Tuesday's Thimbleful of Names, as 'twere.

GIRLS

Hannahlyn - a combination of the Hebrew name Hannah, which means "grace" and the English name Lyn, which derives from the Celtic word 'lenna' meaning 'lake'.







Isabinda - No luck on finding any origin other than, it was popular
in the 18th and 19th centuries, when there were also plays and books written with characters named Isabinda. It might be an invention of an author, Susan Centrlivre is one candidate. In any case, it woud  fit nicely in a book between Isabella and Linda.

Elizabeth Brunton, actress which  played the character of Isabinda in a play

Kimberline - Anglo-Saxon, a form of the name Gutheline, the name of a man who was given the land in Warwick, England in the 700s. The castle, of course, was built at a later date. Warwick is located on the River Avon, which flows through the Midlands, and is southeast of Birmingham. I chose to include this in the list of girl names rather than boy names as, well, I've never heard it used on a person I've known or met but it feels like a girl name to me. And not like a boy name.

urn from the Via Laurentina

Laurentina- Latin, from the name Laurence, meaning the laurel tree. La Via Laurentina was also the name of the road to Laurentum, so it may be that the name Laurentina could simply indicate being of that place in Italy.













BOYS

Rebekah has Isaac bless Jacob with the birthright instead of Esau through deception.

Jeppa - Swedish variant of the Danish nickname Jeppe, which derives from Jep or Jeip, which comes from Jap, a Swedish nickname for Japer which is a form of the Norse name Jakaupr, which derives from the Latin name Jacobus, which is a variant of the Greek Iakobos which comes from the original Hebrew boy name Ya'aqov. The Hebrew root 'akev' means 'heel' (think of the Bible story about Jacob, the second-born twin, who grabs the heel of the first born twin) or the root 'aqav' means 'betray'. The meaning of Jacob is usually given as 'supplanter' which fits with the story of Jacob and Esau, in which Jacob, with the help of his mother, takes the birthright blessing in place of his older brother Esau, whom he had fed when he was hungry one day and had him promise to give him his birthright blessing. Since his father would not have done this, they told him (who could not see as he was very old) he was blessing Esau. (Jacob's never been one of my Bible favorites, can you tell?)



Meshach -Chaldean, from "Mi-sha-aku" meaning "who is what Aku is"? Aku was the moon god of ancient Babylon (also known as Ur, Agu, Itu, Sin and Itu, and then just Sin. The moon god Aku was the god of the ancient city of Ur (where Abraham was from) and he was  the eldest son of the chief god Elu (the Hebrew people were Semitic, coming from ancient Sumeria, and one name for their god is Elohim, though most often just El). When the city of Ur was the seat of power.

from an Assyrian artefact. The Moon God is depicted as a crescent. Interesting that a crescent moon is a symbol of Islam. Such an ancient and elegant symbol. So many ideas, mathematical, artistic, linguistic, etc. present here..

Niccolo - Italian form of Nicholas which comes from the Greek roots nikos meaning victory and laos meaning people, "victory people".

Sunday's Names for 2,014 7 on the 7th day, perfect!

Girls


Dulcinea - the perfect name to describe the ideal woman who does not exist. In Don Quixote there is a country girl that Don Quixote builds up in his mind as his true love. He refers to her as Dulcinea del Toboso. Of course, no one will answer to that name, the girl's actual name is something else. In addition, he uses such flowery language to describe her that no one would mistake the actual girl for the one he describes. Dulce means sweet in Spanish and is sometimes used as a given name. Dulcinea is about the prettiest way of saying sweet in Spanish I can think of. IF the Dulcinea that Don Quixote did exist she would be exquisite in every way - in her virtues as well as beauty and wealth and power.

Earlette - feminine variant of the Old English 'earl', a rank or title of nobility for a chieftain who ruled over a territory for a king.

Falba -I have not been able to nail down an origin or meaning for this name. I have found it as a surname and as a first name, sometimes with Falby either as another spelling or perhaps as a nickname. As a given name it is used for women. As a surname I have found it with Polish and Irish roots, but it may be that Falba exists as a name in more than one language and has more than one meaning or etymology.

Galadriel - a name invented by the writer J.R.R. Tolkien for a female elf character in the Lord of the Rings trilogy of books. It is considered a Sindarin name to mean "maiden crowned with gleaming hair".







Boys


Hermenegildo- Spanish form of the Gothic name Ermen Gild meaning "immense tribute". In Spanish this is pronounced 'air men eh hill doe'. The English form is Hermengild or Ermengild. Hermenegildo was the son of Leovigild, king of Visigothic Spain. His father was an Arian Christian and Hermenegildo converted to Roman Catholicism, and was later made a saint. His mother was Theodosia and his brother was Reccared and he married Ingunthis, daughter of King Sigebert I of Austrasia. Ingunthis was Catholic. Hermenegildo's step-mother was Goiswintha. In the end his father had him beheaded for refusing to convert back to Arian Christianity. Saint Hermengildo (San Hermenegildo) is the patron saint of the Spanish Armed forces and the Real y Militar Orden de San Hermenegildo (Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermengild) is a military honor for bravery and a legion.

Here is Saint Hermengild's family tree in Spanish. His mother is here listed as Rinquilde. His son is Atanagildo and his mother in law is Brunequilda. Brunequilda is the daughter of his step-mother Godsuinta, who was instrumental in his prolonged imprisonment that finally led to his death. Folks, careful who you choose for in-laws.

Issachar - Hebrew. It may derive from "ish sakar" meaning "man of hire". The other possibility is that it comes from "yesh sakar" meaning "there is a reward". One of the Tribes of Israel tracing their ancestry to Issachar, son of Jacob.

Jan - a variant of the name John, pronounced "yahn", in several European languages. It can also be used as an Arabic name or title meaning "beloved one" or "dear", tracing its origin to Persian and meaning "life".