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Quiz: Female Given Names – their Meaning and History

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How much do you know about the history and meaning behind these girls’ names? Share your experience and results below ?

To play a similar quiz on boys’ names click here.

  • Question of

    In 2015 the most popular given female name in Argentina, Denmark and Italy was that of which European capital city?

    • Sofia
    • Tirana
    • Nicosia
  • Question of

    Fatma/Fatima (فَاطِمَة) is a popular girls’ name in the Muslim world. It is also the name of a Catholic shrine in Portugal, originally named after a Moorish princess. The name means…

    • The fat mother
    • She who weans
    • She who wears jeans
  • Question of

    In 2015, the most common name given to girls in South Africa was which of the following? (The other two were second and third most popular!)

    • Princess
    • Precious
    • Angel
  • Question of

    Sarah/Sara is a popular girls’ name throughout Europe, the Middle East and America. The earliest recorded Sara was (according to the Bible and the Qur’an) the wife of

    • Abraham/Ibrahim
    • Isaac/Ishaq
    • Ismail/Ishmael
  • Question of

    Esperanza is a popular girls’ name in Spanish-speaking countries. Its meaning is…

    • Desperation
    • Pain
    • Hope
  • Question of

    The names Melissa and Deborah are Greek and Hebrew respectively for which insect?

    • Dragonfly
    • Bee
    • Grasshopper
  • Question of

    True or False: Zeynab was the name of the Islamic prophet Muhammad’s cousin and wife; of another of his wives; of his daughter, and of his grand-daughter.

    • True
    • False
  • Question of

    Ivalu is a popular girl’s name in Greenland. It means…

    • sinew
    • seal fat
    • daisy
  • Question of

    Which of the following girls’ names does not describe something edible?

    • Olive
    • Angelica
    • Saffron
    • Iris
    • Clementine
  • Question of

    In Britain in the late 1800s, Queenie was a common familiar form for which name?

    • Victoria
    • Gwendolen
    • Elizabeth

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Written by Norman Darlo

50 Comments

      • Only if ‘unique’ is used precisely according to its dictionary definition, John. Colloquially, the word is used to indicate unusualness (as I feel sure you must be aware!) Similarly, one may talk of one tomato being “rounder” than another 🙂

        • It is a very sloppy use of language that – in effect – destroys a useful word. We need to have a simple way of saying that there is only one of something, and there is such a word – “unique” – that does exactly the job required. There is another word for when we want to say that there are not many of something, but more than one – that word is “unusual”. Confusing the two serves absolutely no useful purpose, and the sooner we all recognised that fact, the better!