Yaritza

Yaritza is a Portuguese and Spanish female name used mainly in North and South America. It’s a pet form of Yara using the popular Latin American diminutive “-itza” (such as Martiza being the diminutive of Maria). Yara finds her roots in the Old Tupi language, a language indigenous to the native Tupi people of Brazil. In this case, Yîara comes from “y” meaning “water” and “îara” meaning "lady", also in reference to Lady of the Lake (a character based in ancient Tupi mythology). In Brazilian folklore, Yîara is reminiscent of the water nymphs and/or sirens of Greco-Roman mythology or the mermaid of Germanic mythology. As a water queen, the beautiful Yîara would laze about on riverbanks or the shores of a lake singing lovely melodies and luring mortal men into her sphere of enchantment. Under her magical spell, men would abandon their lives to live with her underwater (the myth helped explain the disappearance of men who ventured out into the jungle and never returned). Although Yîara enjoys ancient and exotic roots, the diminutive Yaritza is much more modern. Not a super common name, we would consider Yaritza an original choice by all accounts.