Name of the Week: Luna

 

 

Origin:

Luna was the Roman personification and goddess of the moon, equivalent to the Greek goddess Selene, who travelled across the sky in her horse-drawn chariot. Her siblings were Sol (Helios) "the sun" and Aurora (Eos) "the dawn."  Luna is a Latin word for "moon" derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *leuksna- "shining, gleaming." The Shining One seems to have been an ancient epithet for the moon as it was adopted in several languages as a name for the moon (Old Church Slavonic luna "moon," Armenian lusin "moon," Middle Irish luan "light, moon"). Similarly, the Greek equivalent Selene relates to the word selas "light, brightness, bright flame." The Roman writer Varro (116 BC–27 BC) categorises Luna as one of the twenty principal gods of Roman religion (Di selecti) and also one of the twelve deities who are vital to agriculture (De re rustica). As Apollo was often identified as Sol/Helios, the sun, so too his twin sister Diana (Artemis), the goddess of the hunt was often identified with Luna; the temple dedicated to Luna on the Aventine Hill in Rome was just below Diana's. Juno, the goddess of childbirth and the home, also had Luna as an epithet: "The name Apollo is Greek; they say that he is the Sun, and Diana they identify with the Moon . . . the name Luna is derived from lucere 'to shine’; for it is the same word as Lucina, and therefore in our country Juno Lucina is invoked in childbirth, as is Diana in her manifestation as Lucifera (the light-bringer) among the Greeks. [...] She is invoked to assist at the birth of children, because the period of gestation is either occasionally seven, or more usually nine, lunar revolutions..." Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2. 27 (trans. Rackham)* Luna was also used as a name for silver by ancient alchemists.

Usage:

As Latin became the basis for many languages in Europe, so luna, and variants thereof, were adopted across the Continent (luna in Spanish and Italian, lune in French and Danish, laune in German, lua in Portuguese). As such, by the 17th century, Luna was not only considered to be a Classical name of Roman mythology, but also one adopted to personify the moon in poetry. Luna can be found in a handful of baptisms across Europe, including England, from the late 16th and early 17th century.  The Italian fairy tale Sole, Luna e Talia (1634) by Giambattista Basile tells the folk story of a beauty named Talia who is put into a deep sleep by a splinter of flax. In the tale, Talia's son and daughter are named Sole "sun" and Luna "moon." This later became the basis for the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty which we know today. In the 19th century, Luna was used moderately for girls and occasionally for boys. The 1891 UK census lists 4 males with the first name Luna and 79 females. Births in England and Wales show that it averaged two births per year in the 19th century, but became rare in the mid-20th century: 1840s: 10 births 1850s: 15 births 1860s: 22 births 1870s: 22 births 1880s: 17 births 1890s: 15 births 1900s: 11 births 1910s: 5 births 1920s: 10 births 1930s: 2 births 1940s: 2 births 1950s: 5 births 1960s: 9 births 1970s: 13 births click to enlarge From 1996 up until 2006, Luna was registered no more that twenty times in any given year, putting it firmly below the top 1000. Since then, however, it has been on an upward curve, reaching #639 (50 births) in 2006, #526 (76 births) in 2010, #337 (144 births) in 2012 and #225 (224 births) in 2013.  By this point, Luna had received media attention with the Harry Potter character Luna Lovegood who first appears in the novel The Order of the Phoenix (2003) and her character continued to develop up to the final installment of the series in 2007. The character, portrayed by Evanna Lynch, first appeared in film versions in 2007 and continued the role up to the final film in 2011.  2012 saw the birth of Uma Thurman's daughter Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence, known simply as "Luna," and the following year Penelope Cruz also named her daughter Luna.  In 2014, Luna ranked #146 (380 births) in England and Wales, #246 (18 births) in Scotland and #255 (7 births) in Northern Ireland.  Demonstrating its international appeal, in the same year Luna ranked # 43 in Denmark, #44 in both Belgium and the Netherlands, #50 in France, #65 in Croatia, #67 in Portugal, #81 in Switzerland, #90 in Slovenia, #94 in Spain and #99 in Sweden.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Luna Leopold (1915–2006), American (male) scientist. Contemporary: * Luna (b. 1993), a South Korean singer. * Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson "Luna" (b. 2012), daughter of Uma Thurman. * Luna Encinas Cruz (b. 2013), daughter of Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. Literature and Other Media: * Adeline Luna, a character in Henry James' novel The Bostonians (1886). * Luna Lovegood, a character in J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter novels.  * Princess Luna, a character in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Variants:

Lunar

Pronunciation:

LOO-nə [key]

Possible  longer forms:

Albulena, Aluna, Calluna, Emmanuella, Luciana, Lucina, Lucinda, Lunaria, Lunette, Lunetta, Melusine, Melusina, Ursulina

Sibling Names:

Aria     Belle     Penelope     Maia      Esme     Iris   Seth     Milo     Roman     Enzo     Rex     Arlo

Name Lists:

Dulcet Dainties   Slickly Continental   Gods and Goddesses    Butterfly Names

  

If you like Luna you may also like:   Lyra, Orla, Juno, Lois, Mila, Ariana, Lila, Hebe, Thea, Nova

 

Thanks to Stephanie for requesting this post.