Fiona

Feminine given name

This article is about the given name. For other uses, see Fiona (disambiguation).

A request that this article title be changed to Fiona (name) is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed.

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FionaPronunciation| /fiˈoʊnə/ fee-OH-nə

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Gender| Feminine
Language(s)| English
Origin
Language(s)| Gaelic
Derivation| fionn
Meaning| White and fair
Region of origin| Ireland and Scotland
Other names
Related names| Fionnghal, Fíona, Gwen, Gwenn and Wynne

Fiona is a feminine given name of Gaelic origins. It means white or fair, the Irish name Fíona means vine. It was coined by Scottish writer William Sharp. Sharp may have drawn inspiration from Celtic variations of the name Catherine. Initially, the name was confined to Scotland but later it gained popularity in other countries, such as Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Australia, Germany and Canada.

## Etymology

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Fiona originates from the Gaelic word fionn,[1] meaning white or fair, being a Latinised form; or an Anglicisation of the Irish name Fíona meaning vine.[2] In ninth-century Welsh and Breton language Fion (today: ffion) referred to the foxglove species and is also a female given name as in Ffion Hague.[3]

It was coined by the Scottish writer William Sharp under the pseudonym Fiona Macleod. Sharp may have drawn inspiration from Celtic variations of the name Catherine.[4] Fiona carries connotations of gentility and refinement, often suggesting aristocratic lineage for its bearer.[5] Fiona is commonly shortened to Fi, with other variations including Fina, Fee, and Tiona.[6]

Variations of the name Fiona include Gwenn in Breton, Gwen and Wynne in Welsh. Masculine forms include Fion, Fionn, Finnán, Finnén, Finn, Gwyn and Wyn.[7] The Scottish Gaelic feminine name Fionnghal is also sometimes equated with Fiona.[8]

## Popularity

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Initially, the name remained largely confined to Scotland until the latter part of the 20th century when it gained popularity in Britain, Australia, and Canada.[9] Additionally, the Ossianic poems of James Macpherson helped to familiarize the name in the English-speaking world. It experienced a surge in popularity during the latter half of the 1960s.[10][11]

It was the 439th most popular female name in Scotland in 2023.[12] Fiona was the 71st most popular name for baby girls born in 2023 in Germany.[13] The name was the most common female name in the ranking of most popular names for baby girls born in Liechtenstein in 2022.[14]In 2023, in Switzerland, Fiona was the 66th most popular name.[15] In Australia it is the 138th most popular baby name since the 1930s.[16] In New Zealand it was particularly popular during the 1960s until around 1980.[17] In Canada, it was the 287th most popular baby girl name.[18] In the US most girls named Fiona were born in the 21h century and the number of Fionas born per year was greater than 1,000 from 2009 until 2021.[19] In the US, it has ranked among the top 1,000 most popular names for girls since 1990 and among the top 500 since 1999.[20]

## Notable people with the given name

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This section is missing information about what makes the below more notable than others named Fiona. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (October 2024)

