Oriana

For other uses, see Oriana (disambiguation).

Oriana is primarily a female given name, widespread, even if not very common, in European languages.

Possible roots of the name

Its etymological origins are probably mixed. On the one hand there seems to be the Irish meaning of blond or golden, on the other hand there is the Latin meaning of rising (as in sunrise; see a similar word root in Orient).

There seems to be a connection between these two origins, given that the root ori may be an Proto-Indo-European root referring to the rising or colour of the Sun.

Things get even more complicated as in the languages of the Iberian peninsula, namely Spanish and Portuguese, there is the medieval Oroana or Ouroana, from Oro or Ouro meaning Gold, whose origin is the Latin Aurum, and whose root, Aur, may be related to Ori.

Variants include Orianna, Oriane or Orianne. Sometimes Orian, Oreste or Dorian may be a male given name or a family name, as in the case of Orian, Orians, Oriani, Dorian or Doria.

Oriana was the nickname for Queen Elizabeth 1st. She was fondly known as 'our glorious Oriana' and the Oriana madrigals were written for her.

Notable people

Notable people with the name include:

• Oriana Fallaci (1929 – 2006), Italian journalist, author, political interviewer, and World War II partisan
• Oriana Panozzo, Australian actress
• Oriana Small (born 1981), birth name of Ashley Blue, United States actress
• Oriana Girotto-Cavazza , slovenian-italian director and actors
• Oriana Lai , German-Italian journalist, author of fairytales and poems for children

Fictional characters

• Oriana, heiress to the throne of Great Britain and beloved of Amadis de Gaula, in Oriana by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo
• Oriana, fairy and main character in the children's book A Fada Oriana, by Portuguese writer Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen
• Oriane de Guermantes, Duchesse de Guermantes, character in Marcel Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time
• Oriana, the beleaguered princess whom the protagonist of Felix the Cat: The Movie must save as well as the land where she resides in
• Orianna, goddess and partner of Phaon in the Shadow World campaign world created by Terry K. Amthor for Iron Crown Enterprises and in the gaming system Rolemaster
• Orianna, the daughter of Talon and Oria in the metal opera Days of Rising Doom by Aina
• Oureana, semi-legendary Moorish princess who was converted to Christianity in 12th-century Portugal. See Fátima, Portugal)
• Oriane, a character in the novel Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
• Orianna, The Lady of Clockwork, a character in the video game League of Legends developed by Riot studios.
• Oriana, genetic twin of Miranda Lawson in the video game Mass Effect 2.
• Oriana Noldare, nee Silvan, the heroine in the novel "Destiny's Call" by LeAnn Anderson.