Sometimes it doesn’t take much for a first name to take on a whole new meaning. The proof with this Disney princess name which no longer has the same meaning if you add a single letter to it.
If today there are invented first names which are simply the assembly of sounds that please parents, most first names have a very precise etymology which allows us to know their meaning. Moreover, some parents attach great importance to this when making their choice. They must then be careful about how to write the first name, because what may sometimes seem like a small change can completely change the meaning.
There are indeed first names that are similar, but which do not have the same meaning. Élodie and Mélodie, for example, are very close, but do not mean the same thing: the first means “property” in Latin or “wealth” and the second “song” in Greek. It also happens that first names that are pronounced the same way have different meanings depending on the spelling. We can cite the case of Helio (“sun” in Greek) and Elio. The latter is today used as a derivative of Helio but, originally, it can be seen as a derivative of Elijah, which means “the Lord is my God”.
A Disney princess first name is also affected by this phenomenon: Moana, the one worn by Moana in the original version. It is a mixed Tahitian first name which means “ocean” and which therefore corresponds perfectly to this heroine from the end of the world, since the sea is the place of her adventures told in the cartoon. Few people know it, but it has a homophone, the first name Mohana. A simple H is added between the first and second syllable, and it takes on a completely different meaning: it is then a first name of Sanskrit origin which means “pleasant, charming”.
Note that these first names are uncommon in France. Appearing in the mid-1990s, Moana has never been among the most popular first names, even if it has been used more since the release of the cartoon. According to INSEE figures, it was in 2021 that the most were awarded to little girls, 71 times precisely. Among boys, it is even less common, and it was in 2024 that it was given the most… Only 15 times. In total, 265 boys and 725 girls were given this first name in our country. It is therefore a rare first name, but less so than Mohana. If the latter is widespread in India, here it is very rare: it has been given to only 52 girls since the creation of the registers.
