Miranda.

Internationalism, borrowed from English Miranda (“female given name”), probably coined by William Shakespeare for Prospero's daughter in The Tempest (c. 1611), from Latin mīranda (“which is to be wondered or marvelled at; admirable”), the feminine form of mīrandus, the gerundive of Latin mīrō (“to wonder at, marvel at”). The Latin verb belongs to the family of Latin mīrus (“wonderful, marvellous”), from Proto-Italic Proto-Italic *smeiros, from Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *sméyros (“laughing, smiling”), ultimately from *(s)mey- (“to laugh, be glad”). The astronomical sense was named after Shakespeare's Miranda. Gerard Kuiper discovered the moon on 16 February 1948 at McDonald Observatory. The programming language was likewise named in reference to Shakespeare's character; its designer David Turner described the name as an introduction to the “brave new world” of functional programming. The Sydney suburb was named in the nineteenth century after the same character. Parallel international forms include Danish Miranda, Swedish Miranda, German Miranda, Dutch Miranda, Finnish Miranda, French Miranda, Polish Miranda, Portuguese Miranda and English Miranda.

Borrowed from English Miranda (“Miranda, California”). The English place name was applied to the local post office on 26 August 1905, replacing the earlier local name Jacobsen's Valley. The deeper origin of Miranda is uncertain. One historical account leaves open whether the intended reference was a female personal name or the well-known Spanish place and family name, while another credits Etta Coombs with choosing the name for the post office.

For the surname sense, borrowed from Spanish Spanish Miranda (“surname”), Portuguese Portuguese Miranda (“surname”) or Italian Italian Miranda (“surname”), depending on family origin. These are chiefly habitational surnames derived from one of the numerous places called Miranda in the Romance-speaking world. The deeper histories of the individual place names are not necessarily identical. A connection with Latin mīranda (“worthy of being admired; admirable”) has traditionally been proposed, while some Iberian place names have also been assigned pre-Roman origins; the ultimate origin should therefore not be assumed to be identical in every surname lineage. The Venezuelan geographical senses below commemorate Francisco de Miranda (1750–1816), the Venezuelan revolutionary and independence leader whose surname is the same Romance name.