Fiona is a feminine given name. The name is associated with the Gaelic traditions of Ireland and Scotland (through the poetry of

James Macpherson James Macpherson ( Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poem ...

), but has also become popular in England.. It can be considered either a Latinised form of the Gaelic word ''fionn'', meaning "white", "fair", or an Anglicisation of the Irish name ''Fíona'' (derived from an element meaning "vine"). The

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...

feminine name ''Fionnghal'' (and variants) is sometimes equated with ''Fiona''. In ninth-century Welsh and Breton language 'Fion' (today: 'ffion') referred to the foxglove species and is also a female given name as in Ffion Hague. ''Fiona'' was the 49th most popular name for baby girls born in 2008 in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. ''Fiona'' was tied for third place in the ranking of most popular names for baby girls born in

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German language, German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constit ...

in 2008. The name was the 347th most popular name for girls born in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in 2008, where it has ranked among the top 1,000 most popular names for girls since 1990 and among the top 500 since 1999. The name ''Fiona'' has been particularly popular for girls of

Asian or Pacific Islander Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian a ...

descent in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, where Fiona ranked as the ninth most popular name for girls from those groups in 2007.

Notable people with this name

* Fiona, singer, born Fiona Flanagan * Fiona Alpass, New Zealand academic *

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released five albums from 1996 to 2020, which have all reached the top 20 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Apple has received numerous awards a ...

, American singer * Fiona Balfour, Australian business executive in the field of information technology * Fiona Bloom, publicist * Fiona Bruce, BBC presenter * Fiona Campbell-Walter, British model *

Fiona Crombie Fiona Crombie (born c. 1973) is an Australian costume and production designer. She was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Production Design for the period film ''The Favourite''. Crombie was born in Adelaide; when she was two, h ...

, Australian costume and production designer * Fiona Dourif, American actress * Fiona Fairhurst, inventor of the Speedo Fastskin swimsuit * Fiona Ferro, French tennis player * Melanie Fiona, Canadian singer * Fiona Fullerton, English actress * Fiona Fung, Hong Kong singer * Fiona Gubelmann, American actress * Fiona Hammond, Australian water polo player * Fiona Highet, Scottish entomologist * Fiona Hill, British-American foreign affairs specialist *

Fiona McLeod Hill Fiona McLeod Hill (born July 1973), formerly known as Fiona Cunningham, is a British political adviser. She served as Joint Downing Street Chief of Staff supporting prime minister Theresa May, alongside Nick Timothy, until her resignation f ...

, British political adviser *

Fiona McLeod Fiona Grace McLeod (born 3 December 1957) is a Scottish politician who served as acting Minister for Children and Young People from 2014 to 2015. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) ...

, Australian prominent barrister and Labor politician * Fiona Kennedy, Scottish singer * Fiona Krautil, Australian specialist in inclusion, diversity and equal opportunity in the workplace * Fiona MacDonald, Scottish curler *

Fiona J. Mackenzie Fiona J. Mackenzie is a Scottish Gaelic traditional singer from Dingwall, Highland Scotland, and has toured and performed throughout Europe and North America. In 2005, she won the An Comunn Gàidhealach Gold Medal at the Royal National Mòd in S ...

, Scottish Gaelic singer *

Fiona Mactaggart Fiona Margaret Mactaggart (born 12 September 1953) is a British politician and former primary school teacher who has been chair of the Fawcett Society since 2018. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Slough from 1 ...

, British politician *

Fiona May Fiona May Iapichino (born 12 December 1969 in Slough, England) is a retired track and field athlete who competed for the United Kingdom and later Italy in the long jump. She won the World Championships twice and two Olympic silver medals. Her perso ...

, English-Italian athlete and actress * Fiona McFarlane, Australian author * Fiona Millar, British author and journalist *

Fiona O'Donnell Fiona O'Donnell (née Kenny; born 27 January 1960) is a Scottish Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Lothian from 2010 to 2015. She served as the Shadow Minister for the Natural Environment and Fisheries ...

, Scottish politician * Fiona O'Driscoll, Irish camogie player * Fiona O'Loughlin, Australian stand-up comedian * Fiona O'Loughlin, Irish politician * Fiona O'Malley, Irish politician * Fiona O'Shaughnessy, Irish actor *

Fiona O'Sullivan Fiona Julia O'Sullivan (born 17 September 1986) is a former footballer who played as a striker for clubs in the United States, Sweden, France, Germany and for English FA WSL team Notts County. Born and raised in the United States to an Irish f ...

, Irish footballer * Fiona Onasanya, British politician * Fiona Phillips, British journalist and broadcaster *

Fiona Pitt-Kethley Fiona Pitt-Kethley (born 21 November 1954) is a British poet, novelist, travel writer and journalist, who is the author of more than 20 books of both poetry and prose. She lived for many years in Hastings, East Sussex, and moved to Spain in 200 ...

, British poet, novelist and journalist * Fiona Richmond, English glamour model * Fiona Ritchie, American broadcaster *

Fiona Robinson Fiona Mary Robinson (born 7 February 1969) is an Australian former professional basketball player. She played 10 seasons in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and five seasons in the State Basketball League (SBL). She was a member of ...

