Aya (given name)
Aya is a male or female name with multiple meanings in many different languages. In Old German, Aya means "sword".
Aya is a common female Japanese given name meaning "design", "colorful" or "beautiful". Aya is also an Arabic feminine name written as آية meaning "wonderful", "amazing", "miracle" or "verse". Aya is also in use in Hebrew and means "to fly swiftly" or "bird". In Mongolian, similar to Turkish, it means "goodness", "music", and "melody". In Chemehuevi, Aya means "tortoise". In Baoule on the Ivory Coast, Aya is often given to a female born on Friday.
In the Raute language of Nepal, Aya refers to one's sister-in-law. The word originates from the Proto-Tibeto-Burman ’ay meaning "mother". In the Urdu language the word Aya refers to bees, caretaker, or nurse for young children. Typically in Pakistan ayas work in early childhood centres or primary schools.
In Turkish-Altaic mythology, Aya symbolizes the good soul. All the seventeen types of benevolent angels who live in the sky are also called Ayas. They are seen as the source of abundance and creativity on Earth. The word comes from Ay. Ayaçı means "creative soul".
There are several alternative spellings including Ayah and Aiya. There is also an African Adinkra symbol called an Aya, which is a fern. It is a symbol of endurance and resourcefulness.
Written forms in Japanese
Aya can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:- 絢, "kimono design"
- 綾, "twill" "design" "complicated reason"
- 彩, "coloring"
- 理, "truth, logic"
- 亜矢, "sub-, arrow"
- 亜弥, "sub-, all the more"
- 亜夜, "sub-, night"
- 順, "order, sequence, turn"
- 文, "writings"
People
Given name
- Aya (queen), Ancient Egyptian queen during the 18th century BCE
- Saint Aya, Belgian Catholic saint
- Aya Stefanowicz, Polish singer of the gothic-metal band UnSun
- Aya El Aouni, Moroccan tennis player
- Aya Cash, American actress
- Aya Chiry, Lebanese footballer
- Aya Domenig, Japanese-Swiss filmmaker
- Aya Jamal Eddine, Lebanese footballer
- Aya Endō, Japanese voice actress
- Aya Fujita, Japanese shogi player
- Aya Goda, Japanese painter
- Aya Hirano, Japanese voice actress
- Aya Hirayama, Japanese actress
- Aya Hisakawa, Japanese voice actress
- Aya Ishiguro, Japanese singer
- Aya Ishizu, Japanese voice actress
- Aya Itō, better known as Luna Haruna, Japanese singer and fashion model
- Aya Jones, French model
- Aya Al Jurdi, Lebanese footballer
- Aya Kamikawa, Japanese politician
- Aya Kamiki, Japanese singer
- Aya Kanno, Japanese manga artist
- Aya Kawai, Japanese figure skater
- Aya Kida, Japanese photographer
- Aya Kiguchi, Japanese race queen and gravure idol
- Aya Kitō, Japanese writer
- Aya Kōda, Japanese essayist and novelist
- Aya Korem, Israeli singer and songwriter
- Aya Koren, Israeli actress
- Aya Kyogoku, Japanese video game director and producer
- Aya Liu, Taiwanese actress and presenter
- Aya Majdi, Qatari table tennis player
- Aya Matsuura, Japanese singer
- Aya Medany, Egyptian pentathlete
- Aya Mikami, Japanese volleyball player
- Aya Miyama, Japanese soccer player
- Aya Nakahara, Japanese manga artist
- Aya Nakamura, Malian-born French pop singer
- Aya Nakano, Japanese singer
- Aya Ohori, Japanese badminton player
- Aya Okamoto, Japanese actress
- Aya Ōmasa, Japanese model and actress
- Aya Sameshima, Japanese soccer player
- Aya Shehata, Egyptian taekwondo practitioner
- Aya Shibata, Japanese tarento and announcer
- Aya Shimokozuru, Japanese soccer player
- Aya Sugimoto, Japanese actress
- Aya Sumika, American actress
- Aya Suzaki, Japanese voice actress
- Aya Tademaru, better known as Haruka Ayase, Japanese actress
- Aya Takano, Japanese artist and science fiction essayist
- Aya Takano (swimmer), Japanese swimmer
- Aya Takeuchi, Japanese rugby sevens player
- Aya Tanimura, Australian-Japanese writer and director
- Aya Tarek, Egyptian artist
- Aya Terakawa, Japanese backstroke swimmer
- Aya Traoré, Senegalese basketball player
- Aya Uchida, a Japanese voice actress
- Aya Ueto, Japanese actress
- Aya Umemura, Japanese table tennis player
- Aya Yamane, Japanese voice actress and singer
- Aya Yokoshima, Japanese handball player
Surname
- Ramzi Aya Italian footballer
Mythological figures
- Aya (goddess), Akkadian goddess
Fictional characters
- Aya of Yopougon, the protagonist of the comic book series Aya of Yop City
- Aya Asagiri, main character from the Magical Girl Site series
- Aya Ayano, a character in Another (novel)
- Aya Brea, a main character in the Parasite Eve video games
- Aya Drevis, main character in the horror video game Mad Father
- Aya Ikeuchi, a protagonist in the Japanese television drama 1 Litre no Namida
- Aya Iseshima, main character in Master of Martial Hearts
- Aya Komichi, in the manga Kin-iro Mosaic
- Aya Kominato, character in the manga and anime series "Blue Spring Ride"
- Aya Natsume, in the manga and anime series Tenjho Tenge
- Aya Maruyama, from the BanG Dream! franchise
- Aya Mikage, main character in Ceres, Celestial Legend
- Aya Fujimiya, a main character in the manga and anime series Weiß Kreuz.
- Aya Odagiri, from the television series Chōjin Sentai Jetman
- Aya Oosawa, from the manga and anime series The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All
- Aya Shameimaru, in Phantasmagoria of Flower View from the Touhou Project video game series
- Aya Toujou, a main character in the manga and anime series Strawberry 100%
- Aya Valero, a main character in the fantasy movie Wattpad
- Aya (DC Comics), from Green Lantern: The Animated Series
- Aya, the protagonist in the novel Extras
- Aya, main character in the video game series Onechanbara
- Aya of Alexandria, in the video game Assassin's Creed Origins
- Aya, in the video game Infinite Undiscovery
- Kokudo Aya, a Sentinel Miko character in Kusunoki Mebuki is a Hero
- Aya Fujisawa, a character in ''Gundam Build Divers''