Zénobie

Pinterest

Origin: French

Meaning: the French form of Zenobia, a Greek feminine name meaning "life of Zeus" or "Zeus is life" from Greek Zeno (a prefix form of Zeus, likely meaning "shine" or "sky") with Greek bios (life). 

The name could also be a Hellenized form of Arabic feminine name Zaynab, the name of a flowering plant meaning "beauty" from Arabic zayn. 

Zenobia was a third century queen of Palmyra (in Syria) who went to war with the Roman Empire capturing Egypt from the Romans, and ruling over a large multi-ethnic and multi-cultural successfully before her defeat and capture by Emperor Aurelian. Though she claimed descent from Cleopatra, there's no proof that she was and that her claim was purely political. She still seems to be a very popular figure in Syria, where her image is printed on Syrian banknotes. 


Variants:

• Zenobie
• Zenobia
• Zenovia (Greek)
• Zinovia (Greek)
• Zinoviya (Russian)

Male forms:

• Zenobios (Greek)
• Zinoviy (Russian)