Sienna

see-EN-ah

Italian, place and color name

Sienna Origin and Meaning

The name Sienna is a girl's name of Italian origin.

The historic Tuscan city is spelled Siena, but the Sienna spelling is the one used recently by Princess Beatrice for her daughter. Sienna, also the spelling used by American-born English actress Miller, is more popular than Siena in the English-speaking world.

Sienna has been a Top 100 choice in England & Wales since 2005, the year after Sienna Miller's acting breakthrough in the hit movies Alfie and Layer Cake. In the US, it also got a big boost in the early noughties, before dropping slightly then rebounding to reach an all-time high in 2020.

Now the name Sienna has gotten maybe its biggest boost of all when it was announced as the name of the daughter of Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. The royal baby, born in 2021, is named Sienna Elizabeth. Cable newsperson Campbell Brown chose Sienna for her daughter, as did Kevin James.

The city of Siena is said to have been founded by Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus. The name of the city may derive from Senius, although other possibilities include Roman or Etruscan family names, a Gaulish tribe name, or a Latin root meaning "old".

The English color word "sienna" ultimately comes from the name of the iron-rich clay in the Italian city, brownish yellow when raw and reddish brown when burnt, making this a vibrant color name as well as a romantic place name.

Sienna Popularity

• 166 US 2020
• 35 Nameberry 2021
• 605 Future 2028
• 22 England 2020
• 51 Scotland 2020
• 58 Ireland 2020
• 24 Australia 2020
• 71 New Zealand 2020
• 176 Switzerland 2020