Sian

See also: sian, ŝian, Siân, and -sian

English

Etymology 1

An anglicization of Welsh Siân, ultimately from Latin Joanna, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets.

Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃaːn/

Proper noun

Sian

1. A female given name from Welsh [in turn from Hebrew].

Etymology 2

From Central Kurdish سیان (syan).

Proper noun

Sian

1. Alternative form of Siyan

Etymology 3

Map including 西安 HSI-AN (SIAN) (walled) (AMS, 1955)

From the Postal Romanization of Mandarin 西安 (Xī'ān).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sēʹänʹ, shēʹänʹ

Proper noun

Sian

1. Alternative form of Xi'an
   • 1938, Robert Berkov, Strong Man of China: The Story of Chiang Kai-shek‎^[1], Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, page 228:

     As the day drew near it was obvious that it would not bring unmixed joy. Ominous rumors were coming from Sian in the northwest, where Young Marshal Chang Hsueh-liang and his troops were now stationed.

   • 1968, Edgar Snow, Random Notes on Red China 1936-1945‎^[2], 2nd printing, page 2:

     Chiang refused to see any Communists in Sian until Mme Chiang arrived, according to X. Chou (En-lai) went to Mme Chiang and begged her to arrange an interview with Chiang. She finally agreed. Chou was very apologetic all the time he talked to Chiang.

   • 1974, William Watson, The Chinese Exhibition‎^[3], Times Newspapers, →ISBN, page 16:

     After King Wu of Chou had defeated the Shang, the Chou kings continued to rule from ancestral territory, their capital Hao-ching being situated a short distance south-west of modern Sian.

   • 1981, Arthur Cotterell, The First Emperor of China‎^[4], Holt Rinehart & Winston, page 16:

     On our car journey to the tomb of the First Emperor at Mount Li, some forty kilometres (twenty-five miles) east of Sian, the capital of Shensi province, we passed through Lintong, the administrative centre of an area of intensive agriculture.

   • 1982 August 1, “Two incidents reveal increasing desperation”, in Free China Weekly‎^[5], volume XXII, number 30, Taipei, page 1:

     The Chinese are not hijacking people.
     So the attempt to take over an airliner flying from Sian to Shanghai and bring it to Taiwan gives indication of the increasing desperation of the mainland people.

   • 1983, James C. H. Shen, “Signs of Change”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally‎^[6], Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 54:

     As everybody rushed up to shake hands with him it occurred to me that April 24, 1970, the day of the shooting, would be remembered by the free Chinese in the same way an earlier generation of Chinese remembered December 24, 1936—the day the Gimo returned safely from Sian after his horrifying experience at the hands of the erstwhile Young Marshal Chang Hsueh-liang and other commanders who had been unhappy with the Government's continuing military campaigns against Communist remnants in Northwest China.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Sian.

Related terms

• Sianfu

References

• “Sian, pn.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Etymology 4

Proper noun

Sian

1. An endangered language spoken in the Belaga, Sarawak District in east Malaysia. It has no written form.

Further reading

• Ethnologue report for Sian language

Etymology 5

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

Sian (plural Sians)

1. A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Sian is the 37792^nd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 588 individuals. Sian is most common among White (41.16%), Asian/Pacific Islander (34.18%) and Hispanic/Latino (19.22%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Sian”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.

Anagrams

• ANSI, ASIN, ISNA, Isan, Nias, Sain, Sani, Sina, anis, as in, nais, nasi, nasi', nias, sain

Finnish

Noun

Sian

1. genitive singular of Sika

Anagrams

• anis, nais, nais-, sain