Sunday, August 26, 2018

Enas, Onas, & Unas

I'm always on the lookout for names & name patterns that seem to transcend language barriers. For some reason, girls' names in particular seem to follow particular phonetic constructions (I partially blame Latin, but that can't be the only answer!).
I've already rounded up several lists, including two-syllable -ana names and -ina names, and I got to wondering if perhaps -ena, -ona, and -una names are "a thing" as well. Turns out: yes!
All are feminine, unless otherwise indicated.

[because English is an oddball in our pronunciation of -ena names--the rest of the world generally says "ay-nah" or "eh-nah"--I will be omitting English -ena names from this list, and instead promise to go back and add them into the aforementioned -ina names post ;) ]
  • Eena (Finnish)
  • Ena (Scandinavian, Bosnian, Croatian, [Anglicized] Irish, Japanese, Indian [Bengali?]) [separate derivations]
  • Gena (Russian) [masculine]
  • Hena (Yiddish)
  • Jena (Scandinavian) [J said like English Y]
  • Lena (all over the Western world) [multiple derivations]
  • Meena (Finnish)
  • Mena (Scandinavian)
  • Neena (Finnish)
  • Nena (Dutch, Scandinavian, Serbian, Spanish) [separate derivations]
  • Rena/Reena (Scandinavian)
  • Seena (Finnish)
  • Sena (Scandinavian, Japanese, Turkish, Dutch) [separate derivations, unisex in Japanese]
  • Stena ([archaic] Swedish)
  • Svena ([archaic] Swedish)
  • Tena (Croatian)
  • Trena (Macedonian)
  • Zdena (Czech)
  • Zena (Scandinavian, Arabic) [separate derivations]

  • Bona ([archaic] Italian, Swedish) [modernly more common as a surname in Italian]
  • Chona (Philippine Spanish)
  • Dona (Scandinavian)
  • Frona (English)
  • Giona (Italian) [masculine]
  • Gona (Kurdish)
  • Jóna (Icelandic) [J said like English Y]
  • Jona (Scandinavian) [J said like English Y, unisex]
  • Joona (Finnish) [J said like English Y, masculine]
  • Kona (Greenlandic, Indian [Telugu?]) [separate derivations, masculine as an Indian name]
  • Lona (Danish)
  • Mona (English, Scandinavian, Arabic, German, Persian) [multiple derivations]
  • Moona (Finnish)
  • Nona (English, Latin, Scandinavian)
  • Noona (Finnish)
  • Ona (Catalan, Lithuanian) [separate derivations]
  • Rhona (English, Scottish)
  • Rona (English, Scottish, Hebrew, Scandinavian, Albanian) [multiple derivations]
  • Shona ([anglicized] Scottish)
  • Sona (Hindi, Turkmen, Armenian, Scandinavian) [separate derivations]
  • Tona (English, Scandinavian)
  • Zona (English)

  • Bruna (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Croatian, Scandinavian)
  • Djuna (English)
  • Dúna (Icelandic)
  • Guna (Latvian, Indian [Tamil?]) [masculine as an Indian name]
  • Húna (Icelandic)
  • Juna (Dutch, Scandinavian) [J said like English Y]
  • Juna (Japanese, English) [J said like English J, separate derivations]
  • Kruna (Serbian, Croatian)
  • Luna (all over the Western world)
  • Muna/Mouna (Arabic)
  • Rúna (Icelandic)
  • Runa (Scandinavian, Bengali, Japanese) [separate derivations]
  • Suna (Turkish, Scandinavian) [separate derivations]
  • Teuna (Dutch)
  • Úna (Irish)
  • Una (English, Scandinavian, Bosnian, Croatian, Latvian) [multiple derivations]
  • Uuna (Finnish)
  • Yuna (Korean, Japanese, Breton) [separate derivations]
  • Yuuna (Japanese)

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