Tia

For such a teeny-tiny, three-lettered name, Tia ended up being a lot more complicated to research than we would have expected. Tia packs a lot of punch in that tiny frame of hers. First of all, there’s a lot of inaccurate information out there on the Internet regarding the etymological meaning of Tia. A lot of people erroneously believe that Tia is the ancient Egyptian word for “princess”. That’s a lovely thought and all, but it’s simply not true. The confusion comes from a real-life Egyptian princess (Tia or Tiya) who belonged to the 19th royal dynasty (c. 1300 B.C.); both her father and her younger brother held the supreme earthly title of Pharaoh. Apparently, 3,300 years ago the Egyptians didn’t even have a hieroglyphic word for “princess” – rather, Princess Tia would have been referred to simply as “pharaoh’s daughter”. People also incorrectly believe Tia is Greek for “princess”; they may be confused with the Greek θεά (Thea) meaning “goddess, divine-like” (close enough, right?). Theia was a Greek goddess of light; the Titan daughter of Gaia (mother earth) and Uranus (father sky). She is the mother of Helios (sun), Eos (dawn) and Selene (moon). Some folks may be using Tia as an alternate form of Theia (also known as Thea/Thia). It is also commonly considered a short form for other female names like Cristina, Letitia, Tatiana, Tiana and Tiara. Last but not least, Tia is the Portuguese and Spanish word for “aunt”. Tia is currently on the Top 100 list of favorite names in England, and it’s a Top 50 choice in Slovenia and Croatia.