Dara

Dara is a given name used for both males and females, with more than one origin. Dara is found in the Bible's Old Testament Books of Chronicles. Dara [דרע] was a descendant of Judah (son of Jacob). (The Bible. 1 Chronicles 2:6). Dara (also known as Darda דרדע) was one of four men noted for great wisdom, but exceeded by King Solomon (1 Kings 4:31). In Persian Dara (Persian: دارا) is a masculine name and a variant of Darius.[1] In contemporary Persian, it means "rich", "well-off" and "well-to-do". The Parsi people of India (not to be confused with contemporary Iranians) also use the name, given that it represents a history and culture shared between Parsis and contemporary Iranians.[2] In Hebrew Dara means "compassion" or "pearl of wisdom". In Urdu, the name is given to baby boys and its meaning is "possessor" or "sovereign" and "halo (of the moon)".[3] It can also mean "sovereign" or "lord", a meaning shared with the Sikh language. [4]

In Kazakh, the name means "special, one of a kind, only one", and is a feminine name. In Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia, Dara means "gift", or "to give a gift", its meaning directly derives from dar, which means "gift". In Khmer, Thai, and Lao, Dara is a unisex name meaning "star". In Punjabi, Dara means "leader".

In Irish, Dara can mean either "oak" or "wise". Dara is also frequently used in Ireland (and the United States), as either a masculine or a feminine given name, and it also occurs as a surname. The spelling varies, with variations including Daire, Darragh, and Daragh. The Irish form is probably derived from doire, the Irish word for "oak wood", though as a surname it may be a version of the Irish name Mac Dubhdara. The word is also linked to fertility ( as in the word dair meaning to be in heat, to be fertile) . In Irish and Scottish Gaelic, dara means "second". In Javanese, Dara (in which the letters A are pronounced /ɔ/ by the majority of the speakers, slightly like the pronunciation of the letter å in Danish and Norwegian) means "dove" or "pigeon".

Because of the tone mark in Yoruba Language, Dara is also a short form of Oluwashindara, which means "wonder (God still does wonder)".

In Indonesian, Dara means "girl", "young woman", or "virgin". As indicated by these meanings, Dara is a feminine name in Indonesian.

In Ibibio, Dara is a derivative of "joy", and it means "rejoice".

The word "Odara" derives from the Brazilian indigenous Ioruba word dara, meaning "gorgeous." In African-American culture, the name Dara is of Bermudian origin, also meaning "beautiful".[5] In Telugu, Dara means "come". In Gujarati Dara means "everyone" [6] In the Swahili version Dara also means "the beautiful one".