Fiona - Meaning of Fiona

What does Fiona mean?

Pronounce
Fiona

[ 3 syll. fio-na, fi-ona ] The baby girl name Fiona is pronounced Fiy-OWNaa- †. Fiona's origin is Celtic, and its use, English, Gaelic, German, and Scottish. The meaning of Fiona is 'fair, blond'. It is derived from the word fionn which is of the meaning 'white, fair'. The name was first invented by James Macpherson (1736-1796) for his Ossianic poem Fingal (1762), and it was subsequently adopted by 18th-century English speakers. The popularity of the name was given a boost when it was known as the pseudonym Fiona Macleod, which was used by the Scottish romantic writer William Sharp (1855-1905) and kept almost secret during his lifetime. The name has since been used beyond Scotland. It is sometimes taken as an Anglicized form of the Irish Fíona. Fiona is the feminine equivalent of the English and Irish Finn.

The name Fiona is widely used; it has 32 forms that are used in English and foreign languages. English forms of the name include Fenella, Fennella, Ffion, Ffiona, Ffyona, Fifi, Fina, Finella, Finelle, Finn, Finna, Finola, Fionah, Fionavar, Fione, Fionn, Fionne, Fionnghuala, Fionnia, Fionnuala, Fionnula, Fionola, Fiora, Fynballa, Fyoni, Phionah, Phyona, and Tiona. Other English forms include the contracted form Fi, and the spelling variant Fionna. The Scottish Phiona is a form of Fiona that is used in foreign languages. The spelling variant Fyona (Irish) is another foreign form.

See also the related form, the English and Irish Fíona.

See also the related categories, secret (dark), english, fair, irish, celtic, invented, anglicized, gaelic, and german.

Fiona is a popular baby girl name, and it is also regarded as rather trendy. The name has been increasing in popularity since the 1990s. At the recent height of its usage in 2017, 0.089% of baby girls were named Fiona. It was #181 in rank then. In 2018, it ranked at #222 with a usage of 0.076%, and it was the most popular within all girl names in its family.

Baby names that sound like Fiona include Ffiona, Fabiane, Fabiann, Fabianne, Fahamu, Fahhama, Fahima, Fahimah, Faina, Fayina, Fione, Fumie, Fumiyo, Fuyumi, Fyoni, Pheeny, Fabiana, Faan, Fabiene, and Fabienne.

† Pronunciation for Fiona: F as in "fee (F.IY)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; OW as in "oak (OW.K)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)"

Details of famous persons named Fiona:
Actress Fiona Fullerton, born 10 October 1956, Kaduna, Nigeria, Africa.
Actress Fiona Shaw, born 10 July 1958, County Cork, Ireland.