[8] However, Twain's biographer, Robin Eggar, writes: "There is a continuing confusion about what 'Shania' means and if indeed it is an Ojibwe word or phrase at all.
"[9] Robin Eggar was incorrect about there being no Ojibwe phrase with a similar meaning which sounds like Shania.
"Ani aya'aa", pronounced "Ah-nih Eye-uh-ah", means "someone on the way" in Ojibwe.
It is therefore possible that someone with an imperfect knowledge of the Ojibwe language created Shania with the incorrect idea it would mean "she's on the way".
[10] According to the English onomastician Patrick Hanks, the name is a recent elaboration of the given name Shana.