The Big Finish

Thanks to the website Behind the Name for some of the names featured today, though I have used their website frequently as a source throughout the series this year. The African names featured here come from a scholarly paper entitled Tracking the Origins of African Slaves in the Indian Ocean through personal names: the evidence of Sumatra records by Thomas Vernet and Philippe Beaujard. Thanks to archive.org, possibly most of all, for access over the past year to countless books that are out of print and hard to find, except that they are easy to access on their website. Today's entries include names I found in History of Christian Names, Vol. I by Charlotte Mary Yonge, though this is not the first time I've consulted her work.

It's been a very fulfilling experience to share all these fabulous finds with you. I look forward to updating all the entries that need research with better information. Please share anything you know or think about these names or names you think should fit into another post series down the road. I don't anticipate anything as sizable as this post series has been, but I would like to find good name combinations for the names that are practical to use on a child nowadays. Ok, I'd like to come up with some for even the not so practical (Henhenet from the other day comes to mind). Just for the fun of it. So share anything along those lines. And if YOU are one of the names listed here, please comment. I'm interested in how you feel about your name or the experiences you've had with it. Or how you came about getting your name.

Actress Lana Turner, classically
 "stunning", like the name Alessandria

GIRLS


Alexandretta - feminine form of the Greek masculine name Alexander, meaning "defender of mankind" from 'alexo' meaning 'defender' and 'andros' meaning 'man'. Etta is also a way of making a name a diminutive, which is to say that it makes the name more appropriate for a younger person or makes the name more of a term of endearment for someone you love. You could call your Alexandra Alexandretta out of fondness. Another feminine version of Alexander offered in the History of Christian Names is Alessandria. I've heard Alexandra and Alexandria and Alessandra and Alejandra, so I don't know why I had not thought of Alessandria. It's stunningly beautiful.

Ansa - Finnish, derived from 'ansio' meaning 'virtue' or 'ansa' meaning 'trap'.

Damaspia - Celtic, meaning "horsetamer".

wild horses, in need of a tamer

such a sweet little girl!

Evlalija - Serbian form of Eulalia.

Glykera - Greek, meaning "the sweet".

Gytha - Teutonic, meaning "good fame" or it may be from an Old Norse name meaning "god" and "beautiful".

Haggy- nickname for Agatha.

Hilja - Finnish, derived from 'hiljaisuus' meaning 'silence'.

Irja - may be a Finnish form of Irina.

Jevlalija - a Russian form of the Greek Eulalius.

Kirsikka - Finnish, meaning 'cherry'.

Lahja - Finnish, meaning 'gift'.

Leocadie - French form of the Spanish name Leocadia.

Elizabeth Warren

"fair speech"

 she has a great way of speaking, 

whether you agree with her or not

Lelica - Serbian form of the Greek Eulalius, meaning "fair speech".

Matoaka - Algonquian, this was a secret religious name that Pocahontas had before

Merja - may be the name of one of the ancient peoples of Finland. 

Seija - Finnish, meaning 'tranquil' or 'serene'.

BOYS

Andragathos - Greek, meaning "good man".

Aristobulus - Greek, meaning "best counsel".


Brancalleone  - Italian, meaning "arm of a lion".

Eelis - Finnish form of Elijah.

Ippolito - Italian form of Hippolito or Hippolytus, meaning "horse destroyer".

Jedrzej - Polish form of the Greek Andrew, from 'andros' meaning 'manly'.

Melissus- Latin, meaning "bee".

Nantequaus - Algonquian, this was the name of the brother of Pocahontas.

 Opachisco- Algonquian, this was the name of the uncle of Pocahontas

Opechancanough- Algonquian, this was the name of one of Pocahontas' uncle.



NOT SURE WHICH GENDER

Arwystli - possibly a Welsh form of Aristobulus.

Aspamitras - Persian, meaning "horse-lover".

Caroomayna - may be Malagasy, from 'karamaina' meaning 'person who is salaried.

Eilah -may be Malagasy, from 'ela' meaning 'long', in reference to time or distance.

Embia - a name from the East coast of Africa (could also be spelt Mbia).

Kaleelee - Swahili, meaning 'noise'.

