The Xes of Azeri names

Since the Persian alphabet lacks a letter X, today will be another wildcard day. I chose Azeri names on account of the long historical and cultural relationship between the two peoples. Iran and Azerbaijan share part of their border, and because most of the people who live in the northwesternmost region of the country are Azeris, that region is called Azerbaijan. It was only in 1918 that that name was also applied to the newly-founded neighbouring country (which Persia protested).

X is pronounced like the guttural CH in “loch” and Chanukah, and Ə ə is pronounced like the A in “cat.”

Female names:

Xədicə is the Azeri form of the Arabic name Khadijah, which means “premature child.”

Xalidə is the Azeri form of the Arabic name Khalida, which means “eternal.”

Xanım means “lady, madame, woman.” It derives from the Turkish noble title hanım, the female equivalent of khan.

Xatirə is the Azeri feminine form of the Arabic name Khatir, which means “heart, idea, mind, notion.”

Male names:

Xariton is the Azeri form of the Russian name Khariton, which ultimately derives from the Greek name Chariton and means “grace, kindness.”

Xəlil is the Azeri form of the Arabic name Khalil, which means “friend.”

Xəyal means “fantasy, dream, imagination.” It derives from the Arabic word khayal.

Xviça is the Azeri form of the Georgian name Khvicha, which derives from a Mingrelian word meaning “bright, brilliant, sparkling, glittering.”

Advertisement

The Xes of Tatar names

Since there’s no letter X in Ukrainian, today is a wildcard day. I decided to do Tatar names because the Crimean Tatars controlled part of Ukraine for many centuries, and there was some natural cultural osmosis. However, not nearly so much as when the rulers were Polish, Russian, or Austrian! The native population didn’t exactly enjoy the constant slave raids and second-class citizenship.

Male names:

Xäbib is the Tatar form of the Arabic name Habib (darling, belovèd).

Xäkimcan is a variant form of Häkimcan, which comes from the Arabic name Hakim (wise) and the Turkish name Can (pronounced Jan) (life, soul, darling, sweetheart).

Xäsän is the Tatar and Bashkir form of the Arabic name Hasan (handsome).

Xäydär is the Tatar and Bashkir form of the Arabic name Haidar (lion, warrior).

Female names:

Xäbira is probably a feminine form of the Arabic name Habir, or Khabir (expert, learnèd).

Xäyat means “life, being.”

Xörşidä may be a form of the unisex Persian name Khurshid, which derives from the Avestan name Hvare Khshaeta (shining sun).

Xösniya is the Tatar form of the Arabic name Husniya (beauty, goodness, excellence).

The Xes of Medieval Galician, Spanish, and Basque names

Because Italian has no names starting with X, today is another wildcard day. I’ve taken care not to reuse any of the Medieval X names featured in my 2018 post.

Female names:

Xabadin (Basque) is a form of Sabina (Sabine woman).

Xixili (Basque) is a form of Cecilia (blind).

Male names:

Xabe (Spanish) may be a form of Xavier (the new house), but perhaps it just has a similar sound and appearance.

Xabiça (Spanish) may also derive from Xavier, but I don’t want to assume without any evidence.

Xacob (Galician) is a form of Jakob, which derives from the original Hebrew name Ya’akov. Though traditional etymology claims this name means “heel, supplanter,” many modern Biblical scholars now believe it truly comes from Semitic roots meaning “may God protect.”

Xácome (Galician) is a form of James, which in turn also derives from Jakob.

Xain (Spanish)

Xame (Spanish)

Xemeno (Spanish) looks like an obvious form of Simon, which derives from the Hebrew name Shimon (he has heard).

Xil (Galician) is a form of Giles, which comes from Latin name Aegidius and Greek word aigidion (young goat).

Wildcard X names

Since there are no Estonian names starting with X, either native or borrowed, today is another wildcard spotlight. X is one of my fave letters for names, since getting a chance to use one is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Male:

Xabiso means “value” in Xhosa, a South African language.

Xale means “shawl” in Portuguese. This is a rare Brazilian name.

Xaloc means “sirocco” (a hot, dusty wind) in Catalan.

Xelas is the name of the Transformer in Lummi mythology. The Lummi tribe, of whom sadly only 5,000 are left, lives in the North American Pacific Northwest.

Xoviano is the Galician form of Jovian, which ultimately derives from Jupiter (sky father).

Xylon means “timber” in Greek.

Female:

Xana is a nymph or fairy in Asturian mythology. The name may be based on Diana, which probably means “divine, heavenly.”

Xenodike, or Xenodice, means “guest’s justice” and “foreigner’s justice” in Greek.

Xenopatra means “guest’s father” and “foreigner’s father” in Greek.

Xetsa means “twin” in Ewe, a language spoken in Ghana and Togo.

Xihlamariso means “marvel, surprise” in Tsonga, a language spoken in Mozambique and South Africa.

Xolisile means “we are sorry” in Zulu, a South African language.

Jasmine names

The English flower name Jasmine derives from Persian yasamin, and entered the language via Old French. It entered the U.S. Top 100 in 1973, at #856, and shot up the charts with alacrity. Jasmine entered the Top 100 in 1986 and rose to its highest rank of #23 in 1993 and 1994. It stayed in the Top 30 from 1989–2006, then slowly began descending. In 2018, it was #136.

