Inara

Meaning of Inara

Inara—pronounced ee-NAH-rah—floats across the palate like a shaft of dawn spilling through Venetian shutters, her two lilting vowels and rolling finish inviting the speaker to linger as one does over the last spoonful of gelato; born from the Arabic word for “radiance,” she carries in her silken syllables the notion of lighting dark corners, yet she also borrows a dash of mythic spice from the ancient Anatolian huntress-goddess who tamed storms and protected the wild, so that a child who bears her name seems destined both to warm hearts and to stride boldly into new landscapes. Brides of statistics will note that, while Inara has only recently crept into the lower ranks of American popularity charts, she rises with the patient glow of a moon over the Amalfi coast, each year gathering a few more admirers—perhaps fans of the cult-favorite series “Firefly,” perhaps simply romantics who feel the gentle flare of promise in those three syllables. Whether imagined as a lantern in an old souk, a wisp of light on Titian-painted horizons, or a swirl of stardust darting past a smiling barista, Inara is a name that smiles back, offering parents a pocket-sized sunrise to tuck into their daughter’s passport of possibilities.