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[Opinions] Amaya
My friend named her daughter this recently. Her other daughter is Zoe. What do you think? I really like it. It's pronounced ah-MY-a (this is the way she pronounces it).I just don't like the meaning 'the end'. I also read it means 'night rain' in Japanese but that's probably not true (does anyone know Japanese and can tell for sure?).Anyway her middle name is Saray (I think it's the Spanish form of Sarai). Amaya Saray. Her sister is Zoe Ananda.
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Yup, Amaya could be night rain in Japanese: 雨夜
or rain valley: 雨谷
'Night rain' sounds a bit like a euphemism for wetting the bed, but still it's much nicer than 'the end'. Amaya is quite pretty. Not sure the middle name goes. Zoe and Ananda are nice.
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So Zoe Ananda gets a "blissful life" while Amaya Saray has to make do with a "contentious end"? ;-)None of the names are exactly my cup of tea to be honest, although Sarai (this spelling) is nice enough. I do think, however, that Zoe and Ananda go rather well together, sound-wise, flow-wise, etc. And it's nice to see Zoe spelt this way.
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hahaha I though the same thing :P But maybe they thought Amaya means 'night rain' so the combo would mean 'contentious night rain' :P Okay, not much better, I admit :P
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Okay, this is really, like really, far-fetched, but then again, it's just for fun, right?When you said that Amaya could also be a Japanese name, I looked up Saray because it reminded me of all those Turkish names ending in ay.
Turns out "saray" actually is a Turkish word, the term for "serail" or "seraglio" (as in the living quarters of the wives and concubines in an Ottoman palace). It's ultimately derived from a Persian word for "palace". And "palace" or "castle" also seems to be the modern Turkish meaning of this word.
I doubt that Saray is or was ever used as a given name (although I could be wrong), but it allows for another interpretation of Amaya Saray. How about "rainy night over the palace"? ;-)
I think I'd like that better than a "contentious end". Or maybe not. :P
As I said: probably as false as it can get but all in good fun.

This message was edited 8/13/2012, 10:40 AM

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I think Zoe and Amaya sound gorgeous for sisters!! I pronounce Amaya the same as your friend and I think it's such a pretty sounding name, but the meaning bothers me too. Unless of course it's the final child you'd be having, then it could make a little more sense in that situation.
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I love Amaya and am not bothered by the meaning. It's sweet with Zoe, though I don't care for Saray at all.
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I quite like Amaya (prefer just Maya), but don't like Amaya Saray as a combo. I do love Zoe Ananda.
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I much prefer Zoe Ananda over Amaya Saray. But neither of the names are bad, I actually used to really like Amaya! And I remember that I named one of my sims characters Sarai when I was younger, so I probably used to like that too. ;-)
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