More New Names!

Girls
 
Iolanthe - Greek, meaning "violet flower".

Jessamy - Persian, a form of the names Jasmine and Jessamine, which derive from the Persian Yasmin, meaning "jasmine" - a flower known for its fragrance. Jessamy seems to be the Hebrew version of Jasmine/Yasmin.

Kerensa - Cornish, meaning "love".





Boys


Lazio - Hungarian, form of Lazly. What I was able to find out about this possibility is that there was a St. Ladislaus in Hungary, a king who was later canonized as a saint. A chronicle of his life and kingship was called Gesta Ladislai (written in Latin). I also came across a reference to a church named in his honor being referred to as St. Lazle. Lazlo is the Hungarian form and Ladislaus is the Croatian form of the name. The Slovak form is Ladislav. Ladislav is a Slavic name, a variant of Vladislav, meaning "one who commands glory" or "glorious". It is possible also to connect Ladislaus with the ancient goddess Lada (or Lado) - goddess of youth and beauty and harmony and joy. I love this irony. This goddess Lada (or Lado) supposed to have been worshipped before the arrival of Christianity is considered by some not to have existed. But not in the 'atheist' concept of 'not existing', as in, there was no supernatural being like this, but rather that she never existed as a being in the social customs and beliefs of an ancient people. However, she IS celebrated in modern customs by modern pagans (I think of them as neo-pagans). Though I have no idea whether or not they believe they are worshipping an actual being or essence or if they see their rites as related to something else, but not supernatural. Who knew that the history of the name Lazio could be so interesting? And here's more:
 
It can also be a nickname for someone named Alazio, which is Germanic. In a book on the Augustine Order I found the Order of St. Alazio founded in 1309. I suppose that this is an Augustinian Order.  I haven't found out anything else, or even proof of this claim, except that it makes sense that you could use Lazio as a nickname for Alazio. Just a guess, but perhaps it is a form of the name Alois or Aloysius?

It could also be used to describe someone from Lazio - a province of Italy. The Italian Lazio comes from the Latin "Latium". The name of the Latin people, the Latini, came from King Latinus, or perhaps as the name of the place where the god Jupiter "lay hidden" from his father Saturn, who wished to kill him. It probably is related to the word Latin word "latus" which means "wide" or flat land, such as was found in the Roman countryside.




Manasseh - Hebrew, meaning "causing to forget".

Nero - Sabine (?), meaning "strong" or "vigorous".

Olegario -Spanish, could come from the Germanic name Aldegar, which is derived from "alda' meaning "old" and "gar" meaning "spear". I have to wonder why Olegario is NOT related to the name Oleg - that was my first instinct. Oleg is Russian and comes from the Scandinavian name Helge, which is a form of Helgi which comes from 'heilagr' meaning "holy" or "blessed". Another possibility I came across is that it is related to the names Olaguer and Oleguer which are its forms in Catalan, a language spoken in the northeastern part of Spain. The theory on this is that they come from a Germanic name and mean "he who dominates with his strength and his lance".

Annie Bangs

Among the common folk of Southern Utah there is a legend of a woman named Annie Bangs. The legend says that she traveled to the state with her family in a covered wagon, but the wagon hit a rock or bump in the road and the child fell out of the wagon. By the time her absence was noticed the family had traveled too far and could not find young Annie. However, a coyote found Annie and raised her as a sort of ‘wolf-child’. Annie therefore was a very wild woman, ferocious when she attacked and with a terrifying appearance, living like an animal as she did. And so, when you hear the howl of a coyote in the Southern Utah desert, it may be a coyote you hear, or it may be Annie Bangs, looking for her meal. She possesses a supernatural ability, in a way, since she continues to haunt the desert with her howls and her form, even though she is said to have lived more than a hundred years ago. Annie is timeless and not bound by death or any human morals. She is survival, rage, and terror.

7 New Names for 2014

Girls

Blodwen - Welsh, from "blodau" meaning "flowers" and "gwen" meaning "white" or "fair" or "blessed".

Ceridwen - Welsh, might mean "crooked woman" as the root cyrrid or cwr may mean "crooked" or "bent" and ben or ven may mean "woman". The wen portion of the name might be related in some way to the use of wen at the end of a saint's name or it might be from 'gwen' meaning "fair". Ceridwen is a curious sorceress in Welsh myth.

