Names ending in a

Sharp and bright, this Icelandic name comes from the Old Norse word from a coat of chain mail or an armour plate.

See RETA.

Feminine form of Bartolomeo

Fionnula is one of many spelling variations of this lovely Irish name for girls, underused in the US: Only 10 baby girls were given the name in 2016. Other variations include Fionnuala and Fenella. Fionnula was a legendary princess who was turned into a swan via a curse by her stepmother Aoife.

In Homer's Iliad, Marpessa is the name of an Aetolian princess who is torn between two lovers: the god Apollo and the mortal hero Idas. Fearing that Apollo would abandon her when she grew old, she chose Idas.

The Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order in which they were born. Most Ghanaians have a name using this system (think Kofi Annan, whose name means born on a Friday).

An order of carnivorous insects, most notably dragonflies and damselflies.