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Nerine or Nerina is used in South Africa, but not very often. Here, it refers to an indigenous plant which has a beautiful flower. Some were being exported to Europe, England probably, in the 19th century and they got washed up on the Channel Islands following a shipwreck so became known as Guernsey Lilies (I think ... could be Jersey Lily) and were very popular. Then someone realised that they were actually South African, but the name stuck. In their case there isn't a link to Italian: in Greek Nereids were sea goddesses, and they had a clear connection to the ocean!

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I like it for its distinctive blend of the familiar and the exotic; and since flower names are so popular you could really score with this one. It's the letter N that usually bothers me, but not here.