Fiona Explained

Fiona
Gender:Feminine
Region:Ireland and Scotland
Language:English
Language origin:Gaelic
Derivation:fionn
Meaning:White and fair
Related Names:Fionnghal, Fíona, Gwen, Gwenn and Wynne

Fiona is a feminine given name of Gaelic origins. It means white or fair, the Irish name Fíona means vine. It was coined by Scottish writer William Sharp. Sharp may have drawn inspiration from Celtic variations of the name Catherine. Initially, the name was confined to Scotland but later it gained popularity in other countries, such as Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Australia, Germany and Canada.

Etymology

Fiona originates from the Gaelic word fionn, meaning white or fair, being a Latinised form; or an Anglicisation of the Irish name Fíona meaning vine.[1] In ninth-century Welsh and Breton language Fion (today: ffion) referred to the foxglove species and is also a female given name as in Ffion Hague.[2]

It was coined by the Scottish writer William Sharp under the pseudonym Fiona Macleod. Sharp may have drawn inspiration from Celtic variations of the name Catherine.[3] Fiona carries connotations of gentility and refinement, often suggesting aristocratic lineage for its bearer.[4] The name is commonly shortened to Fi, with other variations including Fina, Fee, and Tiona.[5]

Variations of the name Fiona include Gwenn in Breton, Gwen and Wynne in Welsh. Masculine forms include Fion, Fionn, Finnán, Finnén, Finn, Gwyn and Wyn.[6] The Scottish Gaelic feminine name Fionnghal is also sometimes equated with Fiona.[7]

Popularity

Initially, the name remained largely confined to Scotland until the latter part of the 20th century when it gained popularity in Britain, Australia, and Canada.[8] Additionally, the Ossianic poems of James Macpherson helped to familiarize the name in the English-speaking world. It experienced a surge in popularity during the latter half of the 1960s.

Fiona was the 71st most popular name for baby girls born in 2023 in Germany.[9] It was the 439th most popular female name in Scotland in 2023.[10] The name was the most common female name in the ranking of most popular names for baby girls born in Liechtenstein in 2022.[11] In 2022, in Switzerland, Fiona was the 57th most popular name.[12] In Australia it is the 138th most popular baby names since the 1930s.[13] In New Zealand it was particularly popular during the 1960s until around 1980.[14] In Canada, it was the 287th most popular baby girl name, ranking in 287th.[15] In the US the most girls named Fiona were born in the 21h century and the number of Fionas born per year was greater than 1,000 from 2009 until 2021.[16] It has ranked among the top 1,000 most popular names for girls since 1990 and among the top 500 since 1999.[17] The name Fiona has been particularly popular for girls of Asian or Pacific Islander descent in New York City, where Fiona ranked as the ninth most popular name for girls from those groups in 2007.[18]

Notable people with the given name

Fictional characters

Other

See also

Notes and References

  1. .
  2. http://geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html The University of Wales' Dictionary website
  3. Book: Creswell, Julia . Dictionary of first names . 1995 . [England] : Bookmart Ltd. . Internet Archive . 978-1-85605-340-2.
  4. Book: Room, Adrian . Dictionary of first names . 2002 . London : Cassell ; New York : Distributed in the United States by Sterling Pub. Co. . Internet Archive . 978-0-304-36226-4.
  5. Book: Pickering, David . The Penguin dictionary of first names . 2004 . London : Penguin . Internet Archive . 978-0-14-101398-5.
  6. Web site: Campbell . Mike . Names Related to the name Fiona . 2024-04-30 . Behind the Name . en.
  7. Book: Mark, Colin . The Gaelic-English Dictionary . . 2003 . 0-203-27706-6.
  8. Book: Fergusson, Rosalind . Choose your baby's name : a dictionary of first names . 1991 . London : Bloomsbury Books . Internet Archive . 978-1-85471-080-2.
  9. Web site: Die beliebtesten Vornamen des Jahres 2023 – Top 500 . 2024-04-30 . de-DE.
  10. Web site: Kelly . Lesley-Anne . Morrice . Emma . Sabljak . Ema . 2024-03-28 . Tarzan, Banksy, Frenchie, and Pasty: The full list of Scottish baby names used in 2023 revealed . 2024-04-30 . The Courier . en-GB.
  11. Web site: LLV . 2013-08-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131105035409/http://www.llv.li/llv-as-publikationen-vornamen_neugeborenen.htm . 2013-11-05 .
  12. Web site: Das ist der beliebteste Babyname in deinem Kanton . 2024-04-30 . watson.ch . de.
  13. Web site: Nicholas . Josh . Close call: most popular Australian baby names of the past century revealed . 2024-04-30 . the Guardian . en.
  14. Web site: 2024-05-01 . Revealed: Top Kiwi baby names of 2023 . 2024-04-30 . NZ Herald . en-NZ.
  15. Web site: Government of Canada . Statistics Canada . 2023-05-09 . Baby Names Observatory . 2024-04-30 . www150.statcan.gc.ca.
  16. Web site: Popular Baby Names . 2024-04-30 . www.ssa.gov . en.
  17. Web site: Popular Baby Names. OACT. www.ssa.gov. 2009-09-21. 2018-02-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20180202070118/https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi. dead.
  18. Web site: After More than a Decade, a Shift in the #1 New York City Baby Names. 2009-09-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100209083419/http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2008/pr069-08.shtml . 2010-02-09 .

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