210 New Names so far in 2,014, Plus 7 New ones today = 217 total new names, Subtracted from goal of 2,014 = 1,797 names left to learn this year!

GIRLS

Nancy Ann Story Book Doll #174  Flossie

Flossie - a nickname for Florence.

               Flossie came from Dublin Town
               With forty frills upon her gown,
                A hundred trunks of linen fine,
                If she'll have me, I'll make her mine.

Glynnis - Welsh, derived either from Glenys, meaning "clean" or "holy" or "fair" or from glyn, meaning "valley".

St. Hedwig's Cathedral, Berlin, Germany

Hedwig - German, from Hadwig and Haduwig which derive from the roots "hadu" meaning "battle" and "wig" meaning "fight".






Icie - according to one blogger this derives from the spelling Icesis (for the goddess Isis). I found a lapse in her logic, though, as she suggested that the use of this as a name made sense if there had been a great fascination with Egypt at the time this name was popular. There was a fascination with it (she showed it popular from the 1880s through the 1910s) but the thing is, Egypt only increased in popularity in the 1920s and 1930s and her explanation that it fell out of popularity due to the use of the phrase 'ice princess' does not really coincide with that time period. Use of ice princess nowadays may be common enough, but it was not back then. In addition, if Icie was being used in place of Isis or as a nickname for Isis (or Icesis) then those two names should have shared some level of popularity similar to the nickname's. However Isis did not even enter the U.S. Top 1000 names for girls until the mid-1990s.

I find it much more plausible that Icie is a nickname for Isabelle and Isadora, which were much more popular at the time.

I think it would even be more likely that all the Icies named at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century came from names other than Isis which WERE more commonly used at the time, such as Eunice or as a way to honor someone, such as Isaac or Isaiah.

Dicy is a name to consider, since it is so similar to Icie. Dicy was a nickname for Diana and other names and it seems possible that Icie could just be a variation of Dicy.

I came across a woman whose middle name was Ica and her nickname was Icie. Likely that c in Ica is pronounced with an s sound, which would make it a variant spelling of Isa, which IS a nickname for Isabelle.

Here is some evidence for Icie as a nickname for names other than Isis.

 Isadora Icie Ferguson (1877 - 1963)

Birth:	Dec. 6, 1877 Roanoke County Virginia, USA
Death:	Feb. 2, 1963 Roanoke County Virginia, USA
Isadora was the 3rd child of William Harrison Ferguson & Margaret Rachel Owens of Back Creek, Roanoke, Virginia. She was the oldest daughter of eleven children. She was called Icie all her life. Her father was a civil war veteran. Icie was a small woman with a waist of 18 inches. She had wavy brown hair, blue eyes & fair skin. She was an excellent seamstress & cook.

Isadora Icy Harper, Born in Tennessee on 12 Jul 1856 and died 25 Nov 1947 in Dallas, Texas
Isadora "Icie" A Dull
Roma Isadora Icie Brown
Isadora Virginia Brown
Isabelle Icie or Isey Mullins
Isabelle Icie Geren

There WERE some people named Isis with Icie for a nickname:

Isis Icie Chenoweth

I had a hard time finding people named Isis (nicknamed Icie) that were born in the 19th or early 20th centuries. And I found an abundance of people born then named something OTHER than Isis that were nicknamed Icie.

Icy Basaak

And then there's just plain 'ice'. I found one woman who was named Icie whose mother's maiden name was Ice. In that instance, Icie is probably to honor the mother's maiden name. But finding Icie an appropriate name for her child was probably in relation to its usage at the time for other established girl names, like Isabelle.

I find it similar to my own name Dellitt. Dellitt is not just a variation of Della, but an unrelated surname. My grandmother was given this name in 1906, when the name Della WAS popular. Even though she was named for a relative with this surname, it is likely that her mother found Dellitt an acceptable first name for her daughter due to the popularity of Della at the time. 