Desdemona - the name of an Italian woman in one of Shakespeare's tragedies - she is murdered by her husband who believes she has been unfaithful to him. Though she denies the allegation her husband refuses to believe her because he is heavily influenced by Iago, who constructs the lie. Desdemona is the ultimate tragic heroine, the female completely innocent of wrongdoing who suffers a violent death as the result of the entrapments of love (very similar to Ophelia in this respect, though Ophelia's death is not purposeful and Desdemona's is very brutal as her husband beats her to death. It comes from Greek and means "ill-fated" or "unfortunate". At Shakespeare's time belief in the role of the stars in a person's life and fortune was common among the educated and not viewed with disdain as it is today. The play I did my Master's thesis on was La Estrella de Sevilla - "The Star of Seville" whose main character is named Estrella and so there is a double reference to the character and the star that rules her fate, as well as the other layers of meaning in the play I won't go into. I'm not sure if the Greek roots of the name Desdemona relate to the term we have in English "cursed" since being "cursed" suggests an act that takes place to cause only misfortune to rule one's life. However in my experience people often say "I'm cursed" without the idea that somewhere sometime someone cursed them, but rather, for those who do believe in it (versus those who use the term purely figuratively) the meaning is more that 'something' rules their life such that they always 'get the short end of the stick' so to speak.

Eurydice - Greek, this name is closer to its original form spelled Eurydike (and pronounced 'yur uh dy kee', however, it is also correct to spell it Eurydice and pronounce it 'ur uh dice ee'). In Italian it is "yur oh dee chay". I also love the Spanish pronunciation of "ay oo ree dee say". One of my favorite love stories - Orpheus goes to the Underworld to rescue his love Eurydice. He is a great musician and his music convinces the gods of the Underworld to release her to him and return to life. However because at the last moment Orpheus looks back she is lost to him and they are not reunited again until his death (one of the worst in mythology - ripped apart by the 'mad' female worshippers of Dionysius - known as Bacchus in Roman mythology). The story of Orpheus and Eurydice remind me of Lot and his wife fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah. They are told not to look back at the cities or they will perish and Lot's wife turns to look at the awful destruction she hears behind her and is turned to a pillar of salt. I also think of Jezebel who is ripped apart at her death (she participated in the worship of idols that required human sacrifice and is in general represented as a cruel and brutal woman in the Bible). There is also a part of the Bible where the prophet Elisha is pursued by children mocking him and he curses them and they are ripped apart by wild dogs. But Orpheus is one of the great images of ancient Greek culture and together with Eurydice one of the great tragic romances.

Boys

Fergus - English form of the Celtic name Fearghas, from "fear" meaning "man" and "gus" meaning "choice" or "vigor" or "strength". A famous Irish legendary hero was named Fergus, supposed to have been from the north of Ireland.

Gawain - I thought this name would be simple and easy to explain as Welsh and the older form of Gavin, meaning "white hawk".  Gavin is the later form of the Welsh name Gwalchgwn which means 'white hawk'. Beyond that is more complicated. Gawain is the English form of the name of one of the knights of the Round Table (and one of my personal favorites, after Lancelot). The Welsh 'gwalch' does mean hawk and the name of the mythological Welsh hero Gwalchmei is thought to mean 'hawk of May'  - May coming from the name of the month of May. There are other explanations for the origin of the name though. There is the the Common Brittonic name "Ualcos Magesos" meaning "hawk of the plain", the Brythonic "Wolcos Magesos" meaning "wolf of the plain" or "errant warrior of the plain", "Gwalt Avwyn" meaning "hair like reigns" or "bright hair", the Dutch "Walewein". There are variants of Gawain such as the Latin Walwen, Gualguanus, Walganus, and Waluanus or the French Gauvain. Gawain, though, remains my favorite.

