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".

Monday's Moniker Musings

GIRLS

Xio - I came across this as a nickname for someone named Xiomara. It 'almost' sounds like 'Jo'. In between Jo and yo, I suppose. Or, anyhow, the j has a slightly different sound from just "Jo". Xiomara is the feminine form of Xiomar, which derives from Guiomar, the Visigoths brought this name to Spain during the Dark Ages. Guiomar comes from the Germanic name Wigmar, which is derived from the roots 'wig' which means 'war' and 'meri' which means 'famous'.  Xiomara would be an excellent name to honor a family's military heritage.

Empress Xiao Yanyan, led an army of 10,000 soldiers on horseback in 10th century China

Add caption

Brookeleigh - A name created by putting the names Brooke and Leigh together. Both are English words, which have in common the Proto-Indo-European roots that have generated other words of similar meaning. Leigh, for instance, can also be written as 'lea' or 'lee' (or ley, as it often appears in names, such as Bradley or Ashley). It refers to a field. Bradley means 'broad field' and Ashley "ash-tree meadow" (or field). Richard Morris' book The Etymology of Local Names gives several meanings for 'leigh', such as 'thicket', 'place favorable to the growth of grass', enclosure, a woodland district, besides meaning field or meadow.(see page 56). The Concise Dictionary of English Etymology gives the definition 'untilled land'. Brooke, or brook, is a rushing stream. The German bruoch or bruch means 'bog' or 'swamp'.

Using either element in a name, as in a surname, indicated the person was from such a place. So Brookeleigh would be someone who lives near a field and stream. But I wonder if BrookeMeadow might not be an even prettier name, if the image is what you are after, since many people do not think 'meadow' when they hear 'ly' on the end of a name.

Lugar is the Spanish word for 'place' and the Latin 'locus', such as 'locomotive' which means a place that moves, or to move from place to place.

the Kingdom of Cait (or Cat)

Caithness - This may be my favorite name to research so far. Caithness is not actually a girl's name, it's the name of the tip of Scotland, in the north. I just have always thought it would be an awesome name. It comes from the name of a tribe of Picts, the Cat people. (or Catt, but where's the fun in that?) The Catti (another way of referring to them) lived on what the Norse invaders called a 'headland', but in Norse that is 'ness'. So they called the place Katanes, to mean the headland of the Cat People. The Gaels called it Gaillibh. No idea how that is said! It means "among the strangers", referring to the Norse who had settled there.

Irony of Ironies. After typing this I proceeded to watch The Hunger Games with my mom. I hadn't really considered that Katniss might come from Caithness. But especially after seeing the Norse name for the area, and that the people were called Cat, I think the author must have been inspired. A kindred spirit out there, someone else who thought it would make a fine name. I prefer the long a sound of 'cate' and the 'th' sound in there. But I can appreciate Katniss a bit better knowing how it may be tied to this ancient place and people.

An interesting footnote to all this is that the Pictish tribes are thought to have been given their names based on animals. So the Cat People really were the cat people. I wonder what attributes they had that earned them this name?

d'Aubigné family coat of arms

BOYS

Dabney - from the French D'Aubigne, indicating that a person was from a town of that name (Aubigne). Brought to England by the Norman invaders.

Eliphalet - Hebrew, meaning "God is release" and pronounced, according to behindthename.com, either  as 'ih lihf uh let' or as 'ee lihf uh let'.

Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, Barbarossa means red beard

Fritzroy - Fritz is a nickname for the German name Frederick, which means 'peaceful ruler'. Roy is an English-"ish" version of the Scottish word 'ruadh' meaning 'red'. So, Fritzroy would be a redheaded peaceful ruler. Fritzroy was used in the 19th century as a first name when 'fancy' surnames were rather in fashion. I wonder if it was a way of honoring the mother's line or someone else, possibly a hero?

