Arantxa

Girl · Basque

Arantxa

Say it: ah-RAN-chah

Meaning

Pet form of Arantzazu, the Marian shrine at Oñati, from Basque arantza 'thorn, hawthorn' with -zu 'abundant': 'place of thornbushes'. The legend of a shepherd crying 'Arantzan zu?' ('You, among the thorns?') is a folk explanation.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

496 babies given this name since 1991
At its height in 2015, about 1 in 23,400 girls
9 babies in 2020

Through the ages

The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

Basque Spanish

The family of the name

Other spellings: Arantza, Arantzazu

Spanish	Aránzazu

Famous bearers

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis champion

Names worth a look

AinaraGirlBasque 'swallow' (the bird), a dialect form of enara; a 20th-century word-name.Modern

AneGirlBasque form of Anne, from Hebrew Hannah 'favour, grace'.Modern

NereaGirlDisputed. Often explained as Basque nerea 'mine', but it may equally come from Greek Nereus and the sea-nymphs…Modern

LeireGirlFrom the monastery of Leire (Leyre) in Navarre and the Virgin venerated there; the place-name is of uncertain origin.Modern

MirenGirlUsed as the Basque form of María since early 20th-century nationalist naming lists; how it was formed from María is…Modern

EstibalizGirlFrom the sanctuary of Our Lady of Estíbaliz near Vitoria, patroness of Álava; the place-name is of uncertain origin.Modern

AaronBoyUncertain, possibly Egyptian. The meanings 'high mountain' and 'exalted' found on name lists are not established.Biblical · peak 1981

ArianaGirlA form of Ariadne, from Greek, traditionally explained as 'most holy' (ari- intensive and hagnos 'pure, holy'),…Modern · peak 2014

Where this comes from

Calendars of saints and name days
National birth statistics of European countries source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.