BOYS


Joah - Hebrew, from "Yahu" (or YHWH) meaning "Yahweh" or "God" and "ach" meaning "brother".

Kenji - Japanese, meaning "second-born son".

Lazarillo - Spanish, nickname for someone named Lázaro, which is the Spanish form of the Hebrew name Lazarus, which means "God will help". It can also come from the Italian or Greek name Lazaro meaning "resurrection". In Spanish a lazarillo was a little boy that served as a guide for a blind man. In Spanish this name is pronounced "lah sah ree yo", the r being rolled. A famous work of Spanish fiction is the picaresque novel "Lazarillo de Tormes", which recounts the life and adventures of a boy who worked as a lazarillo.

R-X

More names toward our goal of 2,014 new names to learn this year.


GIRL NAMES





Rumer - English, meaning "gypsy".






 


Saoirse -Irish, meaning "freedom" and pronounced "sair sha".



Tansy - according to appellationmountain.net this name comes from the Greek word athanasia, meaning "immortality", coming more directly  from the Latin form of this, tanacita. Tansy is the name of a flower.







 

Uda -a form of Oda, a Germanic name meaning "wealth" or "inheritance". Pronounced 'you da'.








 


BOY NAMES

Volney- German, meaning "spirit of the folk".   


 



Warrick - English, from Warwick, which derives from "weir" meaning "weir" or "dam" and "wic" meaning "dairy farm".







 




Xenophon - Greek, meaning "stranger's voice".

Names 190-196

Girls

Keely- Irish, from the surname O' Caollaidhe, referring to the male descendant of a person called "the slim one" or "skinny". There is also the form Keighley, which is both a place name and a surname in English. It means "the farm of Cyhha" which was an old personal name. I am not sure when this name came into usage as a first name, but there was a girl that I grew up with named Keely. The name fit her perfectly.

Lettice - a form of Leticia.

Mairwen - Welsh, from Mair, a form of the Hebrew name Mary and Gwen meaning "fair" or "white" or "blessed"


Boys

Napoleon

Careful, careful, with assumptions. Napoleon, the man, may have been Emperor of France, but his name comes from the Italian Napoleone meaning "Naples' lion"  (neo - new, polis - city, leone - lion....... napoleone)

Odón - a form of the name Odo, which is a form of Otto or Otho and derives from the German root meaning "possessor of wealth". Odón spelled like this is the Spanish version, pronounced "oh doan', with the emphasis on the second syllable. Spelled Ödön it is the Hungarian form of Edmond, which means 'wealthy protector'. Though I wonder if that might not also be seen as 'wealth protector' or 'protector of wealth', which to me is a different meaning entirely from 'wealthy protector'. There is a famous saint known in French as Saint Odón of Cluny who lived in the Middle Ages and is also known as Saint Odo of Cluny.

Paris - Greek, meaning "backpack". Now, I did not see THAT one coming. It is related to the myth of Paris, where he is brought home in a backpack after surviving for 9 days on Mount Ida as a newborn (he was prophesied to be the person who would bring about the ruin of his household, so he was to be killed, but no one could bring themselves to kill him and the man sent to do it left him exposed on the mountain. BUT a female bear came and gave him milk and kept him alive. When the man came back and found the baby still alive, he took him home, carrying him in his backpack.)


If you are using Paris as a name to honor the city of Paris, France, the etymology is different. The people of that area were called the Parisii by the Romans and the city of Paris was actually called Lutetia Parisiorum, which means "Lutetia of the Parisii". In the middle of the 4th century AD (about 360 AD) it became known as Paris. Humans are known to have had a settlement there since at least 9000 B.C. As for the meaning, it might come from the Celtic word 'par' which means "boat" (consider the Greek "baris" and that the word barge refers to a type of boat). The coat of arms of the city of Paris features a boat.

Quinlan- Irish, meaning "strong" or "well-formed" or "athletic".

