Message: "Ama" - Behind the Name

[Opinions] Ama

by whim

3/8/2015, 12:27 PM

Last night I had a very strange dream and during it I named a child. Alma Jean was what I chose initially. However, as the dream developed more the names evolved and I was choosing between Ama Lia and Ama Jean. Jean is my grandmothers middle name and what she went by as a child. It seemed appropriate at the time.

What do you think of Ama [AH-ma]? I had never heard of it before. After looking it up I find it amusing to see that it means "born on Saturday" which was when I had my dream.

Have you had any name dreams lately?

Thanks!

http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9852886

#Ama

Replies

- Joiya +3

3/9/2015, 11:47 AM

I like short and sweet names, so Ama is very usable and pretty to me. I think the pronunciation is adorable, but would expect you to have to correct people a few times at first.

And yes... I have had a name dream lately. But, it was more of an "extending our family" dream and I had a little girl named Nadine and kept fielding questions as to why we didn't name her Nadia. Plus, my aunt kept calling her Dina and it was making me angry in the dream - so my husband made an announcement that everyone had to call her NinNin... which made me cry (in the dream) because I just wanted her to be called Nadine. I think it's safe to say I was having a hormonal evening.

- whim +2

3/9/2015, 12:20 PM

I like short and sweet names as well. The pronunciation of Ama would probably be an issue.

Nadine is a sweet, uncommon name. I like it! Is it one you all would consider actually using?

- Joiya +1

3/9/2015, 1:05 PM

I think pronunciation of short names is always easily correctable. People tend to remember and Ah-mah is a very logical choice.

It's when you enter into vowel and letter combo that are unfamiliar that people falter (think names like Aloisia or krea8tive spellings)

Nadine and Mirielle are our top "real life" choices. We have a dozen wish lists, but nothing seems as perfect for as Nadine/Gerard or Mirielle/Blaise.

- whim

3/9/2015, 1:29 PM

True. Ama would be easily correctable.

That's fantastic! Nadine/Gerard and Mirielle/Blaise sound perfect with your daughter's name.

- Anneza, nsi (guest) +1

3/9/2015, 10:34 AM

It's also a Latin imperative, used to tell one person to love!

I prefer Alma, and Jean more than Alma. But I dislike Amalia, which seems to be part of your subconscious naming flow as well.

The only name dream I've ever had was about a then-colleague called Rosalind, but in my dream she was Sally Rose.

- whim

3/9/2015, 12:12 PM

I prefer Alma as well.

And I thought about the subconscious connection to Amalia when I wrote it down after I woke up. I'm not a fan of Amalia at all so it was a bit odd.

That's an interesting dream. I don't think I've ever dreamt a person was called another name.

Thanks!

- m4yb3_daijirou +3

3/8/2015, 1:15 PM

The first thought that came up about Ama is ama divers. I can't really explain about them very well other than the fact that they are female divers who would go into the sea looking for abalone and other types of fish that I can't remember.
I do forget stuff, so go and look it up to see what I mean.

Personally, I'm not sure if I could use it in real life, even though I, sort of, like this name.

- whim +2

3/8/2015, 1:22 PM

It does have some appeal but I can't really say it's usable. If you do like it, sort of, then Ottilie had the idea of Ama as a nickname for Amalia. That's definitely more usable.

- m4yb3_daijirou +1

3/8/2015, 1:33 PM

Maybe. Well, apart from the association of ama divers in Japan, Ama means "heaven" in Japanese. The one for heaven is written as 天, while the one used for ama divers is written as 海女.

...Jeez. Now I don't know if I like Ama or not. I might use it as a nickname for Amalia but I might use another nickname for Amalia. It depends.

- whim

3/8/2015, 1:53 PM

The character used changes everything in my books!

I kind of like it. And the meaning "heaven" is cute.

- Ottilie +7

3/8/2015, 12:37 PM

Is it a term for one's mother or grandmother in some places? It feels to me like it is, but I did a quick online search and it doesn't seem so. I like Ama's symmetry and simplicity; it almost seems like it should be lacking something, but somehow it isn't. As you mentioned Ama Lia, it would make an oddly unexpected, and certainly pleasant, nickname for Amalia. I think I like it.

Whenever I have name dreams, the baby is always given the same name, Romilly, unsurprising given my deep and unwavering love for it :)

- jennifer

3/9/2015, 4:37 PM

Ama de casa is Spanish for housewife, ama de llaves is housekeeper, and ama can also mean wet nurse.

- Mireio (Anna21) +1

3/8/2015, 1:49 PM

Amma means "mother" in Hindi and many south Indian languages. :)

This message was edited 3/8/2015, 1:50 PM

- Ottilie

3/8/2015, 1:52 PM

Aha! Now that sounds familiar :)

- whim +1

3/8/2015, 1:19 PM

That's funny. Never in my dreams do I give the same names I would in waking life.

I definitely noticed the correlation between Ama Lia and Amalia. I wondered whether that's what I meant but I distinctly remember separating the names when speaking them. Odd stuff. I have to agree Ama would make such a cute nickname for Amalia.

Thanks!

- Ottilie

3/8/2015, 1:41 PM

Maybe I'm just not a very creative dreamer; my dreams always tend to be realistic, as far as dreams go.

I always tend to go for Mia as a nickname for Amalia, whenever I ponder it, funny I've never thought of Ama before.

- Ninor (Frozten) +1

3/8/2015, 1:07 PM

You're probably thinking of "oma". I think it's german for grandmother ?

- Ottilie

3/8/2015, 1:15 PM

Yeah, I think it's definitely the similarity to oma that confused me, haha.

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