Soraya

A female personal name, the Persian form of Thurayya meaning “the Pleiades” in Arabic in reference to the group of seven stars in the constellation Taurus; from Latin Pleiades (from Greek Pleiades), perhaps meaning “constellation of the doves,” from the plural of peleias “dove” or possibly from plein “to sail” since the season of navigation begins with their heliacal rising.  According to ancient Greek mythology, the seven stars were regarded as “The Seven Sisters,” the seven daughters of Atlas (the Titan god who held the heavens on his shoulders) and Pleione (a sea-nymph and protectress of sailing). The Pleiades were at first transformed into doves by Zeus before being placed in the sky as seven stars in order to comfort their father by protecting them from the advances of Orion, a god of the hunt. This name was first popularized in the West in the mid-20th century (particularly among the French and Spanish) due to the fame of Princess Soraya, the wife of the last Shah of Iran, who became a European socialite.