it did originally have another meaning in a Celtic language, due to cultural transfer at the contact point of Celtic and Christian culture. In such situations the conquered Celts were often given Hebrew/Greek/Latin-based names by their Christian conquerers, and often names were chosen which had either a similar sound or a similar meaning. Hence, girls named Eileen were called Helen, or girls named Gladys were called Claudia etc. However, if Sian / Sine / Sean / Seon etc were originally a Celtic name set which was "adopted" as a version of the Jane / John name set, the original meaning is probably lost to us at this point.
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I did a search on it earlier...
and found it to be yiddish, a language that traces back to jewish and german.
and I didn't mean to sound like I was attacking anyone. if i did, i apologize. i was simply asking if anyone knew of any other meaning of it that wasnt a variation, because I wanted to know if it was ever its own name.
and found it to be yiddish, a language that traces back to jewish and german.
and I didn't mean to sound like I was attacking anyone. if i did, i apologize. i was simply asking if anyone knew of any other meaning of it that wasnt a variation, because I wanted to know if it was ever its own name.
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I can say with absolute certainty:
A) If your ancestry is even partly Jewish (of any thread; ashkenazi, sephardi, israeli/former-palestinian, &c.), Chrisell's answer is the most likely.
B) If your ancestry is European and Christian (especially irish or scottish gaelic, less so welsh), your name is more likely derived from the previously discussed 'John.'
Now my understanding (emphasis on 'my'), is that 'Shana/Shayna' are akin to 'Shawna/Shauna' in their derivation from Irish-Gaelic 'Seán.'
'Shawna/Shauna' is phonetically similar to the common pronunciation of 'Seán' as we know it modernly. 'Shana/Shayna' traces its origin to the once-common, but incorrect, Anglicization of 'Seán' as 'Shane.'
The popularity of 'Shane' has always been more than slightly Irish associated, and the feminine form 'Shana/Shayna' is almost certainly therein derived.
I surmise Welsh or Scottish associations to 'Shana/Shayna' developed ex post facto, mostly because I have never seen strong evidence (none firsthand) to support independant development.
Regarding your statement, "...I wanted to know if it was ever its own name." Forenames, given-names, are rarely just definitions but trips upstream sometimes increadibly rough waters.
If the non-Jewish origin is the most likely:
Shana(Eng) < Shane(Eng) < Seán(Ire) 1) < Jean(Frn) 2) < Seadhán/Seathán/Seaghán(OIre) < Jehan(OFrn) < Jehannes(OFrn) < Johannes(Ltn) < Ioannes(Grk) < Yôhanan(Heb)
If the Jewish origin is the most likely, well you are one step from its source.
A) If your ancestry is even partly Jewish (of any thread; ashkenazi, sephardi, israeli/former-palestinian, &c.), Chrisell's answer is the most likely.
B) If your ancestry is European and Christian (especially irish or scottish gaelic, less so welsh), your name is more likely derived from the previously discussed 'John.'
Now my understanding (emphasis on 'my'), is that 'Shana/Shayna' are akin to 'Shawna/Shauna' in their derivation from Irish-Gaelic 'Seán.'
'Shawna/Shauna' is phonetically similar to the common pronunciation of 'Seán' as we know it modernly. 'Shana/Shayna' traces its origin to the once-common, but incorrect, Anglicization of 'Seán' as 'Shane.'
The popularity of 'Shane' has always been more than slightly Irish associated, and the feminine form 'Shana/Shayna' is almost certainly therein derived.
I surmise Welsh or Scottish associations to 'Shana/Shayna' developed ex post facto, mostly because I have never seen strong evidence (none firsthand) to support independant development.
Regarding your statement, "...I wanted to know if it was ever its own name." Forenames, given-names, are rarely just definitions but trips upstream sometimes increadibly rough waters.
If the non-Jewish origin is the most likely:
Shana(Eng) < Shane(Eng) < Seán(Ire) 1) < Jean(Frn) 2) < Seadhán/Seathán/Seaghán(OIre) < Jehan(OFrn) < Jehannes(OFrn) < Johannes(Ltn) < Ioannes(Grk) < Yôhanan(Heb)
If the Jewish origin is the most likely, well you are one step from its source.
This message was edited 10/29/2004, 12:08 AM
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Yes, it is possible that it's a variation of Shaina, a name meaning "beautiful" in Yiddish. However, the rationale is that Yiddish names are very uncommon outside of Northern European (and some colonial) Jewish communities, whereas John / Jane group names are found in every European language and some other languages as well, so Shana is far more likely to belong to the latter group than the former, unless you are Jewish.
I'm glad you didn't intend to attack anyone, however it's quite clear that you *did*, whatever your intention, and I rather feel that you owe Indy a more obvious apology for your outburst, than the one in your post. (That sounds all harsh and school-teacherish! I'm not trying to scold, it's just that I'm a big sister to 5 siblings and it's that side of me that's talking there :-) )
edited for hyperlinking
I'm glad you didn't intend to attack anyone, however it's quite clear that you *did*, whatever your intention, and I rather feel that you owe Indy a more obvious apology for your outburst, than the one in your post. (That sounds all harsh and school-teacherish! I'm not trying to scold, it's just that I'm a big sister to 5 siblings and it's that side of me that's talking there :-) )
edited for hyperlinking
This message was edited 10/10/2004, 9:28 PM
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It's okay, i can understand why she gets frustrated (my own name has 3 different meanings so i've been there), though i think she misunderstood my words, i was only asking a question, not to be rude or anything, but i guess she know that?!
Though i do like your sisterside..lolz!
Though i do like your sisterside..lolz!
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