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".

Names 176-182

Girls

Willowdeana - a variation of Willowdean or Willowdene. I've found this as a place name and also as a given name combo. My theory is that it is a variant spelling of Willadina (or Willadine in the case of Willowdean and Willowdene). Willadine or Willadina would be forms of Willamina/Willamine, which comes from Wilhelmina and Wilhelmine. Wilhelmina is a feminine form of the German name Wilhelm which is itself a variant of the English Gwilliam. Willadeana would be possible as "willa" could be a short form of the name Wilhelm (also written as Willahelm), which comes from 'wil' meaning 'will' or 'desire', and 'helm' meaning 'helmet' or 'protection'.  If it is composed from willow and dean or deana, as a place name first and a personal name thereafter, willow comes from the Old English 'welig' for the name of the tree and Deana could come from the term used for a monk in charge of a group of monks, usually 10, this meaning of a Latin origin.

 Another blogger, Spastic Onomastic, has already tried to figure this name out, and seems to have come across a lot of the same information online that I have. Which has resolved nothing, so far as I can tell. Her research does not go back before the 19th century when the name use could easily have come from a name popularized in literature, music, art, or plays or just be popular due to that type of name being popular. I also came across at least one person who pronounced the last part of the name as 'dee ann uh'. That pronunciation seems unlikely to me given the various spellings of the name, and the use of Willowdene - which would exclude that pronunciation entirely.

Xaviera - feminine version of Xavier. In Spanish Xaviera is pronounced 'hah vee air uh'. It could also be spelled Javiera.

the Immortal Anna Pavlova, the definition of graceful

Yamileth -Arabic, from Jamila, the feminine form of Jamil, meaning "beautiful" or "graceful" or "handsome". In Spanish this is sometimes written Yamilet.

Boys

Zaccheus- from the Greek Zakkhaios which comes from the Hebrew "zakkay" meaning "pure" or "innocent" which comes from "zakhah" which means "was clean" or "was pure".


Ardghal - Irish, from "ard" meaning "high" and "gal" meaning "valor". Pronounced 'AR dahl'.



Beauregard - French meaning "beautiful outlook" and pronounced "BO reh gard".


Cadwallader - Welsh, from "cad" meaning "battle" and "gwaladr" meaning "leader". Dwalad seems to be a nickname for this in Welsh. 

Names for Today: P, Q, R, S, T, U, V

Girls

Phylida - pronounced 'fill ih duh'. From Phyllidos, the genetive form of Phyllis, which is ancient Greek and means 'foliage'.



Queen Esther - 

 








 



This is not to explain the etymology or origin of the name Esther used for the Biblical queen (one of the most fascinating names etymologically or historically speaking, I think, and so I think it requires its own separate entry). Rather, this is the use of both Queen and Esther as part of the name.

The first person I found in my research was a woman who is still living and a famous jazz musician. I'm not sure if she was born Esther and being called Queen Esther is related to her virtuosity with music. I do think it's pretty neat, if you're going to become a musician, to reach a status or level of performance or maybe just longevity that rates you a high-sounding nickname like Queen.

The second and for me most fascinating story involved a woman named Queen Esther who lived in Pennsylvania in the 18th century around the time of the American Revolution. Her given name did not contain 'queen'. She was born Esther Montour. She married a chief, though, and had her own town called Queen Esther's Town where she lived in a castle or palace, as people claimed who visited her there. How should I attack each facet of her story that is so compelling? Her history suggests that she was descended from Madame Montour (whose name may have been Isabelle or Elizabeth -- Isabelle is just the French form of Elizabeth). Mdme Montour became an important interpreter at tribal councils and when treaties were proposed. Several of her children followed a similar life path - marrying a Native American  and becoming important in the politics of their clan or tribe, often serving as interpreters. Mdme Mountour was actually born in the late part of the 17th century, so jumping forward we come to Esther Montour. Esther was considered friendly somewhat to white people who met her. However their opinion of her changed after she massacred several American soldiers. The Americans had been responsible for the death of someone important to her, either a family or tribe member, and the massacre is seen as her revenge for this death.

