Amaya (Spanish-language name)

Amaya is a given name and surname of Spanish origins, derived from the village of Amaya and its neighboring mountain in Castile and León, Spain.[1] The name of the village, in turn, has Indo-European roots [2] and means "am (ma)" or "mother". The suffix io-ia is also used to form action names or toponyms, implying that the meaning of Amaya or Amaia is "mother city", as it will be called later, "the capital".[3] Other hypothesis is that the name derived from the Proto-Basque or Basque word Amaia, meaning "the end".[4][1] Variations include Amaia, Amayah, Ammaya, and Amya.

Amaya was one of the main villages of the Cantabri celtic tribes, and played a key role in the Cantabrian wars during the Roman conquest of Hispania, and later, during the Visigothic Kingdom, as the capital of the Duchy of Cantabria. In the first stages of the Reconquista, the city was part of the repopulating efforts of the Kingdom of Asturias in the border region of Bardulia, the primitive territories of Castile.

A Japanese surname Amaya of unrelated origin also exists, "usually written with characters meaning 'heavenly valley'".[1]

People with the name Amaya, as derived from its Spanish origin, include:

Given name

Amaya

Amaia
  • Amaia Andrés (born 1966), Spanish middle-distance runner
  • Amaia Erbina (born 1997), Spanish rugby sevens player
  • Amaia González de Garibay (born 1994), Spanish handball player
  • Amaia Montero (born 1976), Spanish Basque singer/songwriter, formerly part of the Spanish pop-band La Oreja de Van Gogh
  • Amaia Olabarrieta (born 1982), Spanish football player
  • Amaia Piedra (born 1972), Spanish athlete who specialized in long-distance running
  • Amaia Romero (born 1999), Spanish singer, representing Spain in Eurovision Song Contest 2018 as a duo Amaia y Alfred
  • Amaia Salamanca (born 1986), Spanish actress

Surname

References
  1. Patrick Hanks, Dictionary of American Family Names (2003), p. 32.
  2. Lastra Barrio, José (2008). Amaya y Peones. Burgos: Publicaciones de la Excma. Diputación Provincial de Burgos y Caja Círculo. ISBN 978-84-95874-55-9. Pp. 13
  3. Lastra Barrio, José (2008). Amaya y Peones. Burgos: Publicaciones de la Excma. Diputación Provincial de Burgos y Caja Círculo. ISBN 978-84-95874-55-9. Pp. 13-14
  4. Justin Cord Hayes, The Terrible Meanings of Names (2013), p. 14.
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