The Beauty of Names

Salma Agha Origin: Arabic Gender: Female Meaning: "Safe" Pronunciation: SAHL-mah Other Forms: Salima, Shulammite, Shlomit, Selma, Salamatu; Salim, Saleem, Salman *This post is dedicated to my Dad's Boss who has kindly provided me some interesting family names to work with! Thanks Randa. Beautiful, short and sweet, with a surprising Biblical connection and a wealth of interesting (and inspiring!) namesakes -- today's name is the Arabic Salma. Derived from سَلِمَ (salima), which means "to be safe", Salma is best known for being the first name of the sultry Ms. Hayek, who is of mixed Lebanese, Mexican, and Spanish heritage, lending it a bit of familiarity for those worried it might be too unusual. It actually ranked in the US in 2019, though down towards the end at #909, but has seen popularity in Spain (where its cracked the top 100) and the Netherlands, which has a large Arabic diaspora. Other namesakes include Pakistan born Indian-British Bollywood star Salm...

Fatou Samba of "Blackswan" Origin: West African and Arabic Gender: Female Meaning: "To Abstain" Pronunciation: fa-TOO-mah-tah; FA-teem-ah Other Forms: Fatou, Fatuma, Fatma, Fatima, Fatimah, Fatimata, Fatimatou My sister, K-pop lover that she is, was the first one to bring to my attention Fatou Samba, one of the first black members of a K-pop group, and her beautiful name. Fatou is a diminutive of Fatoumata, a version of the Arabic Fatimah, which is popular in French-influenced parts of West Africa. Fatou herself was born in Senegal, but raised in Belgium. Fatimah means "to abstain", and its most famous bearer is a daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and eventual wife of Ali, fourth of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the first Shia Imam -- Fatimah bint Muhammad. According to Sunni Muslims, she was the youngest of his daughters, while Shia Muslims believe she was the only child who lived to adulthood; either way, Fatimah is regarded as an incredibly important fi...

Names from  The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova -   I just finished an ARC of an absolutely amazing book comping out Sep. 7th (read my review here ), and not only did it become one of my favorites of 2021, it had some of the best names I've ever seen in a novel. Based around the huge Montoya family, some favorites of mine were: Marimar Tatinelly Rhiannon Rose Florecida Orquídea Lucero Aracely Dulce Parcha Pena Penelope Jefa/Jefita Ana Cruz Bolívar Lázaro Reymundo Juan-Luís Gaston Pedrito Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday night!

Angourie Rice Origin: Aboriginal Gender: Female Meaning: Possibly "tail-feather of a seagull or sea eagle" Pronunciation: ann-GOW-ree Other Forms: N/A I've finally gotten around to watching Kate Winslet's new show on HBO, Mare of Easttown, and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's gritty, and perfectly captures small-town life. Her daughter, Siobhan, is played by Australian actress Angourie Rice (her sister also has an unusual name -- Kalliope). Of course, being name-obsessed as I am, I immediately dove into researching the name! Angourie herself is named after a town in New South Wales where her grandmother lived. Angourie is said to be from an Aboriginal word meaning "tail-feather of a seagull or sea eagle". For many of the indigenous people of Australia, the white-bellied sea eagle is an important figure, seen as guardian of the people and land. The seagull as well is highly regarded, and for some peoples it was common to have a small ceremonial car...