Savannah

Savannah is a female given name used primarily in the United States and derived from a place name. Savannah, Georgia is a well-known southern city established in 1733 and built on the Savannah River. The river’s name is believed to have been derived from variant names given to the Shawnee tribe, a Native American people who migrated to the river in the 1680s (which became southernmost part of the Algonquin nation). Apropos, in the Algonquian language the word “shawano” means “southerner” – the word which purportedly gave the area its name. Other scholars believe Savannah may have been derived from a Shawnee word meaning moderate, warm climate. A savanna, or savannah, is also a grassland ecosystem characterized by small, widely spaced trees unable to form canopies, thus providing very little shade. As a female given name, Savannah is quite modern and she shares space on America’s Top 100 list with other geographical places such as Madison, Brooklyn, Sydney and London. Ironically, as a baby girl’s name, Savannah is more popular in Australia and Sydney is more popular in the United States!