Racabinah - I have yet to encounter a definite origin for this name. Possibilities include the name of a region of Africa (I came across Reccabena in an 18th century text, NOT in English so I'm not certain if Reccabena is the French or Italian name of a place in Africa or an African name), a name related to Rechab in the Bible  --- this one seems the most likely to me. There are the forms Rekah and Rekabi used for names of descendants of Rechab. Rechabina, then, might be some Latin form of the name for a female. If so, its meaning is "square" or "a chariot led by 4 horses" or "rider" or "bands of riders".
As a fan of the Lord of the Rings books and especially the Riders of Rohan, I love this idea. Tolkien was an expert with linguistics (well, a professor in fact) and it would make sense that the name he chose for his plains people, the people who were excellent horsemen (and women) would sound similar to the name of an ancient people associated with this or named for this  (Rechabites were supposed to be descendants of Rechab).

Check out these places in the Bible to learn more about this (I haven't yet, but will eventually):

http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/4-2.htm
http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/3-30.htm
http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/4-6.htm
http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/4-9.htm
http://biblehub.com/nasb/2_samuel/1.htm
http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/4-3.htm
http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/2-55.htm
http://biblehub.com/numbers/10-29.htm
http://biblehub.com/judges/1-16.htm
http://biblehub.com/judges/4-17.htm
http://biblehub.com/judges/4-17.htm

Svetlana - Slavic, from the word 'svet' meaning "light" or "shining" or "luminescent" or "pure" or "blessed" or "holy".  Светлана is how the name is written in Russian. Prettier even in Cyrillic, isn't it? Could we do a C version of the name in English? Cvetlana? No, then you would want to say 'kuh vet lana' instead of 'suh vet lah na'  (well, no 'uh' in between the c  and v or s and v). Cevetlana doesn't improve things. But maybe Civetlana? Or Zvetlana? The c doesn't work but the Z just might.

Boys

Tacitus - Latin, meaning "silent".

If you love History or Geography or Culture or Language or Religion then you might love the idea of naming your son Tacitus. Or anyhow, of the ancient Roman writers there are that you could name your son after, I think this is one of the best choices, as far as having an awesome name and awesome writings. And just think, Tact would make a great nickname!

Here are a few of his insights:

“They have plundered the world, stripping naked the land in their hunger… they are driven by greed, if their enemy be rich; by ambition, if poor… They ravage, they slaughter, they seize by false pretenses, and all of this they hail as the construction of empire. And when in their wake nothing remains but a desert, they call that peace.” 
  

“Greater things are believed of those who are absent.”

Usher- English, from the Anglo-Norman French "usser" (I also found the French form 'huissier') which comes from the Latin "ustiarius" which in turn is derived from 'ostiarius' which comes from "ostium" meaning "door" (also found the forms 'uscio' and 'huis'). It was the name for a doorkeeper in a court of justice or in a palace. It's modern meaning, though, refers to the person who guides a person to their seat at formal social events like weddings or banquets or at large public events, such as a play in a theater.


I also came across the Gaelic 'uis' and pronounced 'uish', which meant "utility" or "service" or "a courteous reception". 

 Usher is the name of a popular music artist in the United States - and this shows my age. I know that, I can recognize him, but I could not tell you anything about his music. I think more of the story The Fall of the House of Usher which is such a dark story, I can't imagine naming a child Usher. However, it's also a gothic tale and quite a good one. It's not an unappealing name as far as anything about the name itself, except that ushers, in the workplace, are not high on the totem pole.


Vanja - nickname for Ivan, the Slavic variant of the Greek name "Ioannes" which comes from the Hebrew name "Yohanan" meaning "Yahweh is gracious".

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".