Hiawatha - This name turned out to be a bit more complicated in origin than I expected. I knew it was the name of a Native American hero in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (The Song of Hiawatha) - a 19th century American. Apparently Longfellow used the name Hiawatha which was an Ojibwe name meaning "he who makes rivers" or "maker of rivers". There is some connection to a man various north-eastern tribes spoke of as a great leader, with the Iroquoian name "Hayowentha" or something along those lines, meaning "he who combs" according to some websites I visited. However, the important thing about the man of legend (haven't read the poem so I can't really comment on that) seems to be his wisdom and the way he modeled how to live or be. He was powerful in a magical sense as well, defeating serpents, riding in a 'magical' canoe. Though wouldn't the story tellers of 5 hundred years ago think that we ride in magical canoes as well? That our anti-venoms are magical potions? Doesn't an i-phone glow in the dark, emit sounds of all kinds, even carry the voices of the dead or pictures of people who have not yet lived (ultrasounds). I am beginning to doubt less and less the things that may have existed in the world I never saw. Someone who can figure out how to get a camel or a mule to move is pretty smart, actually, if you ask me. The wheel or fire seem simple by comparison. So who knows what things people once had or knew or did or hoped? Since we have obliterated so much of their world long ago, it is hard to say.

14 More Names

Yesterday's and today's post all in one!

Girls

Kelilah - Hebrew, meaning "perfection" or "crown of laurel".

Leire -Basque, from the root "legor" meaning "shed" or "hostel". It is the name of a famous monastery in Spain and a popular name for Basque girls as a result of the important influence of the monastery - which offered shelter for travelers making a pilgrimage to San Juan de Compostela. The place name in Spanish is Leyre. I believe Leire pronounced correctly is 'lay-ee ray', or maybe it's "lay-ee-ruh".

Miep - Dutch nickname for Maria, which is a Latin form of the Hebrew name Mary, meaning "bitter" (Mary's meaning and origin may be more complicated than that, but we'll save it for another day).

Some people are lucky enough to be known by just their first name during their life and after they have died. I think Miep is one of those people. I never can remember her last name but if I ever start to say why I like the name Miep I never need to finish. Here is a link to the website created to remember her. Unlike the people she tried so hard to save, she got to live a long life and only recently died at the age of 100. Sometimes doing simple things requires great courage.

1933

Nut- Egyptian, meaning "sky" Nut is the sky goddess of ancient Egypt. She is one of the most ancient goddesses. It is literally her body we see stretched above us when we look up at the sky.  I found various pronunciations for this: 'nut' and "noot" and "nyooth' and one source did suggest 'naught' as the pronunciation. I also found 3 other spellings of this name: Neuth, Nuith, and Newet.

Oona - Irish, from the word "uan" meaning "lamb". (consider that we call a female sheep an 'ewe').

Proserpina - Latin, meaning "to emerge". Proserpina is the Roman goddess married to the ruler of the Underworld, but she leaves him each year to visit her mother - this is the explanation for Spring. When she returns to him, we get Autumn and then Winter. This is because her mother, Ceres, is the goddess of agriculture and when Pluto (the god of the Underworld) kidnapped her daughter she ravaged the land looking for her. She won the right to have her daughter visit her for half of the year, however. During this part of the year she does not punish the earth for her daughter's absence, and things are able to grow.

Rue - this is the name of an medicinal herb, the name derives from the Greek "rhyte". It can also be used as a nickname for Ruth.

Boys

Soren - Danish version of the name Severinus, which was a Roman family name that came from Severus, another Roman family name. Severus meant "stern" in Latin. Soren is correctly pronounced "suu ren", though I hear English speakers here say "sore in". One of my ancestors had this as a first name - he immigrated here from Denmark.

Tamerlane  - this is a name used for one of history's great participants. Timur "The Lame" became "Tamerlane" eventually. Timur comes from a Turkic name Temur, which mean "iron". Lame comes from the Old English word "lama" which meant "crippled" or "lame" or "paralytic" or "weak" which came from the Proto-Germanic root "lamon" meaning "weak-limbed" or literally "broken". This word comes from the Proto-Indo-European root "lem" meaning "to break" or "broken"

Ulrich -Germanic, from "Huldrich" which comes from the Old High German name Uodalrich, which comes from "uodal" meaning "heritage" and "rich" meaning "powerful". These names are "related": Urich, Ulich, Ulricher, Ulrico, Orrico, Ullrisch, Woolrich, Ullmann, Ulke, Utz, Utzmann, Utzle, Jedele, Yetley, Jehle, Jehl, Uller. Variants of Ulrich in languages other than German: Ulryk (Polish), Ulderico (Italian), Huldericus (Latin), Oldrich (Slovak), Odalric (Catalan), Uldis (Latvian), Odor (Hungarian), and Ryczek (Polish).
I thought St. Ulrich of Zell had the best name of all the Ulrichs Wikipedia listed. And when I read about him I was not disappointed. He is quite the image of what you might expect a medieval German saint to be. He founded a monastery and convent in the Black Forest (how cool is that?). Since my ancestors are from Bavaria (or a portion of them, anyway) I thought it was neat that he was from there too (and with such a cool name).

