Zaniyah

Zaniyah is a newly invented name following an African-American trend coining new names off the “-iyah” suffix (other such examples include Jaliyah, Janiyah, Maliyah, Mariyah, Samiyah, Saniyah, Sariyah, Shaniyah, Taliyah, Taniyah, Zariyah). And that’s just the short list! Sudden usage of these “-iyah” names started with the pop-singer Aaliyah first within the Black community but has since spread in popularity among all other ethnic groups in the United States. Although these names show up on the charts of Canada and Australia from time to time, for the most part the “-iyah” feeding frenzy is most distinct to America. For the most part we’d say these names are essentially made up with no real etymological meaning. However, there are a couple ways in which we can stretch the possibilities and offer up some potential etymologies for Zaniyah. For one, Zaniyah is perhaps an elaboration of a rare Greek female name Xenia which means “hospitality” from the Greek “xenos” meaning “stranger, foreigner” (St. Xenia was a 5th century saint revered among Eastern Orthodox Christians especially). On the other hand, Zaniyah could also be considered a fanciful Americanized rendition of Zayna from the Arabic “zayn” (زين) meaning “grace, beauty”. Reality is, however, that Zaniyah was probably coined out of the blue in keeping with this “-iyah” trend and therefore has no concrete etymology or true meaning.