Oya

Oya begins in two places at once. In Turkish, oya names a kind of needle lace, the fine edging women crochet or knot along scarves and collars. This craft, iğne oyası, decorates the edges of headscarves across Anatolia. Its origin sits outside the usual European roots, filed simply as other. The short meaning that follows is lace, in Polish koronka.

There is another Oya, and she is nothing like a scarf border. In Yoruba belief, Oya is the goddess of wind and storms, tied to the Niger River. The two names share the same three letters and little else.

In Poland the name is rare. On a class register it would sit alone, easy to read and easy to spell. The lace sense stays closest: oya, koronka.