Vladimir -Slavic, meaning "regal" or "great in his power" or "to rule with greatness", from 'volod' meaning 'rule' and 'mer' meaning 'greatness'. There is a folk etymology which says it means "person of the people" or "the one with peace on one side". Russian speakers interpret the name's meaning as "world peace" or "peace rules". They arrive at a different interpretation of the meaning of the name because of their association of the name with the word for peace, which sounds the same (the 'mir' part of the name). It can be pronounced "vlah DEE mihr" or in English it is usually said "VLAD uh mihr". The German name Waldemar (or Valdemar) is interpreted as meaning "famous ruler" and it is just a variant of Vladimir.

Wenceslaus -Latin form of the Slavic name Veceslav, which is derived from the roots "vece" meaning "more" and "slav" meaning "glory".

Zarathustra - coming from an Old Persian name, either Zarantustra or Zaratustra. If Zarantustra it may mean "with old camels" or "with aging camels" and related to the Avestic root 'zarant' (related then to the Persian root 'zal' meaning 'old'). Or it might mean "with angry camels" or "with furious camels" and related to the Avestan 'zarant' meaning 'angry' or 'furious'.
If Zaratustra it could be 'owner of the golden camel' related to the Eastern Iranian word 'zar' meaning 'gold' and 'ushtra' meaning 'camel.' Or it might mean "who is driving camels" or "who is fostering camels" or "who is cherishing camels" - zars meaning "precious" or "valued". It might also mean "who is desiring camels" or "who is longing for camels". Or it might mean "with yellow camels".

Lots of options! Zarathustra was the founder of the Zoroastrian religion. He was once believed to have lived as long ago as 6,000 BC but now people seem to think he lived somewhere between 1800 BC and 600 BC. In any case, he also profoundly impacted other religions, such as Judaism and philosophy, especially Greek philosophy. I thought to feature the name because Nietzsche has a book called Thus Spoke Zarathustra, even though I haven't actually read the book. It just seems like a cool name. The meaning, a bit of a let down. But the name itself, very neat.

Amerigo - Italian form of the Germanic name Emmerich, which is derived from 'ermen' meaning "whole" or "universal" and "ric" meaning "power"  -  it may be that it comes from 'amal' rather than 'ermen'  - amal means "work" or "labor"  or that it comes from 'heim' meaning "home". So then that would mean "home power" or "powerful home" or "power of the home" or "home of power" and the other possible 'combined' meanings would be "powerful work" or "work power" (or manpower), or that it means "universal power" or "whole power" (maybe in the sense of 'all' power or 'complete power'). Or maybe 'powerful whole' which might be something like everything together as a whole is powerful. I like this name as it belongs to Amerigo Vespucci and as a kid I liked the guy. I read one of those autobiographies intended for elementary kids - but I remember that it was long and detailed, it seems maybe a 200 page book. I was fascinated by how different life was then and then, to come to the New World and everything was so different for them from what 'they' knew. It seemed so daring and brave and exciting. When you're a kid and you read Treasure Island or an autobiography of an explorer like Vespucci, you think, wow, I wish I had lived then and gone on such voyages. As a 41 year old woman, no. I'm glad I did not. But when I was younger, definitely. I would have loved it.

7 New Names

Girls


Diadema - from the Greek word "diadema" meaning "band" or "fillet", which derives from the word "diadeo" meaning "I bind round" or "I fasten". Ancient Greeks wore diadems and they indicated that someone was royal or were worn by victorious athletes. These diadems could simply be ribbons or cloth or leather headbands or a garland. Eventually they were also made of metal and the half circular diadems worn by women are what many people think of today. They are a symbol of dignity and great worth. They were also worn by ancient Persians and ancient Egyptians.

Edras - a form of Esdras, which is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Ezra which means "help".

