I'm not sure if anyone has voiced this. I did a search for it and it seems nobody did, so I'm assuming I am the first to point this out. So, I come today to tell you what I suspect "Shanoa" means.
By this point I presume the story of it being a codename is already known, but if it isn't: IGA revealed that "Shanoa" is a codename. He also said that he never had a real name in mind but he thought a codename gave her an "aire of mystery". Remember this.
Many years back, before OoE released, Shanoa's japanese name ("シャノア") was leaked over GameFAQS, and many fans assumed it was meant to be "Chanoix" or should be "properly romanized" as such, probably because Chanoix is a real French name. The name ended up localized as "Shanoa".
Many theories were made about the name's meaning but none really went anywhere. Neither "Shanoa" nor "Chanoix" mean anything to this game. Especially next to Albus, whose name DOES sound like a codename to go with his color scheme, and means "White". And, where is the "aire of mystery" IGA spoke about? Both names just read like proper names that you'd accept without question.
So, here's the thing: I don't think it was meant to be "Chanoix", nor "Shanoa". The assumption that it was French was correct. However, I suspect her (code)name was meant to be, in fact, Chat Noir.
Yes. Black Cat. In French.
This appears to be one more of the dozens of Castlevania localization mishaps keeping us from truly enjoying these games and fully absorbing the context.
Once you imagine that her name is Chat Noir or a close approximation of that, many things start to feel much more contextually appropriate than before:
-The game's emphasis on the cat-collecting mechanic. She can talk to the rescued cats and befriend them. You can touch the screen itself to summon a cat toy to play with them.
-One of the speaking enemies taunts her with "Come here, cute little kitty!"
-"Albus" is the foe of "Noir". White vs Black. An actual contrasting meaning to both characters' names appears and further reinforces that they have a sibling relationship.
-The entire game's theme is a "cat and mouse" chase.
-Her visual theme itself. A LOT of black hair.
-Actually reads like an obvious code name. Just by reading you know it's not a "person" name.
-Speak of which, what animal has been portrayed consistently as having an "aire of mystery"? A black cat. Also her cold, distant personality, akin to how cats are popularly perceived.
And I'd wager more.
An interesting bit is how in English, when Albus dies, he yells this:
https://vocaroo.com/1hL5n0nFO7lL
But in Japanese he yells this:
https://vocaroo.com/1mrO0fnIZC3Z
A very close pronunciation of Chat Noir.
But, the most damning evidence of all is that Shanoa's Japanese name, "シャノア", although not as popular, is a known katakanized version of Chat Noir. You can Google it yourself to find examples, but here are a few:
(https://tabelog.com/restaurant/images/Rvw/138648/640x640_rect_138648874.jpg)
A restaurant.
(https://img.aucfree.com/s563702081.2.jpg)
A bunch of books with the same name.
(https://renote.jp/files/blobs/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBMDhwQVE9PSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--7b4839927d86c65fe776834da3f7dad68fa80f6d/ax10.png)
A Final Fantasy 14 character. His name in English is apparently "Black Coeurl" and he is a kind of familiar of a character named Quickthinx. His name in Japanese is "シャノア ChatNoir". You can find a text dump containing both names here: https://ff14.huijiwiki.com/wiki/Data:Quest/67871.json
Just... Beware looking that up too deeply, because there's an old Japanese adult book (the books I posted just above) with this exact name in Japan, "chat noir", with the same katakana and all.
To conclude, the only way to prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt would be asking IGA directly. But I believe I made a consistent case nonetheless that Shanoa is a mistranslation and she is supposed to be, in fact, a cat girl.
That's all. See you!