Asia

Asia is another example of a given name created from a place name. Asia is the largest of the world’s seven continents and one which contains nearly 50 countries. The actual word “asia” came from the ancient Greeks (Ἀσία) which the Romans reinterpreted to Asia in their Latin language. The Greeks may have adopted the word from ancient Mesopotamians (from the now-defunct language of Akkadian) “asu” meaning “east”. The east, of course, is the direction from where the sun rises and delivers the dawn of each new day. East is also the direction toward which the earth rotates on its axis (hence the orientation of the sunrise) which is how the east also became called the Orient among Westerners. Asia is a name that conjures up a “rising” sense of movement and a lucky direction (many ancient temples were built facing east). And unlike four of the other seven continents (i.e., North and South America, Europe and Australia), Asia is not part of Western civilization, furnishing the place name with ample foreign mystery and intrigue. Interestingly, the female given name Asia is immensely popular in Italy right now.