Siena peaked in 2018 and holds rank 631 with 10,590 total SSA bearers — a name that operates in the shadow of Sienna (the more common double-N spelling) but has its own distinct presence. The single-N version is cleaner, closer to the Italian city's actual spelling, and carries that slightly more precise cultural confidence.
The City and the Color
Siena refers directly to the medieval Italian city in Tuscany — one of the best-preserved Gothic cities in Europe, famous for its Piazza del Campo and its twice-yearly Palio horse race. The color sienna (raw sienna, burnt sienna) comes from the earth pigments historically sourced near that city — a warm orange-brown used in painting since the Renaissance. The name thus carries both Italian cultural specificity and a color association: warm, earthy, distinctly Mediterranean. That's an unusual combination for a name, and it gives Siena more visual texture than most geographical names manage.
Celtic Roots and Irish Siobhan
The data lists Siena's origin as Celtic, which connects it to an alternate etymology, less about the Italian city and more about a phonetic adaptation of Irish names like Siobhan (also pronounced roughly SHEE-oh-na or sha-VAWN depending on dialect). The dual heritage, Italian city name and Celtic phonetic variant , eans Siena can speak to different family backgrounds simultaneously.
Siena vs. Sienna
The spelling question is real. Sienna has more SSA bearers and the more familiar double-N, shaped partly by model Sienna Miller's profile in the early 2000s. Siena-with-one-N reads as more precise and less trend-driven —, oser to the actual Italian spelling. For families who care about the geographical and linguistic authenticity, the single N is the deliberate choice.