Tsianina Levounne Amberly Reese Heather Margaret Barcelona Mendoza. Imagine fitting that into your test paper, or your driver’s license.
Tsianina is a senior high school student at the University of Mindanao, and one of her professors named Carl was so amused by her name that he shared her ID picture on Facebook. That Facebook post went viral, with 985 shares, 1,300 reactions, and 333 comments.
Tsianina’s mother claims full responsibility for her many names, sharing the respective meaning and significance of each name on a post on ABS-CBN. Personal sentiments aside though, we took to exploring the etymology of Tsianina’s long list of first names. Check them out.
Tsianina
Pronunciation: Cha-nee-na
Nationality: Native American
Meaning: The earliest noted bearer of the name Tsianina is Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone (December 13, 1882 – January 10, 1985), a Creek/Cherokee singer and performer
Levounne
Pronunciation: Leh-vaw-nn
Nationality: Armenian or French
Meaning: Levounne could be related to Levonne, the Armenian derivative of the name Leon meaning “lion” in Greek. It could also be a form of Lavonne, which means “wood” in French.
Amberly
Pronunciation: AM-bər-lee
Nationality: English, Arabic
Meaning: Amberly is an elaboration of Amber, which could denote the orange-yellow gemstone formed from fossil resin. It could also be derived from the Arabic عنبر(‘anbar), which means perfume.
The name Amberly became popular after the release of Kathleen Winsor’s novel Forever Amber.
Reese
Pronunciation: REES
Nationality: Welsh
Meaning: Reese is the anglicized form of Rhys. Rhys in Welsh means enthusiasm.
Heather
Pronunciation: HE-dhər
Nationality: English
Meaning: Derived from the Middle English name hather, meaning the variety of small shrubs with pink or white flowers which commonly grow in rocky areas.
Margaret
Pronunciation: MAHR-gə-rit
Nationality: English, Latin
Meaning: The english name comes from the Latin name Margarita, which was from Greek μαργαριτης (margarites) meaning “pearl.”
What about you? Do you know someone with a name that’s as lengthy or maybe even longer than Tsianina’s? Let us know in the comments below and share the meaning behind your name.
Header photo courtesy of news.abs-cbn.com
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Writer: ANTHEA REYES