Aya

Aya is a small, radiant name with parallel lives. In Arabic it means sign or verse, specifically the individual verses of the Qur'an, each called an āyah — a trace of the divine made legible. In Japanese it can mean colorful or design, written with characters for woven silk. In Hebrew it belongs to a bird, often rendered as a swift or hawk. One syllable in Arabic, two in Japanese usage, always open vowels with nothing to catch on. It has become one of the most common girls' names in Japan and moves freely through Arab, Hebrew, and Western nurseries. Aya is luminous and unshowy, small as a breath.