Sabrina

Meaning of Sabrina

Sabrina drifts into the modern ear like sunlight dancing on water, her story beginning on the mist-touched banks of Britain’s River Severn, where Roman tongues once Latinized the Welsh Hafren into Sabrina and, in so doing, bound her name forever to the silver current of that ancient stream; from there she meandered through legend—as the drowned princess whose spirit turned the river sacred—before poets such as Milton crowned her a water nymph of purest grace, and contemporary culture, bewitched by the spell of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” carried her sparkling syllables across oceans and screens. She bears a bouquet of meanings—river maiden, boundary, guardian of flowing life—yet always suggests clarity and resilience, qualities that have helped her crest the waves of American popularity: rising swiftly to the Top 70 at the close of the twentieth century, then ebbing into a gentle mid-range that keeps her familiar without ever feeling over-worn. With the lilting cadence of Italian and Spanish lips (sah-BREE-nah) and the softer hush of English voices (suh-BREE-nuh or suh-BRY-nuh), Sabrina invites parents into a timeless tale—one where their daughter, like the river that named her, may carve her own bright path while reflecting every color of the sky above.

Pronunciation

Italian

• Pronunced as sah-BREE-nah (/saˈbriːna/)

Spanish

• Pronunced as sah-BREE-nah (/saˈβɾiːna/)

American English

• Pronunced as suh-BREE-nuh (/səˈbriːnə/)

British English

• Pronunced as suh-BRY-nuh (/səˈbraɪnə/)

• Serena
• Selena
• Sariah
• Sarai
• Samara
• Sabina
• Sabine