From the ancient region of Isauria in Asia Minor; means 'from Isauria.' Used in Portuguese and Spanish.
Isaura is a name of classical antiquity, derived from Isauria — an ancient mountainous region in south-central Asia Minor, in what is now modern Turkey. The Isaurians were a semi-nomadic people known for their fierce independence; they resisted Hellenistic and Roman assimilation for centuries before eventually being absorbed into the Byzantine Empire, which even produced an Isaurian dynasty of emperors in the 8th century. As a given name, Isaura entered the Christian tradition through Saint Isaura, venerated as a martyr, whose story gave the name spiritual currency in early Christian communities.
The name's most dramatic second act came through Brazilian literature. José de Alencar's 1875 novel A Escrava Isaura (Isaura the Slave Girl) placed the name at the center of a Brazilian abolitionist romantic narrative, its gentle heroine becoming one of the most recognized fictional characters in Brazilian literary history. When the novel was adapted into a massively popular telenovela in 1976 — broadcast across Latin America, Eastern Europe, and even China — Isaura became a household name on multiple continents simultaneously, one of the more improbable journeys from ancient geography to global pop culture.
Isaura remains a name with particular resonance in Brazil and Portugal, carrying both classical elegance and the weight of a powerful abolitionist story. In anglophone countries it is genuinely rare, making it an appealing choice for parents seeking something Latinate and historical without reaching for the more familiar Isabella or Isadora.