Tanya

• (Tonn-yah)- I love this name in the rare instances when it is both spelled and pronounced correctly.
• (TAN ya) This name is beautiful. Despite modern name dictionaries, it dates further back than Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream' with the Queen fairy Titania (ty-tay-nee-ya). Many years ago, I came across an older name source book giving a different meaning to the name. Somehow is related or comes from the same source as Titan, translating loosely to 'Great one' or 'Great' etc...Think Titanic. Unfortunately today, girls end up discovering in name dictionaries only giving the newer definition of 'Queen of the fairies'. Why not include more? Shakespeare did not invent the meaning to a name. He named his characters after names long being used in his day.     Another difficulty with this name is the confusion over pronunciation. Look at its English spelling...pronounce it that way. If you want to have the name Tawnya,Tawnia, Tonya, or Tonia fine. Recognize the lack of a short a. Why do people immediately think the a in Tanya is going to be pronounced as a short o?     This is a beautiful name deserving the respect it implies from either definition. Be prepared though, if you do name your child Tanya, they will have years ahead of them, defending the natural phonic pronunciation. Make sure they do!

Tanya is a Russian diminutive of Tatiana (see also).

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