Safiyya

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic صفيّة
Meaning: “pure.”
(sah-FEE-yah)

The name is derived from the Arabic word, saf صاف (pure).

The name was borne by Safiyya Bint Huyayy, a Jewish-Bedouin woman who converted to Islam and became one of the Prophet Mohammed’s wives. It was also borne by Safiyya bint ‘Abd al-Muttalib, a Sahaba of Mohammed.

As of 2010, its Maghrebin form of Safia was the 293rd most popular female name in France. Her variant forms appear throughout the French top 500; their rankings are as follows:

• # 297 (Safa)
• # 466 (Safiya)

Safiyyah was the 10th most popular female name in Malaysia (2011)

Other forms of Safiya include:

• Safija Сафия (Albanian/Bosnian/Bulgarian/Central Asian)
• Safia (Algerian/Berber/Moroccan/Tunisian)
• Safa (Arabic)
• Saffiya (Arabic)
• Safiye (Azeri/Kurdish/Turkish)
• Shafiyah (Indonesian)
• Safiyyah (Malaysian)
• Safiya صفیه (Persian)

Sufian

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic
Meaning: debated
(SOOF-yahn)

The name could either be derived from the Arabic ṣafā (صَفا) meaning, “pure” or the Arabic,    ṣūf (صُوف), meaning, “wool.”

The name was borne by Abu Sufyan, originally a staunch opponent to the Prophet Mohammed, he later became a devout Muslim. It was also borne by Sufyan ath-Thawri ibn Said (716–778), a notable Islamic scholar who is credited for putting together many of the hadiths.

A modern notable bearer is American musician, Sufjan Stevens (b.1975).

As of 2010, its Maghrebin form of Sofiane was the 106th most popular male name in France.

Other forms of the name include:

• Sufyan (Albanian/Arabic)
• Sofiane (Algerian/Moroccan/Tunisian)
• Sufian (Arabic/Persian)
• Süfyan (Azeri/Kurdish/Turkish)
• Sufjan Суфьян (Bosnian/Bulgarian/Central Asian)
• Sufyaan (Somalian)

Sakina

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic  سكينة Сакина
Meaning: “calm; peace; tranquility.”
(sah-KEE-nah)

The term sakina is derived from the Arabic, sukun, meaning, (calm; tranquility; serenity; peace of mind). The term appears in the Qu’ran as the name of an attribute that fell upon Mohammed and his followers from Allah when they entered Mecca unarmed.

Sakina shares the same etymological root with the Hebrew abstract feminine noun, shekinah שכינה‎, which means “dwelling; settling” but in Judaism is used to describe the presence of God in the world.

In Arabic Sakina appears in various forms such as Sukina and Sukayna.

The name was borne by the daughter of Hussein and the great-granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammed, Sukayna bint Hussein. She is revered as a great saint among Shi’a Muslims, known in her life time for her devotion, piety and charity, she was the favorite daughter of Hussein.

As of 2010, Sakina was the 444th most popular female name in France while its Maghrebin form of Soukaina came in lower at # 487.

Other forms of the name include:

• Soukaina (Algerian/Moroccan/Tunisian)
• Sukaina/Sukayna (Arabic)
• Sukina (Arabic)

Samia

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Arabic سامية
Meaning: “elevated; high; lofty.”
(sah-MEE-ah)

Actress and comedienne, Kathy Najimy bestowed this Arabic beauty upon her daughter (named in honour of Kathy’s Lebanese-born mother). Samia is a feminine form of Sami, and is used throughout the Islamic world, though Samia itself is used equally among Arabic-speaking Muslims, Christians and Jews.

As of 2009, Samia was the 392nd most popular female name in France. Her variant spellings of Samiya just entered the U.S. top 1000, coming in as the 959th most popular female name in the United States (2011), while Samiyah ranked in slightly higher, being the 793rd most popular female name.

An Eastern European and Central Asian form is Samija.

Naim

The name could be from the Hebrew נעים‎ meaning, (pleasant) or the Arabic نعیم‎ (tranquil).

As of 2009, Naïm (Maghrebin orthograph) was the 182nd most popular male name in France.

A feminine form is Naima.

Sami

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic سامي
Meaning: “high; elevated; supreme.”
(SAH-mee)

The name is derived from the Arabic meaning, “high; elevated; supreme.”

