One New Name, Leads to Another

I was researching the name Vontess for an earlier post and coming up with dead ends everywhere. I turned to my mother who remembered the lady better than I did and I came across more unusual names to feature from Vontess' family.

GIRLS

Esmont - this was her daughter's name

Nelma - The daughter's name Nelma Esmont, though she went by Esmont (it's a Utah thing)
I came across a great website, http://lumitar.blogspot.com/2013/03/finnish-names-suomalainen-nimikirja.html, which lists Nelma as a nickname for names such as Unelma, which means 'dream' in Finnish. My hometown had a lot of Scandinavian roots, but I don't think any Finnish, however, so it is more likely related to whatever this name means in Swedish/Danish/Norwegian. Unelma seems just like the sort of name someone where I'm from would have, so I wouldn't be surprised if Vontess wasn't inspired to use Nelma as a result of such a name.

BOYS

Keogh - Her husband. But Mom cannot remember how this name is said or where it comes from!

I found in one source that it means "darkness". Another source says it comes from the Irish name Eochaidh, which derives from the word for 'horseman', 'eochadha'. Eochadha comes from 'ech' meaning 'a horse'. It can be found as part of the surname MacKeogh, which means 'son of Eochaidh'. Knowing the meaning of Eochaidh, it would mean son of the horseman. It would seem that it can be spelled Kehoe and, according to another source, though it does mean horse and a man who rides one, it describes the horseman as "a bold horseman or knight". MacKeogh comes from the surname Mac Eochy and is seen to make the Irish name easier for an English speaker to pronounce. I still have not figured out how this name is said!

a Christian knight, armed with virtues

Names 225-231

7 names to begin the first week of February. Two from people I've met. (the first two)

beautiful Mount Timpanogos is the favorite mountain of many Utahns and visitors

the legendary mountain as seen from across the valley and Utah lake

GIRLS

Utahna - Not exactly sure how the name came to be, if it was an authentic Native American name or invented by a white guy. Ute, which is the name for a tribe of Indians and is the root of the name of the State of Utah, means "Land of the Sun", according to one webpage. But my father, who grew up in Southern Utah (where the Paiute Indians live) has always heard it meant 'the land high up'. It probably means both. So, we shall use our imagination and suppose that Utahna is a girl or woman from the land of the sun, or the land high up.

According to the article posted on the National Park Service webpage, Utahna is the name of the Indian princess associated with the Legend of Timpanogos (a large mountain with a beautiful cave in Utah County, Utah.) You can read more of what their website has here . Some versions of the legend say her name is Ucanogos and others say Norita. Or, at least, the poem that appears in this book published in 1922, names her Norita. I came across an obituary for a lady (a twin sister) named for the Indian Princess Norita. The twins were born March 3, 1922, the same year the poem was published in a manuscript put together by a professor. Read here about Norita and her brother Norman (the twins). Another name for the same princess is Owasetta, from a 1909 version of the legend. According to a 2009 'scholarly' article, these names, including calling the princess Timpanogos, are names those in 'western' culture ascribe to the figure in the story.

one way of seeing the princess mountain

a different interpretation of how the princess lays (or this may be the Indian brave she loved, since there's no bust)

Wouldn't it be nice to know the full story? Utahna perhaps comes from the same root as the name of the Ute people. Still not sure what language it comes from or the 'true' legend. Let me know if you have anything for me! (I do know of Utahna used as woman's name in modern times, though by Anglo-Saxons. Not sure if it is only used by we white people.)

She commands the view from every direction and is one of the most striking features of the valley. Provo Canyon and Bridal Veil Falls lie to the south, or to the right in this picture. 

Vontess - No luck yet on finding the origin of this name. An elderly lady in my hometown had this name. It does seem it could have come from two names smooshed together into one, Von and Tess, perhaps for a father and a mother. In any case, here is a picture of her house. She has the loveliest pine trees! They are especially welcome in the semi-arid desert of central Utah

UPDATE: I came across the last name Vontress, which the Library of Congress subject headings listed as Von Tress and said to use Vantrees family rather than Von Tress family. That would make me think of it as a Dutch surname. The Library of Congress subject headings, under Von Tress family, suggest using these additional spelling variations:
Van Trees
Van Treese
Van Tress
Vantrease
Vantreese
Vantrese
Vantress
Ventres
Verdries
Verdriess
Vertrees





Wvladislawa - Polish form of the Slavic name Vladislav, which comes from the root words 'vladeti' meaning 'rule' and 'slava' meaning 'glory'. According to behindthename.com, it is said 'vwah di SWAH vah'.

Wladyslawa, the girl on the right, would seem to be the younger sister of a nun who founded a convent or order of nuns.

Jesus is exalted

Xylia - Greek, from the word 'xylon' meaning 'wood'.

BOYS    

Yehuda - Hebrew, meaning "praise" or "exalt". The name Judah is derived from Yehuda.

, 

Zabdiel -      the Hebrew is shown at left, a bit small, I know. You can see it a bit better here in Calmet's Great Dictionary of the Bible. It is derived from  , which is Hebrew, written in English as 'zabad' and meaning 'portion' and from  , which is Hebrew, written in English as 'el' and meaning 'God'. So that Zabdiel is taken to mean 'God's portion'.

"Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's
 and unto God, that which is God's.

Amadis-Spanish form of the Latin name Amadeus, meaning "to love God". Amadis is a famous figure of medieval chivalry, with many books devoted to his adventures. The famous knight of La Mancha, don Quixote is inspired to do good deeds and become a 'knight-errant' after reading the books about Amadis.