Isi

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Choctaw

Meaning: “Deer.”

Pronunciation: (IH-see)

Nicknames: Iz, Izzy

Mileva

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Slavic

Meaning: “Favor, grace.”

Pronunciation: (mahy-LEE-vah)

Nicknames: Miley, Leva

Detail: Mileva Maric was one of the first women to study math and physics in Europe; she and one of her fellow students, Albert Einstein, were later married.

Tala

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Sioux; Cherokee

Meaning: “Wolf; White oak.”

Pronunciation: (TAH-lah)

Nicknames: Tal, Tali, Lala

Nyala

Gender: Feminine

Origin: African

Meaning: “Mountain goat.”

Pronunciation: (nee-YAH-lah)

Nicknames: Nya, Yala

Grusha

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Russian

Meaning: “Wild horse.”

Pronunciation: (GROO-shah)

Nicknames: Gru, Rush

Detail: Pet form of Russian Agrafena, meaning “wild horse.”

Svenja

Gender: Feminine

Origin: German

Meaning: “Swan.”

Pronunciation: (SVEN-yah)

Nicknames: Svee, Svea, Enja  

Detail: German feminine form of Sven.

Alternatively, it may be a Low German short form of names beginning with the Germanic element svan meaning “swan”.

Lamya

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Arabic

Meaning: “Having beautiful dark lips.”

Pronunciation: (lahm-YAH)

Nicknames: Lam, Lami, Lomi, Moa, Mya

Jeevika

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Indian

Meaning: “Water.”

Pronunciation: (jee-VIH-kah)

Nicknames: Jee, Jeevi, Jeeva, Jeeves, Vika

Pandora

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Greek

Meaning: “All gifted.”

Pronunciation: (pan-DOR-uh)

Nicknames: Panda, Pan, Dora

Detail: In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on earth. The gods bestowed her with many talents; Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo music, Hermes persuasion, and so forth. Hence her name: Pandora, “All gifted”.

With her, Pandora had a jar which she was not to open under any circumstance. Impelled by her natural curiosity, Pandora opened the jar, and all evil contained escaped and spread over the earth. She hastened to close the lid, but the whole contents of the jar had escaped, except for one thing which lay at the bottom, and that was Hope.

Eldlilja

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Icelandic

Meaning: “Fire lily.”

Pronunciation: (eld-LEEL-yah)

Nicknames: Elda, Eddie, Lilja, Lila, Lily

Detail: From the Old Norse elements eldr meaning “fire” and lilja “lily”

Zemina

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Slavic

Meaning: “The one who belongs to the Earth.”

Pronunciation: (zeh-MEE-nah)

Nicknames: Zemi, Mina

Detail: The Lithuanian Earth Goddess.

Matryona

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Russian from Latin

Meaning: “Mother.”

Pronunciation: (mah-tree-OH-nuh)

Nicknames: Mona, Mattie, Trya, Tony

Detail: The name Matryona is related to the Latin root mater meaning “mother”.

Matryona’s Place (sometimes Matryona’s Home or House) is a story written in 1959 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. It is the tale of an old peasant woman’s determined struggle against cold, hunger, and greedy relatives.

Ikaroa

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Maori

Meaning: “Milky Way; long part of the fish.”

Pronunciation: (ee-kah-ROH-ah)

Nicknames: Ika, Roa

Detail: Ikaroa literally means the long part of the fish. Ikaroa also refers to the Milky Way.

Tallulah

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Choctaw (Southeastern North America)

Meaning: “Leaping water.”

Pronunciation: (tah-LOO-lah)

Nicknames: Tula, Lula

Nydia

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Latin

Meaning: “Nest.”

Pronunciation: (NIH-dee-ah)

Nicknames: Nyd, Nydi, Nya, Nedda

Io

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Greek

Pronunciation: (AHY-oh)

Detail: In Greek mythology Io was a princess loved by Zeus, who changed her into a heifer in order to hide her from the jealous Hera. She regained human form after she was driven to Egypt by Argus.

A moon of Jupiter bears this name in her honour.

Freyja

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Norse

Meaning: “Lady.”

Pronunciation: (FREY-yah)

Nicknames: Frey, Fay, Reya, Ray

Detail: Freyja is a goddess in Norse mythology associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr (witchcraft), war, and death.

In most Germanic languages the day is named after Freyja, such as Frīatag (Old High German), Freitag (Modern German), Freyjudagr (Old Norse), Vrijdag (Dutch), Fredag (Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish)

Variations:

• Freia
• Freja
• Freya
• Freyja

Peniniya

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Hebrew

Meaning: “Hen, a female chicken.”

Pronunciation: (peh-NIH-nee-yah)

Nicknames: Penny, Peni, Penya, Niya

Yakta

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Afghan

Meaning: “Unique.”

Pronunciation: (YAHK-tah)

Nicknames: Yaka, Yaki, Yaz

Linnea

Gender: Feminine

Origin: Swedish

Meaning: “Linnaea flower.”

Pronunciation: (lih-NEY-ah); (LIH-nee-ah)

Nicknames: Leah, Nea, Naya

Detail: From the name of a flower, also known as the twinflower.

It was named by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, who named it after himself, it being his favourite flower.