What's In A Name?

The first prompt on the list asks: What is your full name? Were you named after anyone?



My name christian and middle name is Shanna Marie.



I occassionally get called Shanny, or Shanny Me by my Mom when she wants something, I get called Shan at work sometimes but pretty much it is always Shanna (pronounced Sh-Anna although my grandmother does pronounce it SHA-RNA).



A taxi driver once told me it sounded very American but where it originates is anyones guess.



http://www.babynames.com/ says The meaning of the name Shanna is Form Of Shannon Or Shana The origin of the name Shanna is American.



http://www.babycentre.co.uk/ says it's Hebrew from Shoshannah, the Hebrew form of Susanna. The name comes from the Hebrew shoshan, meaning "lily".



http://www.name-meaning.com/ says it is a variant of Shannon meaning Little Wise Owl



http://www.zelo.com/ says it Irish and means God is Gracious



http://www.mybaby-name.com/ says it is Irish meaning Small wisdom, Slow-moving stream.



http://baby-names.familyeducation.com/ says it is Hebrew meaning beautiful



http://www.quickbabynames.com/ says it is a Place name - refers to an Irish river. Also means "Ancient". Once extremely popular especially with Irish families.



Even though I'm English in America apparently Shanna was the 237th most popular girls name in the year I was born and fell to 837th most popular by 1997 and now it is not in the top 1000.



Whatever it means it's my name.



I was actually named a character in a book called Shanna Trahern from a book called Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss which my mother was reading when she was pregnant with me.

The story is set in 1749 where Shanna marries convict named Ruark Beauchamp (which by the way is what I would have been called if I was a boy, which makes me glad I was a girl) so she doesn't have to marry any of the suitors her father wants her to marry because he only has a few days to live before he is hanged. She abandons him to set sail back home to the Carribean telling her father who she is a widow. Ruark escapes death when he is purchased illegally to work for Shanna's father. Where he pursues her despite Shanna's rejections. It all works out in the end.

Having an unusal name always leads to having to spell it out for people, (I have to do that with my surname as well) but I wouldn't change it for anything.

So to answer the question What is in a name? Everything.

Shanna xx