Gulmira

Gulmira reached Polish name lists from far to the east. The first part, gul, is Persian for flower, the same gul that sits inside the old words for the rose and for rosewater. The second part points to mir, a title once given to a leader, and in a woman's name it turns toward the idea of a flower princess. The short meaning most people give is "wonderful flower."

In Kazakh and Kyrgyz families the name is common, and it holds its two pieces plainly. A girl named Gulmira keeps the flower in the first syllable and the rank in the second. The "wonderful" reading came later, as families heard gul and let the rest of the name bloom around it.

On a Polish class register, Gulmira sits among names of other roots, easy to read and hard to shorten. It keeps no standard Polish diminutive. The flower holds. In Polish the sense is written godny podziwu kwiat, a flower worth admiring.