Whats in a name?

I always thought my name was of Spanish origin, because my mother named me after a great great aunt.  Then when I was six, I got an Italian doll whose name was Eliana and she had blonde hair.  Thus I believed my name to be either Spanish or Italian which was ideal since that is my heritage 50/50. 
Then I moved to NYC, and I met many Jewish people who told me my name was of Hebrew descent.  No way!!! I had to get to the bottom of the name game.  I was actually reminded of my name origin search last night when my boyfriend sent me multiple websites with origins for my name.  Check them out to see what your name means:
Baby Names
Behind the Name
Think Baby Names

In case you wanted to know...turns out:

"Eliana's origin is Latin, and its use, English, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Older forms of the name include Aelia (Latin) and Aeliana (Latin). The name is either from the Latin Aeliana, which is ultimately of the Greek helios ('sun'), or else it could be of Hebrew roots. The Roman family name Aelianus gave rise to the feminine Aeliana, which later became Eliana and was made known via the cult of Saint Eliana, an early minor martyr in Pontus. Eliana is the feminine form of the Spanish Elian."
(Definition courtesy of babynamespedia )

(Shot out to Elian Gonzalez!  Whose affair I am sure you remember, and if not you can read up more about it HERE.  Post Script, there have been times I've been mistaken for Elian due to stature and name pronunciation.)

I really think my name originates from Ninjas.  Any way you look at it,  Its cool to know your name origin(s).



"The girl's name Eliana \e-lia-na\ is pronounced el-ee-AH-nah. It is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is "God has answered". May also be related to the Greek "elios" meaning "god of the sun", and the name may thus mean "daughter of the sun"."