Adriana

Adriana is the feminine form of Adrian, reaching back to the Latin Hadrianus, meaning from Hadria, a small town on the Adriatic coast that eventually gave the sea its name. Three syllables carry a coastal sweep, Mediterranean light on white stucco. Shakespeare gave the name to a wife in The Comedy of Errors; the twenty-first century has given it supermodels and telenovela leads. In the United States Adriana has been a steady presence in the top 400 for decades, especially beloved in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking families. Lyrical, warm, and softly sophisticated, the name glows without having to try.