Violanda

This name derives from the Old French “violette / viole” (Old Provençal: viola), from the Latin “vĭŏla,” which in turn derives from the Ancient Greek “íon (ἴον)” meaning “violet, purple flower, dark blue flower.” It is an auspicious name that refers to the homonymous flower. The English form Violet enjoyed a specific diffusion in Scotland in the sixteenth century but became widespread in English only from the nineteenth. The Italian form “viola” became known in England thanks to the character named in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”