Here are some names I've come across just in the last week that I had not heard before, or so little they seemed new.
Girls
Fergusia- a feminine form of the Gaelic name Fergus, meaning "brave man".
Robina-feminine form of Robin, which is both the name of the bird and an English nickname for the Germanic name Robert, which comes from "hrod" meaning "fame" and "bert" meaning "bright". Robina, according to britishbabynames.com was popular in Scotland in the 17th century. This is how I encountered the name (a Scottish woman from that time period). Unfortunately, I still do not know how it is pronounced.
Boys
Melanchthon- according to information contributed to behindthename.com, this honors the Protestant Phillip Melanchthon, who was German and translated his German last name into Greek using melanos meaning black and chthon meaning earth or land or soil (the German name was Swartzerdt).
Salmon- French, a short form of Salomon (or Solomon, a Hebrew name meaning "whole" or "complete").
Wrixham - Anglo Saxon, from Writtlesham, which comes from "wreoth" meaning "wreath" and "ham" meaning "home" or "dwelling" (Christina Blackie's Geographical Etymology: A Dictionary of Place-names Giving their Derivations gives the meaning as "town of wreaths". Wrixham is spelled as Wrexham in her book).
Grashinham-
Robert Frost's poem "A Cliff Dwelling" reminds me of the people who must have lived here "Oh years ago--ten thousand years" and enjoyed the beauty and safety of a cliff. A place "to rest from his besetting fears". Welcome to mine.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Monday, August 11, 2014
1005 Names Learned
We're nearly halfway to our goal with today's 7 names. With the 7 from today I've introduced you to 1005 new names. That leaves 1009 left to learn over the next 4 1/2 months.
GIRLS
Needo - Finnish
Orthaea - Greek, daughter of Hyacinthus in Greek mythology.
Pallene - Greek, daughter of King Sithon in Greek mythology.
BOYS
Rufinus
Sadales
Tarchon
Ujöp - Ladino
GIRLS
Needo - Finnish
Orthaea - Greek, daughter of Hyacinthus in Greek mythology.
Pallene - Greek, daughter of King Sithon in Greek mythology.
BOYS
Rufinus
Sadales
Tarchon
Ujöp - Ladino
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Rest and Relax w/ 6 New Names of a Sunday
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Helenia - Greek, the name of a Laconian festival which celebrated Helena by having virgins ride chariots made of reeds or upon mules. Helen (or Helena) means "light" and she was worshipped as a goddess of light.
| evening in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain |
Jessabella -
BOYS
Kaaperi
Lanty
NOT SURE ABOUT GENDER
Merdie -with a little investigation Merdie seems to have been used for either men or women. I came across an instance of it used as a nickname for Myrtle. An obituary for a man listed no other given name than Merdie or any other clue as to the name's origin. Myrtle is the name of a plant which was sacred to the ancient Greek goddesses Demeter and Aphrodite. It used to be traditional for brides to carry myrtle for their wedding bouquet.
| myrtle |
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Baa baa black sheep, have you any names? Yes sir yes sir, six odd things. Two for the master, and two for the dame, and two for the little boy who lives down the lane?
GIRLS
Birdella
Carriebelle
Donzaleeigh
BOYS
Eppa
Faape
Greenlief
Birdella
Carriebelle
Donzaleeigh
BOYS
Eppa
Faape
Greenlief
Thursday, August 7, 2014
To market, to market, to find some strange names, home again, home again, jiggety-james.
GIRLS
Victorina - Latin, meaning "victory", the mother of Victorinus, one of the Thirty Tyrants.
Wilella - English
Xenoveva - Asturian
BOYS
Yemelyan - Russian
Zagraeus - Greek
Adalbern - Germanic, from "adal", meaning "noble", and "bern", meaning "bear".
Victorina - Latin, meaning "victory", the mother of Victorinus, one of the Thirty Tyrants.
Wilella - English
Xenoveva - Asturian
BOYS
Yemelyan - Russian
Zagraeus - Greek
Adalbern - Germanic, from "adal", meaning "noble", and "bern", meaning "bear".
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Monday, August 4, 2014
Names for the start of August
GIRLS
Xhuliana - Albanian form of Juliana. Juliana is a feminine form of the Roman 'cognomen' Julianus - cognomen being the third name given to a Roman citizen, initially it was a sort of nickname but eventually changed to serve as a way of identifying one branch of a family from another. Julianus is derived from the Roman surname Julian (which has since evolved into a first name) which means "of the gens Julia" or "a descendat of Julus". Julus or Iulus was supposed to be the son of the goddess Venus and one of the original inhabitants of Rome. The Julians were people who claimed descent from him. So Xhuliana would suggest someone who claimed descent from Julus/Iulus and by extension, from the goddess of love (Venus). Perhaps "descended from the offspring of the goddess of love" would be a good way of interpreting the name. Though I have not found what Julus or Iulus may have originally meant or referred to.
Yalda - Syriac, a form of Middle Aramaic, and the Nestorian Christian name for Christmas (it means "birth"), it is celebrated on the eve of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.
Zosine - Greek
BOYS
Caraeus
Xhuliana - Albanian form of Juliana. Juliana is a feminine form of the Roman 'cognomen' Julianus - cognomen being the third name given to a Roman citizen, initially it was a sort of nickname but eventually changed to serve as a way of identifying one branch of a family from another. Julianus is derived from the Roman surname Julian (which has since evolved into a first name) which means "of the gens Julia" or "a descendat of Julus". Julus or Iulus was supposed to be the son of the goddess Venus and one of the original inhabitants of Rome. The Julians were people who claimed descent from him. So Xhuliana would suggest someone who claimed descent from Julus/Iulus and by extension, from the goddess of love (Venus). Perhaps "descended from the offspring of the goddess of love" would be a good way of interpreting the name. Though I have not found what Julus or Iulus may have originally meant or referred to.
Yalda - Syriac, a form of Middle Aramaic, and the Nestorian Christian name for Christmas (it means "birth"), it is celebrated on the eve of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.
Zosine - Greek
BOYS
Abdulrahman
Buthyreus
Caraeus

![Mycenaean chariot krater [Mycenaean] (74.51.966) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/1f/b7/0b/1fb70bcfe65fc9a68cb41d961f099fa9.jpg)