Origin: |
Ariana is a younger form, in many European Romance languages such as Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, of Ariadna. It is also found as Arianna and Ariane (pronounced ah-ree-AH-nə in German and Dutch, and ah-ree-AHN in French). Ariadna itself is a Latinisation of the Ancient Greek name Ariadne, derived from the archaic Greek prefix ari- "very, most, best" and adnos, the Cretan Greek form of (h)agnos "holy, pure." According to Greek mythology, Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete and Pasiphaë, herself the daughter of the son god Helios and the Oceanid Perse. Her father put her in charge of the labyrinth of Crete in which was housed the minotaur. When the Greek hero Theseus came to Crete to destroy the minotaur, Ariadne fell in love with him and helped Theseus to find his way out of the labyrinth with a ball of twine. The two lovers eloped together, but later they separated – the accounts vary as to why – and Ariadne became the wife of the wine god Dionysus. The constellation Corona Borealis "the crown" is said to be Ariadne's wedding diadem, which was placed in the heavens by Dionysus. The Greeks themselves considered Ariadne to have become a goddess — she is said to have ascended to Olympos with Dionysus after he retrieved her from the underworld. Before it was a given name, Ariana (as well as Aria) was used by classical Greek and Roman writers as a general geographical term used to refer to a vast area that covered the whole of modern-day Afghanistan, eastern Iran, up to the Indus River in Pakistan. The modern name of Iran derives from the Old Persian form Airyane which was ultimately taken from the Old Persian term ariya- "noble, excellent, honourable.". Ariana is also sometimes considered to be a feminine elaboration of the Welsh arian "silver," taking cues from the names Arianwen, Arianrhod and Ariannell. |
Famous Bearers: |
History: * Ariana Nozeman (1626–1661), Dutch actress. Contemporary: * Arianna Bergamaschi (born 1975), Italian singer, stage actress and television presenter. Literature and Other Media: * Ariana Dumbledore, character in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. |
Variants: |
Ariane (French, German), Ariadna (Spanish, Russian, Polish), Arijana (Croatian) |
Pronunciation: |
a-ree-AH-ə [key] |
Possible diminutives: |
Ari, Ana, Ria |
Sibling Names: |
Ayla Lyra Elena Delilah Luna Penelope |
Name Lists: |
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Thanks to Theresa for requesting this name.