Fedora

Meaning of Fedora

Fedora slips into English ears with a gently rolling rhythm—either feh-DOH-rah in its Italian dressing or the slightly sturdier feh-DOR-uh in everyday English—and traces her lineage back to the Greek Theodōra, “gift of God,” by way of the Slavic Fyodora and the lilting Italian Fedorah. The name enjoys a quiet, century-long dance through American records, cresting modestly in the 1920s and returning for cameo appearances in recent years, as though refusing to cede the stage entirely. Culturally, Fedora is a shapeshifter: to theater-goers she is the tragic heroine of Victorien Sardou’s 1882 play; to fashion aficionados, she lends her name—almost by accident—to the iconic felt hat Sarah Bernhardt popularized while playing that very heroine; and to technophiles she is the open-source operating system that keeps many a server humming. All these associations gift the child named Fedora a ready-made conversation starter: a classic yet unconventional choice, antique yet forward-looking, familiar yet refreshingly off-beat—rather like a well-crafted hat that never quite goes out of style.

Pronunciation

Italian

• Pronunced as feh-DOH-rah (/fəˈdoʊra/)

English

• Pronunced as feh-DOR-uh (/fəˈdɔrə/)

• Flora
• Dora
• Adora
• Theodora
• Lenora
• Isadora
• Eldora