Alba

Alba is the hush before sunrise, the Latin word for dawn carried into Italian, Spanish, and Icelandic usage as a given name. In Scotland it is also the Gaelic name for the country itself, which lends it a faint highland mist. The two open syllables, bright vowels bracketed by soft consonants, feel both ancient and modern. Across southern Europe it has circulated steadily for generations; in Iceland it arrives more rarely, a quiet import. Actress Jessica Alba gave the surname wider English recognition, but as a first name Alba keeps its hushed, first-light composure.