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ArchivesRe: A bunch of odd name questions...
in reply to a message by Caprice
Fosetta is not listed in my Italian name dictionary (Santi e Fanti by Enzo La Stella T.).
In my experience Moselle has sometimes been used as a feminine form of Moses in Jewish American families, so I don't think it's always a working class name.
Although I don't know for sure, I would strongly suspect that Nadira is used by Christians in Arabic-speaking countries as well as Muslims, and it is certainly used by non-Muslim African-Americans in the USA.
I have yet to see any name from an African language that seems to me to be a candidate for the origin of Keisha. "Kisa" is a name meaning "kindness" in the Ganda language of Uganda, but that is probably a coincidence. Keshawna is almost certainly a recent creation because it fits in with Lashawna, Rashawnda, Tyshawn, etc. and other African-American creations based on Shawn.
From a quick bit of Googling, the main references to a woman named Saffi are to Saffi Crawford, a writer of books on astrology and numerology who lives in London. My guess (though it's only a guess) is that Saffi is more likely to be a pet form of Saffron than a form of Sophie in her case. Saffi is also an alternate spelling for the city of Safi in Morrocco, is used as a surname in Arabic speaking countries, and turns up as the name of a male Jewish singer, though that may just be a stage name. It certainly could be a pet form of several Arabic girls' names such as Saffanah, Safa, and Safiyah. The Arabic name Safiyah is not a form of Sophia but goes back to words that meant "sincere friend", according to Digest of Muslim Names by Fatimah Suzanne Al Ja'fari.
In my experience Moselle has sometimes been used as a feminine form of Moses in Jewish American families, so I don't think it's always a working class name.
Although I don't know for sure, I would strongly suspect that Nadira is used by Christians in Arabic-speaking countries as well as Muslims, and it is certainly used by non-Muslim African-Americans in the USA.
I have yet to see any name from an African language that seems to me to be a candidate for the origin of Keisha. "Kisa" is a name meaning "kindness" in the Ganda language of Uganda, but that is probably a coincidence. Keshawna is almost certainly a recent creation because it fits in with Lashawna, Rashawnda, Tyshawn, etc. and other African-American creations based on Shawn.
From a quick bit of Googling, the main references to a woman named Saffi are to Saffi Crawford, a writer of books on astrology and numerology who lives in London. My guess (though it's only a guess) is that Saffi is more likely to be a pet form of Saffron than a form of Sophie in her case. Saffi is also an alternate spelling for the city of Safi in Morrocco, is used as a surname in Arabic speaking countries, and turns up as the name of a male Jewish singer, though that may just be a stage name. It certainly could be a pet form of several Arabic girls' names such as Saffanah, Safa, and Safiyah. The Arabic name Safiyah is not a form of Sophia but goes back to words that meant "sincere friend", according to Digest of Muslim Names by Fatimah Suzanne Al Ja'fari.
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