Fionnula -Celtic, meaning "white shoulder" or "fair" or "blond".





Boys


Gannon - Irish Gaelic, meaning "fair-skinned" or "fair-haired".

Heathcliff - Old English, meaning "heath-covered cliff" or "sloping wasteland". It comes from the English word heath (meaning heather) which derives from the Germanic root "heide". Though heath does refer to heather, it can just mean untilled land or wasteland. The Old Norse word heidr meant field. Old Saxon used the word hetha and this is supposed to come from a proto-Germanic root haithiz. Cliff comes from Old English (clif) meaning "rock, promontory, steep slope". The Proto-Germanic root was kliban. The Dutch word is klip, Old High German was klep.

Idris - Welsh, meaning "ardent lord", from the Welsh root "udd" meaning "lord" or "prince" and "ris" meaning "ardent" or "enthusiastic" or "impulsive".

Jarvis- a medieval form of Gervaise, which is a French form of Gervasius, a Latinized form of a Germanic name, derived from the root "ger" meaning "spear".

Names 127-133 of our 2,014 goal this year

Girls

Wretha - I have 4 theories on the origin of this name.

1- it is a nickname for Margaretha. I found that Retha spelled like this is a nickname for Margaretha and it is possible that Wretha is just a creative spelling because of the similarity in sound to the word wreath.

2- its origin is tied to the English word wreath, which meant 'band' and of course, a wreath is associated with various rites of passage and a symbol of honor, respect, and reverence, as well as beauty.

3- it is related to the Cornish word for 'to do', wreth.

4 - it comes from the Greek name Aretha, meaning 'virtue' (the old form would have been 'arete'. An 'arete' in Spanish is an earring - again the symbolism of a decorative band or circle).

Xandrine -French feminine short form of Alexander, a Greek name meaning "defender of men".

Yomara - alternate spelling of the name Xiomara, which is a form of the name Guiomar, which has an older form, Wigmar, which would come from the Germanic root 'wig' meaning 'battle' or 'fight' and 'mar' meaning 'famous'. I knew a Yomara and she was a darling.

Zipporah -Hebrew, meaning "female bird".

This is the name of Moses' first wife, the one he marries when he is sent in to exile after killing an Egyptian guard who was beating a Hebrew slave. I think this must be one of the most beautiful names ever, in sound and form. It seems a romantic story for her, to have this Egyptian prince come out of the desert and live with you. He was obviously into climbing mountains (so that part of Moses I like) and I imagine Zipporah taking her goats or sheep through the mountains and Moses going with her. Imagine how vast the world must have seemed and how magical. I like to imagine the fabric of her clothes, it seems they would have been woven at home or by people nearby, but maybe sometimes there were travelers and a special fabric was bought, dyed a rich scarlet or deep blue. Maybe she wore a heavy gold ring, so well made we would still find it a fine ring today.



Boys

Adlai - Aramaic, meaning "refuge of God". There was an old man named this in the town where I grew up (I want to say his name was Adlai Peterson). Anyway, I remember loving this name from the get-go. It's been a very long time since he was alive so I can't even picture the man, but he must have been very nice for me to like the name so well. I will have to feature more names of the old people from my town, even if they are somewhat more well known, just so I can tell you about the people! I think Adlai lived to the east side of town. By the way, Downton Abbey and Agatha Christie novels are great, but not nearly as neat as talking to someone who was young then. Even if they just lived on a farm and went to school and church and the store. They did everything different and there are always so many things to learn about what has been and is no more. As I said, he lived on the east side of town, near the river and the highway and the road to Salina, the grocery store and the gas station and the ball park.
2 pronunciations for this name - 'add lay' and 'ad lye'
By the way, I think it would be a very stylish choice for a boy nowadays.

Update: Talked to my dad and he recalled that Adlai always had candy in his coat pocket at church and would give us some as kids. No wonder I remember him as nice!! Now you know, if you want to be remembered when you're gone, candy is a good way to go.

Quasimodo on the Cathedral of Notre Dame -  one of my favorite tales of refuge and where gods and demons dwell

Bushrod -Germanic, meaning 'young shrub'. I was curious about this name as my 5th great-grandfather on my mother's paternal line (her father's father's father's father's mother's father) has this as a middle name and I had never heard it before. Only recently have I noticed several people with this name when doing genealogy (not necessarily related to me). Unusual names are like that. You think you've never heard or seen a name before, then once you notice it, you start seeing it a lot more. It was always there, you just didn't notice it before.

