What's In A Name

Names are interesting entities in their own right. They provide identity and individuality for the alive and inanimate. But by far the most interesting feature of a name is its origin and meaning. It’s almost always nearly fun to discover that your name traces back to, say, a famous ancient Mesopotamian weaver, or Gengis Khan’s personal boot polisher (almost because you don’t want to end up like this poor kid). And in a world where the global population keeps bursting beyond the 6 billion estimate, it must be pleasant to know that you’ve got unexpected namesakes that bond you together regardless of whether you’re destined to meet in this life.

Without further ado (a.k.a. I can’t sleep although I feel like it, I’m bored as my grandmother is asleep but likes me to accompany her in the same room, I can’t think of anything else to blog about tonight and because what I say must go sometime, damnit), I present to you today’s trivia: the meaning of my name (as far as I understand) and some of my interesting namesakes.

The first part of my name, Nur, is a common Arabic word meaning ‘light’. Ilyanna is a bit trickier to dissect, as there doesn’t seem to be a direct match for this name in Arabic. To keep to an Arabic context, I assume that Yanna (also a Russian name that is pronounced the same way but spelled as Janna) is a derivation of Liyana. Both generally mean ‘soft/gentle/slender in character’. When separated from the second half of the name, ‘Il-’ becomes a prefix meaning something like ‘such/amat (in Malay)’. Hence, Nur Ilyanna loosely translates to: ‘Such slender light/Cahaya yang amat lembut’.

All credit goes to my dad for giving me a pretty name, although I don’t seem to be living up to its expectations. :/

Fun namesakes I’ve discovered over the years (please take note, Yanni jokes are ANCIENT and out-of-date):

• In Buffy: Jenny Calendar @ Giles’ lady love @ sexy librarian @ well-intentioned Romanian gypsy was in reality named Janna, pronounced Yanna.
• In the Marvel universe: Illyana Rasputin is the real name of superhero and X-Men member Magik, who unfortunately was killed off in the comics years ago. She had the power to teleport herself and others through time and space by creating special “stepping discs”.



• In Star Wars: Yanna is a planet famous for being a commercial and trading port.

Honorary mentions:
I’m also a Canadian theatre actress, a number of Russian athletes, a French cabaret singer/actress, and...a boot? *sweatdrop*

Folks, do send in your own name meanings as well. If you’re not sure about it, I highly recommend that you do some research. Not only is it a bit of light in dark times, but it also gives you clues about yourself, given that you take the time to analyze it well.