Monday, December 31, 2012

"New" Names

I'm quite intrigued by the up-and-coming girls' name Nova. I can definitely see the appeal--short & sweet, easy to spell & pronounce, astronomical connections. And, of course, the meaning is quite appropriate for a newborn--"new". Makes me wonder what other 'new' possibilities are out there--surprisingly, only a few established names have 'new' somewhere in their meaning. But, since Nova is simply 'new' in Latin, perhaps we can just use 'new' in other languages? A bit cheesy perhaps, but fun for the new year.

Established names:
Boys:
  • Arata (ah-rah-tah, Japanese)--"new"
  • Athol (ATH-ol, Scottish)--"new Ireland"
  • Navin (nah-VEEN, Hindi)--"new". Also spelled Naveen.
  • Neville (NEV-il, English)--from French, "new town"
  • Xavier (eks-AYV-yer, ZAYV-yer, English)--from Basque, "new house"
Girls:
  • Dagny (DAHG-nee, Scandinavian)--"new day"
  • Signy (SIG-nee, Scandinavian)--"new victory"

Unisex:
  • İlkay (eel-KYE, Turkish)--"new moon"


"new" in other languages:
  • Baru (bah-roo)--Indonesian, Malay
  • Berri (behr-ree)--Basque
  • Jauns (YOWNS)--Latvian
  • Kipya (KEEP-yah)--Swahili
  • Nayā (nuh-YAH)--Hindi [नया], Urdu [نیا]
  • Newydd (NEH-with [th like in 'the'])--Welsh
  • Nový (noh-VEE)--Czech, Slovak
  • Nua (NOO-ah)--Irish
  • Xin (SHEEN)--Chinese [新,dozens of other meanings, depending on the characters]
  • Uusi (OO-see)--Finnish
  • Yeni (YEN-ee)--Turkish

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