Collier - English, meaning "coal seller" and pronounced 'call yer' or "kohl yer". Another stylish choice for nowadays. In fact, many of the names on this page are.

2,014 Names in 2014 - Names 120-126

Girls

Paget -English, from the name Page, which comes from the Greek word 'paidion' which means "little boy".

Quartilla - Latin, meaning "fourth born" or "born in the fourth month".

Radmilla - feminine form of the Slavic name Radomil, which comes from 'rad' meaning 'care' and 'mil' meaning 'gracious' or 'dear'.


Boys

Sarek - one of the more famous Vulcans from Star Trek - Sarek is Spock's father.
Here are possible sources for the name (there wound up being a LOT more than I anticipated and so probably, I could fit more in here)

1- Sarek National Park in Sweden. In the far north of Sweden. It is a remote wilderness area in Lapland. The Sarek Mountains are found here including Mount Sarek. Sarek is a Sami word meaning 'spear shaped'.

2-  In medieval Persia there was a place called Sarahasi. The source I consulted identified this place as Sarakhs. I can see how you might call a person from Sarakhs - Sarakh, leaving the s off, and over time that might convert to a surname and then a personal name.

3- There was also a place called Saliya, identified as Saria or Sari. Depending on the language it might be that someone from this place would be called Sarik. Even if it started out with a long vowel sound, over time or in different dialects or languages it might convert to a short vowel sound.

4-  I came across a place in Asia called Sai-lon or Sairam  (I suppose this is Ceylon which is now called Sri Lanka, and not Siam, now called Thailand).

5-Ptolemy described a place called Sarakene, and this is the region that the Saracens came from (the north part of Sinai) - Hippolytus called them the Saraceni. Greeks called a people from near this region 'Sarakenoi'. Even though the name of the people did not originally mean an Arab, it came to be used that way during the middle ages. I found one source that thought Saracen might come from the Arab 'sharq' meaning 'sunrise' or 'east'. I can see Sarak developing as a short form or nickname for someone called a Saracen or Sarakene.

6- There is an early Egyptian king called Har Sarek - Sarek means "scorpion".

7- Chaldean or Assyrian, meaning "prince". It seems to be another name used for Sargon, an Assyrian king.

8- Sarek Uzdn is the name of an ancient town on the river Arch

I found several of the place names in a something I guess I did not know existed. The Universal History of Time From its Earliest Accounts to the Present. Several people worked on this in the 18th century and it resulted in 65 volumes, pulling together knowledge gathered from earlier writers in various cultures around the world including ancient times.

** Update**  I found another possible source for the name Sarek. There is a town in northern Mexico called Sáric, which sounds like 'saar eek'. It comes from the O'odham language and means 'mountain pass' (the O'odham word is Sa'alk).

Tiberius - Yes, I could not resist the temptation to follow up Sarek with another Star Trek name. However, Tiberius is a bit easier to pin down. It is Latin, though it may have originally come from Etruscan. It might be associated with the river Tiberis or the city of Tibur, or possibly the king Tiberinus. Wikipedia suggests that it may come from a preindoeuropean root 'alba' meaning 'white with sediment' or 'from the mountains' or 'mount'. It might relate to the Aegean word "tifos" or "still water". In Roman Mythology Romulus and Remus were thrown into the waters of the Tiber river (ruled by the god Tiberinus - the king who had drowned in the river).

Uranus - Greek, from Ouranos, meaning "sky" or "heaven". The Greek god Uranus was the personification of the sky. Father Sky was the son and husband of Mother Earth (Gaia). An ancient god he was the father of the Titans, the gods who ruled before Zeus and his group. It's interesting to me that the ancient Egyptians had a sky and earth couple as well - Nut, a goddess, was the sky, and Ged, a male god, was earth. The Greeks reversed the roles, but the sky deity retained some similarity to the Egpytian goddess' name and the earth deity had a name even more obviously related to the Egyptian precursor.


Vlad - a short form of names like Vladislav. These names have the Slavic root 'volod' which means 'rule'. I find that interesting as well, since the word valid in our language is essential to any sort of effective government or leadership.