The name also enjoys popularity in New Zealand (#82), England and Wales (#75), and Italy (#105).

Variants include:

1. Gelsomina is Italian.

2. Jasmina is Serbian, Slovenian, Bosnian, Macedonian, and Croatian. Jasmína is Czech; Jaśmina is Polish; and Jasmīna is Latvian.

3. Jázmin is Hungarian.

4. Jasmin is German and Finnish. Jasmîn is Norman.

5. Jessamine is a rare English form.

6. Yasmin is Arabic and Urdu.

7. Yasmina is Arabic.

8. Yasmine is Arabic and French.

9. Yasmeen is Arabic and Urdu.

10. Yasamin is Persian.

11. Yasaman is also Persian.

12. Jasmijn is Dutch.

13. Iasmina is Romanian.

14. Iasmine is Greek.

15. Jaminka is Vlach.

16. Jasmiin is Estonian.

17. Jessamy is an older English form.

18. Jessima is an archaic English form.

19. Gessamí is Catalan.

20. Yesmine is Armenian.

21. Xasmina is Galician.

22. Giasemi, or Yiasemi, is Greek.

23. Zhasmin is Kazakh.

Other names whose meanings relate to the word “jasmine” include:

Unisex:

Amane can mean “imperial jasmine hope,” “my jasmine summit,” and “affection jasmine sound” in Japanese, among many other kanji permutations. As much as I love Japanese names, sorting through all these possible meanings gives me a headache!

Hijiri can mean “holy jasmine” in Japanese.

Jumi means “jasmine” in Bengali.

Katori can mean “beautiful/good person of white jasmine” in Japanese.

Mafuyu can mean “jasmine linen friend,” “jasmine air tenderness,” and “jasmine winter” in Japanese.

Matsuki can mean “jasmine moon tree,” “jasmine moon tortoise,” “jasmine haven measure,” and “jasmine moon atmosphere” in Japanese.

Parijat derives from Sanskrit parijata, which refers to several plants including night jasmine.

Rinon can mean “jasmine warmth,” “jasmine dream,” and “jasmine hope” in Japanese.

Shima can mean “determination, ambition, aspiration, will, purpose” combined with “white jasmine” in Japanese.

Yuriya can mean “healing white jasmine night” in Japanese.

Male:

Ikuma can mean “lively jasmine” and “genuine jasmine” in Japanese.

Maya can mean “jasmine colour,” “jasmine valley,” “jasmine sunshine,” and “jasmine design” in Japanese. I obviously wouldn’t recommend this in a country where Maya/Maja is a female name.

Rihito can mean “jasmine fire person,” “jasmine light metropolis,” “jasmine history,” and “jasmine beauty” in Japanese.

Female:

Aguri can mean “Asia, come after, rank next” with “long time” and “jasmine” in Japanese. As a male or unisex name, other kanji may be used.

Airi can mean “love, affection” combined with “white jasmine” in Japanese.

Akari can mean “bright white jasmine” in Japanese.

Amari can mean “sky, heaven” combined with “white jasmine” in Japanese.

Amiri can mean “second, Asia” combined with “beautiful” and “white jasmine” in Japanese.

Bibisuman means “mother, authoritative woman, learnèd woman” combined with “jasmine” in Uzbek.

Chameli is the Hindu name for various jasmine flowers.

Gulsuman means “jasmine flower” in Uzbek.

Hasmik means “jasmine” in Armenian. Another form is Asmik.

Hima can mean “the Sun” combined with “white jasmine” in Japanese.

Himari can mean “day, sun” combined with “jasmine plant” in Japanese.

Hirari can mean “sky orchid white jasmine” in Japanese.

Hirori can mean “expand white jasmine” in Japanese.

Irodori can mean “white jasmine colour” in Japanese.

Kannika means “night jasmine” in Thai.

Kharasvara means “wild jasmine” in Sanskrit.

Kiria can mean “tree, plant” combined with “white jasmine” and “love, affection” in Japanese.

Kokori can mean “mind, soul, heart” combined with “white jasmine” in Japanese.

Luli means “dewy jasmine” in Chinese.

Maeko can mean “white jasmine glory child” in Japanese.

Mahana can mean “jasmine flower” in Japanese.

Maladee means “jasmine” in Thai.

Malati means “jasmine” in Sanskrit.

Melati means “jasmine flower” in Indonesian and Malaysian.

Melur also means “jasmine” in Indonesian and Malaysian.

Ratree means “night jasmine” in Thai. Unfortunately, it might not be a good idea in an Anglophone country.

Riko can mean “white jasmine child” in Japanese.

Rina can mean “white jasmine” combined with “vegetables, greens” or a phonetic character in Japanese. This is a completely separate name from other languages’ Rinas.

Rio can mean “white jasmine thread,” “white jasmine cherry blossom,” and “white jasmine centre” in Japanese.

Sabai means “jasmine” in Burmese.

Sampaguita means “jasmine” in Filipino. Jasmine is the national flower of The Philippines.

Vasantamallika means “spring jasmine” in Sanskrit.

Xewali means “jasmine” in Assamese, the easternmost Indo–European language, spoken in India.