, Australian basketball and handball player * Fiona M. Scott Morton, American Professor of Economics * Fiona Shaw, Irish actress * Fiona Sit, Hong Kong Cantonese singer *

Fiona Staples Fiona Staples is a Canadian comic book artist known for her work on books such as ''North 40'', '' DV8: Gods and Monsters'', '' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', ''Archie'', and ''Saga''. She has been described as one of the best artists working in the in ...

, comic book artist * Fiona Watt, British children's author * Fiona Xie, Singaporean television actress

Fictional characters

* Princess Fiona, the female lead and a major character in the ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 book of the same name by William Steig. It is the first installment in the ''Shrek'' franchise. The film was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jen ...

'' franchise * Fiona, stepmother of Sam Montgomery in the 2004 film '' A Cinderella Story'' * Fiona in Lemony Snicket's '' A Series of Unfortunate Events'' * Fiona, a character in '' Dead or Alive Xtreme 3'' * Fiona, a character in ''

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 ''Xenoblade Chronicles 3'' is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Released on July 29, it is the fourth installment of the open-world ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' franchise, ...

'' * Fiona in the film '' EuroTrip'' * Fiona, main character in the film '' Josie and the Pussycats'' * Fiona, a character in ''

Kid vs. Kat ''Kid vs. Kat'' (stylized KiD vs KaT) is a Canadian animated television series that originally aired on YTV in Canada from October 25, 2008, until June 4, 2011. The series was created and co-directed by Rob Boutilier, developed and produced at ...

'' * Fiona, one of the regular characters in '' Round the Horne'' * Fiona, main character in the television series '' So Weird'' * Fiona, leader of the rebel mages in '' Dragon Age: Inquisition'' * Fiona, a main player-character from the '' Tales from the Borderlands'' video game * Fiona, the closest friend of Jonas in Lois Lowry's 1993 novel ''

The Giver ''The Giver'' is a 1993 American young adult dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry, set in a society which at first appears to be utopian but is revealed to be dystopian as the story progresses. In the novel, the society has taken away ...

'' * Fiona, a playable character in the Free-to-play game '' Vindictus'' * Fiona of Fort Weyr, Telgar Weyrwoman in '' Dragon's Time'' by Anne and Todd McCaffrey * Fionna, the gender-swapped version of Finn in ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn ( Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' *Fiona Bayar, an antagonist in ''

The Seven Realms ''The Seven Realms'' is a series of four novels written by the American author Cinda Williams Chima. The series genre is high fantasy, set in the Queendom of the Fells - a traditional fantasy world of medieval technology, swordplay, castles, and ...

'' series * Fiona/Black Fairy in the TV series '' Once Upon a Time'' *Fiona Belli, protagonist in the game '' Haunting Ground'' *Fiona Callahan, a character in the CW show Charmed *Fiona Carter in the BBC show '' Spooks'' * Fiona Cat, Huckle Cat's mother from '' The Busy World of Richard Scarry'' *Fiona "Fee" Cleary, matriarch of the Cleary family in the novel and mini-series ''The Thorn Birds'' * Fiona Conneely, main character in '' The Secret of Roan Inish'' *Fiona Coyne, a character in the Canadian television series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' * Fiona Fennec, a character in the comic '' Kevin and Kell'' * Fiona Flagstaff, a Spinosaurus character in '' DinoSquad'' *Fiona Fox, a character in the ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformer ...

'' comics by Archie Comics *Fiona Gallagher, a character in the television drama '' Shameless'' * Fiona Gilman, a character in the video game ''

Identity V ''Identity V'' is a free-to-play asymmetrical multiplayer survival horror game developed and published by Chinese company NetEase. It was released in July 2018 for mobile devices. It is available on the iOS App Store, Android Google Play Stor ...

'' * Fiona Glenanne, a main character in the television show '' Burn Notice'' *Fiona Goode, a character in '' American Horror Story: Coven'' * Fiona Hackworth in the book ''

The Diamond Age ''The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson. It is to some extent a Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story, focused on a young girl named Nell, set in a future world in wh ...

'' * Fiona Kerr, a "notorious wet" in the novel '' The Passion Flower Hotel'' * Fiona Linette, a character in the anime series '' Zoids: Chaotic Century'' * Fiona Maxwell, one of the main characters in the 1993 novel '' Tomorrow, When the War Began'' * Fiona Mayfield, a character in the video game series '' Arcana Heart'' * Fiona McLaren, the main female character in the Broadway musical ''

Brigadoon ''Brigadoon'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe. The song " Almost Like Being in Love", from the musical, has become a standard. It features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a ...

'' * Lady Fiona McTarry, the alias of Agent Mimi in the James Bond spoof '' Casino Royale'' * Fiona Pitch, aunt of Baz Grimm-Pitch in Rainbow Rowell's 2015 novel '' Carry On'' * Fiona Volpe, an assassin in the film '' Thunderball'' * Fiona Wallice, a character in the television and web series '' Web Therapy'' * Princess Fiona, sorceress in ''

The Chronicles of Amber ''The Chronicles of Amber'' is a series of fantasy novels by American writer Roger Zelazny. The main series consists of two story arcs, each five novels in length. Additionally, there are a number of Amber short stories and other works. Four ...

'' novels *Fiona Fraunfeld, a main character in Ransom Riggs' 2001 book '' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children''

Other

* Fiona (hippopotamus), first Nile hippo imaged on ultrasound pre-natally

References

{{given name Feminine given names English feminine given names Irish feminine given names Scottish feminine given names

Notable people with this name

Fictional characters

Other

See also

References