Message: "I think it's derived from Tierney (m)"

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[Facts] I think it's derived from Tierney (m)

by guasguendi

4/18/2021, 10:41 AM

A "tiarna" (Irish), or "tighearna" (Scottish), both from the Old Irish "tigerna", is a lord in the Gaelic world and languages.

Tierney is a modern version of the surname of "Tiarna", even though spelt differently the meaning remains the same.

Sources: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigerna

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Tiarna

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- Amphelise (Chrisell)

4/18/2021, 11:32 PM

I disagree

The Irish masculine word tiarna is pronounced TEER-nuh, and Tierney is pronounced TEER-nee. Whilst there is a superficial resemblance to Tiarne, the connection isn’t borne out in pronunciation (tee-AHN).

I had a look at the data, and Tiarne and a dozen or so other variant spellings of tee-AHN, tee-AHN-uh, and tee-AHN-ee (such as Tiani, Tiarna, Tiahn, Teana, and even one Teeyarnna) follow neatly behind the trajectory of Tiana. The popularity of Tiana seems to be linked to that of Tia, as well.

It would seem really unlikely that a girls’ name which sounds nearly identical to another popular girls’ name would instead be derived from an obscure (in Australia) masculine Irish word which doesn’t sound much like it.

It’s also worth noting that whilst the surname Tierney does show up as a rare girls’ name in Australia it seems to follow the general popularity of /tee/ names for girls, rather than leading.

- Perrine (Destry) +3

4/18/2021, 10:55 AM

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense.

- thegriffon +2

4/19/2021, 9:23 AM

I wouldn't say it's popular. a total of 15 have popped up in the statistics, between the early 1990s and 2019. Almost all in the same year. The inspiration seems to have been a racehorse "Our Ti Arne".

- Amphelise (Chrisell)

4/19/2021, 10:28 PM

'Our Ti-Arne' was born in 1991 and I've got the first examples of Tiarne in South Australia in 1991 as well, so I suspect it's more that the breeders chose a popular-sounding name for their horse. Also in SA I've got similar names such as Tiarni and Tiarnie occurring from the 1970s.

Here's the quick analysis I posted on Opinions, going up to 1995 (asterisk = in the top 500 that year):

1960 - Tiana
1963 - Tiana
1965 - Tiana*, Tiani
1967 - Teana
1968 - Tiana
1970 - Tiana, Tiani
1971 - Tiandra*, Tian, Tianna
1972 - Tianee
1973 - Tiana, Tiani
1974 - Tiana, Tiarni
1975 - Tiana*
1976 - Tiani, Tiarni
1977 - Tiarnie*
1978 - Tiani, Tiarni
1979 - Tiana*
1981 - Tiana, Tiani, Tiarnie, Tijana
1984 - Tianna
1985 - Tiana*, Tiani
1986 - Teanne, Tian, Tiana, Tianna, Tiannah
1987 - Teearn, Tiane, Tianna, Tiarnee
1988 - Tiahne, Tianah, Tianie, Tiarni-Rose
1989 - Tiana*, Tiarna*, Tiahni
1990 - Tiana*, Teana*, Tiahna, Tiani, Tianna, Tyana
1991 - Tiarna*, Tiana*, Tiarne*, Tiahna, Tiahne, Tianne, Tiarn, Tiarnee, Tiarni, Tijana
1992 - Tiana*, Tiarna*, Tian, Tianna, Tiarni
1993 - Tiana*, Tiarne*, Tiahna*, Teanna*, Tian, Tiandra, Tiarni, Tijana, Tiahn
1994 - Tiana*, Tiarna*, Tiahna*, Tiarne*, Tijana*, Tian, Tiarn, Tiahn, Tiahnie, Teearna
1995 - Tiana*, Tianna*, Tiahne, Tiahni, Tian, Tiarna, Tijana, Tearna, Teeyarnna, Tyana

- Perrine (Destry)

4/19/2021, 10:08 AM

Wow that is so interesting! Could you send me a link so I can check how many wwere born and when? The ones I know were born in the early-mid 90s.

I think the many spellings make it somewhat popular. I have seen Tiarne, Tiarnee, Tiahn and Teeahn.

This message was edited 4/19/2021, 10:10 AM

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