Multicultural Baby Names: The Globe-Trotting Girls

In order to find names for their children, an increasing number of parents are turning away from English names and toward names that honor their family’s cultural background. But in our multicultural society, most children come from more than one ethnic background. What happens when you want to find a name that honors your Greek heritage and your husband’s Persian ancestry? Or a name that is easily pronounced by your Spanish relatives and your husband’s Jewish grandma? Or something that will work for your child whether your family settles in the U.S. or Japan?

Never fear! This is the first of a two-part installment on multicultural names: names with separate origins in at least two languages that will sound perfectly at home in a variety of countries. Today I will cover the girls’ names; look for a post on boys’ names to follow shortly.

Of course, your family doesn’t have to be multi-ethnic in order for you to use these names. They could also be great choices for the children of foreign diplomats, news correspondents, missionaries, anthropologists, or just people who love to travel:

• Alina — “noble” in both Arabic and Germanic
• Amaya — a Basque name meaning “the end” (also used in Spanish-speaking countries) and a Japanese name meaning “night rain”
• Asha — “wish, desire, hope” in Sanskrit and “life” in Swahili
• Ava — “to live” in Hebrew, “voice, sound” in Persian, and “desired” in Germanic
• Ayla — “oak tree” in Hebrew and “moonlight, halo” in Turkish; also a literary invention from Jean M. Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear
• Basia — a Polish diminutive of Barbara (“foreigner”) and a Hebrew diminutive of Batyah (“daughter of God”)
• Dalia — the Spanish word for the dahlia flower, a Lithuanian goddess whose name means “fate, luck,” and a Hebrew name meaning “branch”
• Daria/Darya — respectively the Greek and Russian feminine forms of Darius (“to possess good”); Darya is also a Persian name meaning “sea”
• Dara — “wisdom or compassion” in Hebrew, “star” in Khmer (a language of Cambodia), and “wealthy” in Persian; also an Irish boys’ name meaning “oak tree” or “fruitful”
• Dima — “downpour” in Arabic and a Russian masculine diminutive of Dmitri (“earth mother”)
• Eliana — “my God has answered” in Hebrew and “sun” in Spanish or Italian (derived from Greek helios)
• Elke — a Dutch diminutive of Adelheid (“noble sort”) and a Hebrew name meaning “God has purchased”
• Hana – “bliss, happiness” in Arabic and “flower” in Japanese; also the Czech and Slovak form of the Hebrew Hannah (“favor, grace”)
• Kala — “art form, virtue” in Sanskrit and the Hawaiian form of Sarah (“princess”)
• Kayla/Kaila – an American invention which may derive from Katherine (“pure”); also the Yiddish form of Kelila (“crown of laurel”)
• Kira — a variant of the Irish Ciara (“dark”), a Russian feminine form of Cyrus (“sun”), and a Japanese male name meaning “glitter”
• Lara – a German and Icelandic form of Laura (“laurel”) and a Russian short form of Larisa (“citadel”)
• Lila — “play, amusement” in Sanskrit or a variant of the Persian and Arabic Leila (“night”); some websites say it means “good” in Swahili, though I have been unable to authenticate this
• Lina — “palm tree, tender” in Arabic, “absorbed, united” in Sanskrit, and an Italian and Scandinavian nickname for names ending in lina
• Lulu — “pearl” in Arabic and a German diminutive of Luise/Louisa (“famous warrior”)
• Mai — “apricot blossom” in Vietnamese and “dance” or “true love” in Japanese
• Maia/Maya – Should win points as the ULTIMATE multicultural girls’ name. The former spelling is a Basque form of Mary, the Roman goddess of spring (whose name mean “great” in Latin), and a Greek mythological name (one of the Pleiades); the latter means “illusion” in Sanskrit and “water” in Hebrew; it can also commemorate the great Native American civilization.
• Malia/Melia — the former spelling is a Hawaiian form of Mary; the latter spelling is a Greek nymph whose name means “ash tree” or “honey”
• Mila — “pleasant” in several Slavic languages and “traditions, customs” in Swahili
• Mina — “fish” in Sanskrit or a short form of the Germanic Wilhelmina (“desire + helmet”) used in English and Italian
• Mira — “sea, ocean” in Sanskrit and “peace” in Slavic
• Mona — “wishes, desires” in Arabic and “little noble one” in Irish Gaelic; sometimes associated with the Greek word monos (“moon”) or the Italian ma donna (“lady”); also a Scandinavian short form of Monica
• Nadya — “moist, tender, delicate” in Arabic and “hope” in Russian
• Nana – “vegetable greens” in Japanese and a Greek diminutive of Ioanna (“God is gracious”)
• Naomi — “pleasantness” in Hebrew and “honest and beautiful” in Japanese
• Nessa — “miracle” in Hebrew; also a short form of the English Vanessa and a form of the Irish Gaelic Neasa
• Nia — “purpose” in Swahili and the Welsh form of Niamh (“bright”)
• Nina — a Babylonian fertility goddess, a Quechua (Native American) name meaning “fire,” a Russian and Italian short form of names ending in nina, and the Spanish word for “little girl”
• Nita — “bear” in Choctaw (a Native American language) and an English nickname for the Spanish Anita or Juanita
• Noa — “love” in Japanese and “motion” in Hebrew
• Ora – “light” in Hebrew and a 19th-century American name derived from the Latin oro (“to pray”)
• Orna — “pine tree” in Hebrew and “little pale green one” in Irish
• Raisa — “rose” in Yiddish, “leader, chief” in Arabic, and “more relaxed” in Russian (through Greek)
• Reyna/Reina/Rayna/Raina — the first and second spellings are Spanish (“queen”); the second and third spellings are Yiddish ( “clean, pure”); the third and fourth spellings are Bulgarian (either “queen” or “happy”)
• Rina — “joy” in Hebrew, “melted” in Sanskrit, “jasmine” (or “village of vegetable greens” ) in Japanese; also an English and Italian short form of names ending in rina, such as Katherina
• Rio — a Japanese name that could mean any number of things (“jasmine thread,” “village of cherry blossoms,” or “village center”); also the Spanish and Portuguese word for “river”
• Sarita — “flowing” in Sanskrit and a Spanish diminutive for Sarah (“princess”)
• Talia/Thalia — the former spelling means “dew of God” in Hebrew and could also be considered a short form of Polish, Spanish, and Italian Natalia (“Christmas day”); the latter spelling is the Greek muse of comedy, whose name means “to blossom”; the H in Thalia is silent, so the names are pronounced the same way
• Tova — “good” in Hebrew and “Thor is beautiful” in Swedish
• Una/Oona — “lamb” in Irish; also a literary coinage in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene from the Latin word for “one”
• Zahrah/Zara — the former spelling means “blooming flower” in Arabic; it was adopted into English under the latter spelling, which also corresponds to a Bulgarian feminine diminutive of Zechariah (“God remembers”)
• Zelda — a Yiddish name meaning “blessed, happy” and an English short form of Griselda (“grey battle”)
• Zola — “quiet, tranquil” in Zulu and an Italian surname used as a given name in English speaking countries (perhaps in honor of author Émile Zola)

You probably noticed the majority of these girls’ names are simple two-syllable A-enders. That seems to be a common cross-linguistic tendency in girls’ names, which leads me to believe that similar girls’ names might also travel well. And though some of these sound foreign, most would wear just fine on a child in the U.S., no matter what her heritage.

Please feel free to comment on your favorites and least favorites. Also, if you know of any names I should add to the list, or if you speak one of the languages I’ve mentioned and want to correct something I’ve said, let me know.

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