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History and/or origin of a word; in this case, Tifa's first and last names.

FIRST NAME

(tee-fah)

Note: The correct pronounciation for "Tifa" is "tee-fah", not "tie-fah".

Possibility #1
The obvious one; "Tifa" could be the short for "Tiffany", a name with Greek origins and two different meanings: "trinity" (and that could be related to the love triangle in FFVII) or "manifestation of god". In the second case, "Tiffany" is the medieval form of Theophania: "god" (theos) + "appearing" (phanes). According to Behind the Name, the name "was given to girls born on the Epiphany (January 6), the festival commemorating the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus". However, I don't think Squaresoft would play around with shorts instead of actual names, which leads me to believe this option is a little off.

Possibility #2
"Latifah", a name with African origins that means "elegant": "Tifa" (Latifah) could be derived from it. Yet, once again and for the same reasons given for the first option above, I wouldn't take this possibility into consideration.

Possibility #3
And most likely the best one, in my personal opinion: Tifa's name could be derived from "Tiferet". For you to even understand this option, you would have to know about the Tree of Life, which has origins in Jewish mysticism; according to The Final Fantasy Compendium,

"At the Creation, God sent out a pulse of energy into the void. It presently branched and sorted into ten distinct spheres or aspects, corresponding to the numbers 1-10. These are known as the Sephiroth. To return to God, the soul must negotiate each of the Sephiroth, from ten back to one. Armed with magic and faith, Kabbalists have set out to conquer the Sephiroth. Many Kabbalist secrets have to do with making the trip successfully. Now the Sephiroth fall into a pattern, which is called the Tree of Life. It is also the body of God. Drawn among the ten spheres are 22 paths. Each path corresponds to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and also to one of the cards called 'Major Arcana' in the Tarot. Some Sephiroth are active or masculine, others passive or feminine. But the Tree itself is a unity, rooted exactly at the Bodenplatte. It is the axis of a particular Earth, a new dispensation, brought into being by the Great Firing."

Tiferet is the central aspect of the Tree of Life, and stands for beauty, balance, and love. Also, christian Kabbalists believe that Tiferet symbolizes self-sacrifice and "the will to carry one’s neighbor’s cross" - does this ring a bell? Another interesting detail: on Tarot cards, Tiferet is pictured as a heart or an angel. If you give it some thought, these two symbols are often used for things involving Tifa, like her name, Lockheart, her ultimate weapon, Premium Heart, her bar, Seventh Heaven, and her level 4 Limit Break, Final Heaven.

 

LAST NAME

(lock-heart)

Spelling
You can go for either "Lockheart" or "Lockhart"; personally, I prefer (and therefore use) the first, for it is pretty (yes, I can be shallow) and acquires a lot of symbolism when attached to Tifa's character. However, and even though the pronounciation is indeed "Lockheart" both ways, her original last name in Japan is "Lockhart". Still, you can spell it either way: after all, in the european official game booklet and merchandising, it is spelled with the "e" (which is the reason I'm used to "Lockheart", too).

In-Depth
"Lockheart" has Scottish origins and comes from the english words "to lock" and "heart". As said above, a lot of symbolism could be taken into consideration here; Tifa has a "locked heart", for she is shy and reserved, and was never able to actually let Cloud know about her feelings for him, letting them remain "locked" in her "heart". A different point of view: Tifa holds the key to Cloud's past, which she finally lets out in the Lifestream, "locked" in her "heart".

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