Gonzalo - Spanish form of Gundisalvus, according to behindthename.com, a medieval form of a name from German, using
'gund' meaning 'war' and 'salvus' whose meaning is unknown. Llewellyn's Book of Names suggests that 'salvus' could be related either to the Latin 'salvus' meaning 'saved' or 'preserved' or 'unhurt' or to the Gothic 'sarwala' meaning 'soul'.

The Battle of Jaquihajuana - Gonzalo Pizarro fought in this battle during the conquest of Peru

7 Names for the Last Sunday in March

rose earrings

GIRLS

Treandaphelia - apparently from the Greek name Triantafyllia which is the feminine form of Triantafyllos and comes from the Byzantine Greek word for a rose flower, 'trianta' meaning 'thirty' and 'phullon' meaning 'leaf'. Thanks to Behindthename.com for this information! The name seems to have been given to a few English women in the early 1800s.

Urrues - I believe this is Spanish

Virgilia Latin, feminine form of Virgilio, meaning "rod bearer".

" in the ancient Olympic games was the leader of the police force who assisted the Hellanodikai to impose fines on athletes who did not follow the rules. The rabdouchoi, rod-bearers, andmastigophoroi, scourge-bearers, carried out the punishments. If an athlete could not pay a fine, his hometown paid it for him" (according to wikipedia). 

Whitley -English, from the Anglo Saxon 'hwit' meaning "white" and 'leag' meaning 'meadow' or 'wood'. It was used as a place name and when surnames developed, people from places named Whitley adopted this as their surname. The tradition of giving sons their mother's maiden name eventually was adopted for girls as well.

BOYS

Zared - Hebrew, meaning "ambush".

soldiers waiting in ambush

Ahura Mazda- from two Avesta words  ''ahura" was the word used for any deity in the pantheon of pre-Zoroastrian religion, it is derived from "ahu" meaning "life-giving force"  or "the being " or "the essence" or "lord" and "mazda" meaning "superior intellect" or "supreme wisdom". Ahura Mazda is the name of the god Zoroaster introduced - to be worshipped as the 'only' god, changing people's worldview from one of polytheism to monotheism.



NOT SURE IF THIS IS A BOY OR A GIRL NAME

Yendi - all I've found so far is that this the name of a place in Ghana, Africa and has been used as a personal name, but I don't know much more than that.

Staying on Track

I don't want to fall behind again, so here are 7 names for today!

Maytenus boaria, silkbark

GIRLS

Mayton - from the Araucan word 'mantun', a name for a plant species called silkbark which has medicinal properties.

Nesa - Hittite

Ottilie- from the name Ottilia, which comes from the German name Otto, which means "riches".

Nathan Hale, American Patriot

BOYS

Leovigild- Visigothic and meaning "beloved valor".

Philo- Greek meaning "loving"

Rowley - English, from 'ruh' meaning 'overgrown' and 'lea' meaning 'meadow'.

Sherlock- English, meaning "bright hair".

Ahead of the curve

Trying to stay ahead of the curve by posting Friday's names today.

GIRLS

Hermina Greek, it may come from the name of the messenger god Hermes or from the word 'herma' meaning 'heap of stones' or 'cairn'.

Jazzabella  -it seems like an invented smooshed up name from Jazz and Bella. However, it is close to the Biblical name Jezebel, which means "where is the prince?" according to The Oxford Guide to People & Places of the Bible. Jezebel was an evil queen and so it is unfortunate the similarity between Jazzabella and Jezebel.

Keeva - Irish, though this is a spelling that is easier on English-speakers than the Irish Caiomhe. In northern Ireland this is pronounced as 'kee va'. In the rest of Ireland it is said 'quee va' and so the spelling Keeva wouldn't adequately address the name.


BOYS

 

Hieroglyphic expression of Edom

Edom Hebrew, meaning "red".


Fenon - perhaps French or African


Gandalf - the name of the gray wizard in J.R.R. Tolkien's books about Middle Earth, The Hobbit and the 3 books of The Lord of the Rings.




Ilias a form of Elias, which is the form of Elijah used in the Greek Bible. Elijah is from the Hebrew Eliyyahu, which means "my god is Yahweh".

