My family pronouces so it rhymes with wanna.
2007-02-01 00:14:49 · 4 answers · asked by Taners 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
Pronounced Yawn-a
2007-02-01 00:15:51 · update #1
My husband thinks its Jewish
On the Ellis Island I found that immigrants came from Turkey and Beyrouth (French occupied Beruit) Lebanon
I have also had hints that it may be Greek, just shortened.
This was my maternal Grandmother's maiden name. My Great Grandfather was born in America
2007-02-01 00:20:51 · update #2
My Great-Grandfather had relatively dark skin
2007-02-01 02:52:37 · update #3
It is a variant of Yoana. Very rare as a first name and even rarer as a surname. It is the feminine form of the Hebrew John.
2007-02-01 00:25:06 · answer #1 · answered by digitsis 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi - from the research I just did breifly, it might be Jewish - stemming from the orgin of the name Yanna=Yoana which can be Joanna, or John (in Jewish meaning Light of God).
But check this website out and try putting in variations of the name like Yoanna :) Hope this helps.
2007-02-01 08:25:25 · answer #2 · answered by LionessB 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't assume the person with the name is Jewish just because the name's origin is Hebrew. There are many linguistic similarities between Hebrew and Arabic, and I'm certain there's an Arabic 'version' of John/Yan, etc.
2007-02-01 11:00:18 · answer #3 · answered by dlpm 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think it comes from the eastern mediterranean or the balkans. and it has something to do with a word meaning "eye"
2007-02-01 09:06:50 · answer #4 · answered by ac 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