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ArchivesRe: name search
in reply to a message by Bev
I would say that "Malenia" is a contracted form of the name "Magdalene" -- a name which has undergone a number of transformations through the centuries, sometimes taking the form of "Madeline", "Malina", and even "Marlena" (when contracted from "Mary Magdalene" of the New Testament).
The reason why I suspect your "Malenia" is a form of "Magdalene" is because a 'net search not only revealed (from U.S. genealogy websites) that this name is not a recent invention, but also because one search turned up a person who actually bore the name of "Mary Malenia".
"Magdalene", by the way, means "of Magdala", a town along the Sea of Galilee which was the birthplace of the original Mary Magdalene.
-- Nanaea
The reason why I suspect your "Malenia" is a form of "Magdalene" is because a 'net search not only revealed (from U.S. genealogy websites) that this name is not a recent invention, but also because one search turned up a person who actually bore the name of "Mary Malenia".
"Magdalene", by the way, means "of Magdala", a town along the Sea of Galilee which was the birthplace of the original Mary Magdalene.
-- Nanaea
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Nan's approach is very plausible. But I cant help but note that Malenia may possibly also be related to the name Melaina, related to the Greek word "melas" meaning dark or black. The name Melaina was encountered in Cyprus and the Aegean island during antiquity. A contemporaty version of Melaina is Melanie.
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