Thursday's Names X-D

GIRLS


Xyliana -

Deianira and Nessus (the Centaur)
who cleverly causes the death of Deianira's husband

Yanira - short form of the Greek name Deianira, which means "destroyer of her husband".

Zella- German short form of the name Marcella, which is the feminine form of Marcellus, a Roman family name. It comes from Marcus, a Roman given name that honored the god of war, Mars. Mars may derive from 'mas' meaning 'male'.






BOYS

Lake Hula, Israel

Agam- Hebrew, meaning 'lake'.

Bisorio-

  

Castiel- Hebrew, indicating someone from Castille, Spain, according to Heinrich Walter and Eva H. Guggenheimer's book Jewish Family Names and Their Origins: An Etymological Dictionary. This is a name used among Sephardic Jews (those expelled from Spain). Castille means "castle".

 
Dewalt-Germanic, from "theuda" or "theot' meaning "people" such as a nation, and "bald" meaning "brave. Dewald and Theobald are other forms of the same name.

Q-W Wednesday's Name Offerings

GIRLS

Quinneshia

Rhianwen - Welsh, according to namenerds.com this means "fair" or "white maiden". Since gwen usually means fair, white, or blessed, rhian must mean maiden.

Sanpriel

Taeya


Not sure if these are girl or boy names

 Verl

Williamson - as a first name of course, with the modern trend of using surnames not traditionally used as first names on girls almost as much as boys, I really just don't know if Williamson is a girl or a boy - though I tend to think boy

Willisy

J-P Tuesday's Names

GIRLS

 

Jamilette Arabic, form of the name Jamila, which is the feminine form of the name Jamil, which means "beautiful".

Laduska -according to Abby, at appelationmountain.net, this name evolved from Louisa, or perhaps from forms of Louisa like Ludovica. Ludovica is the feminine form of the German name Ludwig. Ludwig comes from the Frankish name Chlodowig, which derives from "hlod" meaning "fame" and "wig" meaning "warrior".

Maguadalupe


BOYS

this famous French painting of Liberty leading the people in revolt may not be particularly English, but best fits the idea of "bold power".

Kendrick Old English, meaning "bold power".

an image of a typhoon, it i salso what I imagine a 'roar' might 'look' like, if you could image it.

Naaham Hebrew, meaning "roar".

King David worships by playing the lute.

Obed -Hebrew meaning "servant" or "worshipper".

Peredur - Welsh, from elements meaning "spear" and "hard metal". 

C-I 7 Names for Monday

GIRLS

coat of arms of Florange, France

Florange - This seems to be a variant spelling of Fleurange. I have also seen the name (as a given name) written as Fleur-Ange. It is also a surname and the name of a Commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in northeastern France.

Gwenfrewi -Welsh, meaning "blessed peace". The middle syllable should be emphasized when pronounced. The name Winnifred comes from Gwenfrewi, as this is what St. Winnifred's name would have been in Welsh.

St. Winnifred's Well
Although my Wilson ancestors are from Flintshire, Wales, where
this well is located, my grandmother Winnifred's ancestors are not.

Herma

Iniya- Malayalam, meaning "sweet". Malayalam is a language spoken in Kerala, India (the southwestern tip of the country) by about 33 million people. It is a Dravidic tongue and probably developed from Middle Tamil in the 6th century, though perhaps it became a separate language sooner than that.



BOYS

Celipe -Spanish, a variant of Felipe, which comes from the Greek Philippos, which is made from 'philos' meaning "friend or lover" and 'hippos' meaning 'horses', so that it means 'friend of horses' or 'lover of horses'.


Drury - Old English meaning "treasure" or " a gift" or "a love token". In Old French it came from drue "a concubine". It may be German from 'drut" or "druyt" meaning "faithful" or from "draut" meaning "dear". "Drud", which is German and "drut" which is French both mean 'friend'. But as a first name it may have come into use as a surname as first name, since Drury is an English surname.

Ehud - Hebrew, meaning "united".