However, it could also be a Finnish short form of Samuel. In Finland, it has often been used as an independent given name and in recent years is most likely used in reference to the language and ethnic group which is found in Finland, Norway and Russia, perhaps among people of Sami heritage. Sami is also the name of a lake in Finland.

As of 2009, Sami was the 183rd most popular male name in France while in 2010 he came in as the 193rd most popular male name in the Netherlands.

A feminine form of the Arabic is Samia.

Anatole

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Greek Ανατολιος
Meaning: “sunrise.”

The name is derived from the Greek, Anatolios Ανατολιος, which is derived from the word anatole ανατολη (sunrise). The name was borne by a 3rd-century Christian saint, philosopher and martyr.

The name was borne by several other saints.

An anatole is also a musical term employed in jazz.

The name was one of the most popular male names throughout the Soviet Union, before the October Revolution, the name was only used among monks and priests. The name no longer appears in Russia’s top 10.

Its French form of Anatole is 234th most popular male name in France, (2009).

Other forms of the name include:

• Anatol Анатоль (Belarusian/Czech/German/Hungarian/Polish/Romanian)
• Anatolij Анатолиј Анато́лий (Bulgarian/Croatian/Macedonian/Russian/Ukrainian)
• Anatoli ანატოლი (Catalan/Georgian/Russian)
• Anatole (French)
• Anatolios (Greek)
• Anatolio (Italian/Spanish)
• Anatolijs (Latvian)
• Anatolijus (Lithuanian)
• Anatoliusz (Polish)
• Anatólio (Portuguese)
• Anatolie (Romanian)
• Anatoliy (Russian: variant transcription)
• Anatolije Анатолије (Serbian)
• Anadolu (Turkish)

Common Russian diminutives are: Anatolka, Natoli, Natoha, Natosha, Tolia, Tolyunya; Tolyusya; Tolyan; Tolyaha; Tolyasha; Tosha; Tosya; Totya; Tusya 

A feminine form is Anatolia, which was also borne by an early Christian martyr. It shares its name with a region in Turkey.

Other feminine forms include:

• Anatolija Анатолия (Bulgarian/Russian/Serbian)
• Anatolia (Italian/Latin/Polish/Spanish)
• Anatola (Polish)

Idris

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Arabic إدريس‎ or Welsh
Welsh Meaning: “ardent lord.”
Arabic Meaning: uncertain

Idris is of two different origins and is used in two separate cultures. In Welsh, it is composed of the elements, udd (lord; prince) and ris (ardent, enthusiastic.” In Welsh mythology it was borne by a giant who used the mountain peak of Cadair Idris (Seat of Idris) as an observatory. Legends claims that if you spend one night on the mountain peak you wake up either as a madmen or as a great poet. The name was also borne by a 7th-century Welsh prince, Idris ap Gwyddno.

In the Qu’ran, the name is borne by a prophet, traditionally ascribed to being the same as the Biblical prophet Enoch. Many modern Islamic scholars now believe that Idris was a separate person from Enoch. In this case, the name is believed to be of pre-Islamic and possibly of non-Arabic roots of undeterminate etymology, some, however have connected the name with the Arabic root d-r-s, meaning, “study.”

As of 2009, Idris was the 479th most popular male name in France. In France it is used both among the Bretons and among recent Muslim immigrants.

Other forms of the Arabic include:

• Idris إدريس‎) Идрис (Albanian/Arabic/Assyrian/Baloch/Bosnian/Bulgarian/Circassian/Dagestani/Egyptian/Ethiopian/Indonesian/Javanese/Lebanese/Malaysian/Nigerian/Syrian)
• İdris (Azeri/Turkish)
• Idriss (Chadian)
• Driss (Berber/Moroccan)
• Ydyrys Ыдырыс (Chechen/Kazakh/Kyrgyz/Tajik/Tatar/Turkmen/Uzbek)
• Idrîs (Kurdish)
• Idriis (Somali)
• Idrissa (West African)

Edward

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Anglo-Saxon
Meaning: “wealthy guardian.”
Eng (ED-werd; ED-word)

The name is composed of the Anglo-Saxon elements, ead (rich; waelthy) and weard (guard). Due to the popularity of St. Edward the Confessor, the name was one of the few Anglo-Saxon names to have survived the Norman Conquest and to have spread to non-Anglo-Saxon countries.

The name has remained common in the British Royal Family.

