![]() Diana was the Roman goddess of the hunt. | |
Gender | Female |
---|---|
Origin | |
Word/name | mythological |
Meaning | heavenly, divinity, deity, shine, bright light, like diamond |
Other names | |
Related names | Deanna, Diane, Dianna, Kiana, Dana |
Diana is a feminine given name of Latin and Greek origins, referring to the Roman goddess Diana, goddess of the hunt and the moon. [1] [2]
It came into use in the Anglosphere in the 1600s by classically educated parents as an English-language version of the French version of the name, Diane. [3] [4] [5]
There are no traditional male variants of the name Diana [ citation needed ], although there are some names that share the same sound, such as:
Diana recalls the Greek and Roman goddess Diana. Diana translates to the Latin form Artemis. [7] [8] The name can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European root *dyeu or *dyeus and *div- meaning "to shine" (diya-) or "sky", dius, deus and diwio, "deity, god, godlike" and [7] dium meaning Universe. [8] The meanings are therefore "heavenly", "holy", "divine", "demonic", "celestial", "cosmic", "nebulous", "chaotic", "abyssal", "void", "luminous", "shining", [7] and in a broader sense "which brings the day", "which has light", "which has divine power", "which belongs to the void/abyss/chaos" and "which comes from the Universe/outer space". The word “Diamond”, or “Diamante” in French, is also brought from the Proto-Indo-European word “diya-“, which means bright light.
Diana was already in use as a given name in ancient Rome, but exclusively outside Christian circles, in which it was seen as a pagan name. [7] In Italy, the variant "Daiana", an adaptation based on the English pronunciation, is also common. [6] The French variant "Diane" gained popularity during the 19th century. [5]