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* Fiona Adams, British photographer
* Fiona Allen, English comedian and actress
* Fiona Alpass, New Zealand academic
* Fiona Apple, American singer
* Fiona Baan, Scottish-born American sports administrator
* Fiona Balfour, Australian business executive
* Fiona Bloom, publicist
* Fiona Bruce, BBC presenter
* Fiona Button, English actress
* Fiona Campbell, several people
* Fiona Clark, New Zealand photographer
* Fiona Connor (born 1981), New Zealand artist
* Fiona Coyne (1965–2010), South African actress, author, playwright and presenter
* Fiona Crawley, American tennis player
* Fiona Crombie, Australian costume and production designer
* Fiona Davis, Canadian author
* Fiona Dawson, LGBT activist, writer, producer, and film director
* Fiona Dourif, American actress
* Fiona Doyle, Irish swimmer
* Fiona M. Doyle, American scientist
* Fiona Dunbar, English children's author and illustrator
* Fiona Edgar, New Zealand professor of management
* Fiona Fairhurst, inventor of the Speedo Fastskin swimsuit
* Fiona Ferro, French tennis player
* Fiona Flanagan, singer
* Fiona Fox, British writer and chief executive
* Fiona Fullerton, English actress
* Fiona Fung, Hong Kong singer
* Fiona Fussi, Hong Kong-Austrian fashion model and actress
* Fiona Gaunt, English actress
* Fiona Gélin, French actress
* Fiona Geminder, Australian businessperson
* Fiona Givens, American writer, teacher, and speaker
* Fiona Glasscott, Irish actress
* Fiona Godlee, first female editor of The British Medical Journal
* Fiona Graham, Australian anthropologist and geisha
* Fiona Gubelmann, American actress
* Fiona Hammond, Australian water polo player
* Fiona Highet, Scottish entomologist
* Fiona Hill, British-American foreign affairs specialist
* Fiona McLeod Hill, British political adviser
* Fiona McLeod, Australian barrister and Labor politician
* Fiona Kennedy, Scottish singer
* Fiona Leggate, British auto racing driver
* Fiona Lowry, Australian painter
* Fiona MacDonald, Scottish curler
* Fiona J. Mackenzie, Scottish Gaelic singer
* Fiona Macleod, pseudonym for English writer William Sharp
* Fiona Macpherson, Scottish Philosopher
* Fiona Mactaggart, British politician
* Fiona May, English-Italian athlete and actress
* Fiona McFarlane, Australian author
* Fiona Millar, British author and journalist
* Fiona O'Donnell, Scottish politician
* Fiona O'Driscoll, Irish camogie player
* Fiona O'Keeffe, American long-distance runner
* Fiona O'Loughlin, Australian stand-up comedian
* Fiona O'Loughlin, Irish politician
* Fiona O'Malley, Irish politician
* Fiona O'Shaughnessy, Irish actor
* Fiona O'Sullivan, Irish footballer
* Fiona Onasanya, British politician
* Fiona Peterson, Australian academic
* Fiona Phillips, British journalist and broadcaster
* Fiona Pitt-Kethley, British poet, novelist and journalist
* Fiona Richmond, English glamour model
* Fiona Ritchie, American broadcaster
* Fiona Robertson, Scottish judoka and wrestler
* Fiona Robinson, Australian basketball and handball player
* Fiona Scott Morton, American professor of economics
* Fiona Shaw, Irish actress
* Fiona Sit, Hong Kong Cantonese singer
* Fiona Stanley, Australian epidemiologist and public health researcher
* Fiona Staples, comic book artist
* Fiona Urquhart, Scottish cricketer
* Fiona Watt, British children's author
* Fiona Wood, British born Australian plastic surgeon and burns specialist
* Fiona Xie, Singaporean television actress
* Fiona Yuen, German-born Hong Kong model and actress
* Fiona Zedde, Jamaican-born American fiction writer

## Fictional characters

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* Princess Fiona, the female lead in the Shrek
* Fiona, a character in Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation
* Fionna Campbell, the gender-swapped version of Finn in the Adventure Time franchise
* Princess Fiona, sorceress in The Chronicles of Amber novels

## Other

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* Fiona (hippopotamus), first Nile hippo imaged on ultrasound pre-natally

## See also

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* List of Irish-language given names
* List of Scottish Gaelic given names

## References

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1. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, pp. 99–100, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
2. ^ Hanks, Hardcastle & Hodges 2006, pp. 348–349.
3. ^ The University of Wales' Dictionary website; accessed April 21, 2020.
4. ^ Creswell, Julia (1995). Dictionary of first names. Internet Archive. [England] : Bookmart Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85605-340-2.
5. ^ Room, Adrian (2002). Dictionary of first names. Internet Archive. London : Cassell ; New York : Distributed in the United States by Sterling Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-304-36226-4.
6. ^ Pickering, David (2004). The Penguin dictionary of first names. Internet Archive. London : Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-101398-5.
7. ^ Campbell, Mike. "Names Related to the name Fiona". Behind the Name. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
8. ^ Mark, Colin (2003). The Gaelic-English Dictionary. Routledge. ISBN 0-203-27706-6.
9. ^ Fergusson, Rosalind (1991). Choose your baby's name : a dictionary of first names. Internet Archive. London : Bloomsbury Books. p. 85\. ISBN 978-1-85471-080-2.
10. ^ Pickering, David (2004). The Penguin dictionary of first names. Internet Archive. London : Penguin. p. 121\. ISBN 978-0-14-101398-5.
11. ^ Hanks, Hardcastle & Hodges 2006, pp. 99–100.
12. ^ Kelly, Lesley-Anne; Morrice, Emma; Sabljak, Ema (March 28, 2024). "Tarzan, Banksy, Frenchie, and Pasty: The full list of Scottish baby names used in 2023 revealed". The Courier. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
13. ^ "Die beliebtesten Vornamen des Jahres 2023 – Top 500" (in German). Retrieved April 30, 2024.
14. ^ "Fiona and Gabriel, Luis (Louis) and Noah most common first names in 2022". www.llv.li. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
15. ^ "Female first names of newborns by language region and canton". PX-Web. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
16. ^ Nicholas, Josh. "Close call: most popular Australian baby names of the past century revealed". the Guardian. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
17. ^ Megan Watts (May 1, 2024). "Revealed: Top Kiwi baby names of 2023". NZ Herald. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
18. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (May 9, 2023). "Baby Names Observatory". www150.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
19. ^ "Popular Baby Names". www.ssa.gov. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
20. ^ OACT. "Popular Baby Names". www.ssa.gov. Archived from the original on February 2, 2018. Retrieved September 21, 2009.

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