As of 2010, Edward was the 43rd most popular male name in England/Wales. His rankings in other countries, in his various forms, are as follows:

• # 3 (Eetu, Finland, 2011)
• # 20 (Duarte, Portugal, 2010)
• # 21 (Eduard, Romania, 2009)
• # 28 (Edoardo, Italy, 2010)
• # 61 (Australia, NSW, 2010)
• # 72 (New Zealand, 2010)
• # 79 (Eduardo, Spain, 2010)
• # 94 (Eduard, Catalonia, 2010)
• # 97 (Edvard, Norway, 2010)
• # 136 (United States, 2010)
• # 153 (Eduardo, United States, 2010)
• # 169 (Scotland, 2010)
• # 226 (Édouard, France, 2009)

Other forms of the name include:

• Eduard Էդվարդ Эдуард ედუარდ Эдуард Едуард (Afrikaans/Albanian/Armenian/Belarusian/Bosnian/Catalan/Croatian/Czech/Dutch/Estonian/Georgian/German/Romanian/Romansch/Russian/Slovak/Ukrainian)
• Ēadƿeard (Anglo-Saxon)
• Idward إدوارد (Arabic: used primarily among Christians)
• Edorta (Basque)
• Edvard Эдвард Эдвард Едвард (Belarusian/Czech/Faroese/Finnish/Russian/Scandinavian/Serbian/Slovene)
• Edouarzh (Breton)
• Eduardu (Corsican/Sardinian)
• Edward (English/German/Polish)
• Eetu (Finnish)
• Eetvartti (Finnish)
• Etuate (Fijian)
• Édouard (French)
• Edo (Frisian)
• Edzard (Frisian)
• Eide (Frisian/Plattdeutsch)
• Eido (Frisian)
• Eduardos Εδουάρδος (Greek)
• Ekewaka (Hawaiian)
• Eduárd (Hungarian)
• Edvárd (Hungarian)
• Eðvarð(ur) (Icelandic)
• Játvarður (Icelandic)
• Éadbhard (Irish)
• Éamonn (Irish)
• Edoardo (Italian)
• Eduardo (Italian/Spanish/Portuguese)
• Odoardo (Italian: Tuscan)
• Eduards (Latvian)
• Edvards (Latvian)
• Eduardas (Lithuanian)
• Edvardas (Lithuanian)
• Eruera (Maori)
• Dwardu (Maltese)
• Duarte (Portuguese)
• Eideard (Scottish)
• Eudard (Scottish)

Common diminutives include:

• Edi (Albanian/Bosnian/Croatian/Slovene/Spanish)
• Ed (Dutch/English/German/Scandinavian)
• Eddie (English/German/Scandinavian)
• Ned (English)
• Ted (English)
• Teddy (English)
• Edek (Polish)
• Dadu (Portuguese)
• Du (Portuguese)
• Edu (Portuguese)
• Lalo (Spanish)

In recent years, especially in the United States, the name has possibly risen in popularity due to the Twilight Series, in which one of the protagonists is named Edward.

There are a few feminine forms, namely the Spanish and Italian, Eduarda, which I shall save for another post.

Ilona

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Hungarian/Finnish Илона
Hung (EE-loh-naw); Fin (EE-loh-nah); Germ/Pol (ee-LOH-nah)

The name was initially a Hungarian form of Helen, but its usage has spread throughout Eastern Europe and as even appeared north as Finland.

In Finland and Estonian, its etymology has often been traced to the Finnish ilona, the essive of the word, ilo, meaning, “joy.”

In Hungarian, it is a translation of Helen, via the Slavic, Jelena, in Old Hungarian it was Jelona. However, it has been suggested that it may be derived from an old Magyar source of uncertain etymology. The name appears quite often in Hungarian folklore.

Ilona is one of the few Hungarian names that has made a name for itself in other cultures, (no pun intended). It is a common female name in Albania, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, France, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Ukraine, the former Yugoslavian Republics and it is occasionally used in some Spanish-speaking countries.

As of 2011, Ilona was the 37th most popular female name in Finland. Her rankings in other countries are as follows:

• # 178 (France, 2009)
• # 478 (the Netherlands, 2010)

A few notable bearers include Ilona Zrinyi (1643-1703), a national heroine in both Hungary and Croatia, a representative of national freedom for both nations. She is famous for opposing the advances of the Habsburg takeover.

A common Hungarian diminutive is Ilonka.