Meaning & History
Iliana is a feminine given name used in Greek and Bulgarian. In Greek, it is a feminine form of Ilias, the modern Greek variant of Elias, while in Bulgarian it is a feminine form of Iliya (a variant of Ilias via the Church Slavonic tradition). Both Ilias and Iliya ultimately derive from the biblical name Elijah, meaning "my God is Yahweh" in Hebrew.
The name Iliana shares connections with other Bulgarian feminine forms such as Ilina and Iliyana, and corresponds to masculine forms like Ilian and Ilija. It is unrelated to the insect genus Iliana, a taxon of neotropical skippers (family Hesperiidae).
As a feminine given name, Iliana does not appear frequently in historical records; the notable bearers shown on Wikipedia are only of modern athletes or actresses, for example the Bulgarian Olympic swimmer Iliana Pesheva and the Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast Iliana Radoeva. Medieval or even early modern attestations of the name are extremely scarce.
Regional distribution
According to nomenclatural mapping, Iliana is most used in Bulgaria and Greece. The Greek form Iliana is sometimes an elaborated variant of Ilias, in the same way that Anna is the feminine counterpart of the Greek form Íoannis (Evangelikí). However, many modern Greek feminine surnames from cultural sources also attest to the name’s borrowing since the late Byzantine period via the Katharevousa movement.
Equivalent forms in other languages
- Meaning: "My God is Yahweh" (via Elijah)
- Origin: Greek and Bulgarian feminine form of Ilias/Iliya
- Usage: Greek, Bulgarian
- Type: First name, feminine
Related Names
Sources: Wikipedia — Iliana