Keysaw- may be Swahili, meaning 'story' or 'reason' or 'affair'. Or it may be Malagasy, meaning 'small knife' (though this is suggested as deriving from 'kiso' with that word coming from the Swahili 'kisu').

Massay - may be Malagasy, from 'masay' meaning small.

Moora - may come from Malagasy 'mora' meaning 'easy' or 'sweet'.

Riela - may be Malagasy, ri coming from 'iri' meaning 'that one' and 'ela' meaning 'long'.

Risooarah - may be from Malagasy 'soa' meaning 'good' and 'hara' meaning 'seek'. Ri is a just an element used in Malagasy personal names.

Sayvolah - may be Malagasy, from 'say' meaning 'small' and 'volah' meaning 'money'.

Serranlaza - may be Malagasy from 'serana' meaning 'port' and 'laza' meaning 'renowned'.

Soassooah - Nias (a language of Africa) pronounced 'swasua'. Susua is the name of a Nias river.

Sooah - Malagasy, from 'soa' meaning 'good'.

Soovooratto - may be Malagasy, from 'sovoka' meaning 'bandit' and 'ranto' meaning 'search far away'.

Tanandah - may be Malagasy meaning 'the village of a man'.

Tassy - Malagasy meaning 'sea'.

The Beginning of the End

Thanks to the website Nameberry for hosting the blogger Elea (from British Baby Names) which is where I got several names for today. A few from the blog Marginamia as well. One more day to finish our series of 2014 names this year. Which is why today is only the Beginning of the End, and not the actual End.


GIRLS


A-da-lal  - Babylonian,

Beryan -

Busy-

Chesten - Cornish form of Christine

Dahlov-

Eia - pronounced 'EE ah'

Emblyn - Cornish form Emmeline

Eseld - Cornish form of Isolde, pronounced 'eh ZELD'

Ferebee-

Kaoru - Japanese, meaning "fragrant"".

Kayna

Lowe-

Mabyn

Majlinda - Albanian, meaning "born in May".

Melpomene - Greek

Meraud - Cornish, according to britishbabynames.com it comes from either "mor" meaning "sea" or "mawr" meaning "great" and "budd" meaning "benefit" or "profit" and is pronounced "MEH red".  Which is nice to know as I was saying it "muh RAWD" and so when I saw the possible etymology that it came from the name Emeraud, meaning Emerald, that seemed possible. britishbabynames.com also lists the variant Merouda.

Newlyna - Cornish, a saint, whose name is also spelled Newlina. It may mean "open or naked lake" (noath lyn) or "the new pond" (nowth lyn). 

Nickaela-

Osma-

Raquildis - Germanic, "fighting princess".

Rumi- Japanese, from "ruri" or "ru" and "mi" meaning "beautiful lapis lazuli".

Vaetild - Norse, 'mother of the Skraeling children'.

Youngna-

Yui-






BOYS

Anthimos - Greek

Austol

Branek or Branok - Cornish

Breok - pronounced "bree OK"

Cador - Cornish, meaning 'warrior' and pronounced 'CAD ur'.

Clether

De

Eteocles - Greek, derived from Etewoklewes, meaning "truly glorious". Wikipedia mentions the name Tawagalawas (a Hittite version of the name) and perhaps the name was Hittite originally?

Jowan - Cornish form of John.

Keneder - 'bold chief', pronounced "ken ED er".

Kenver - Cornish, meaning 'great  chief'

Madern

Margh - Cornish form of Mark.

Nao-

Sanjiro - Japanese, meaning "admired" or "praised".

Talthybius - Greek

Vlastislav - Slavonic, meaning "glory of power".



NOT SURE WHICH GENDER

Am-ma-ar-ilu - Babylonian, meaning "I see god"

A-sha-ri-du - Babylonian

Bel-iz-zu - Babylonian, "Bel is terrible".

Ili-duri - Babylonian, "my god is my stronghold".

All good things come with time. I came across the book Patronymica Cornu-Britannica on Google Books, which provided the origin for Newlyna. 

135

That's how many names we still need to learn to complete the goal of learning 2,014 new names this year.

Here are 45 to move us along the way.


GIRLS

Aaditri - this is a name I got off the Social Security Administration's list of names given to babies born in the U.S. in 2012. There were 5 with this name. I have no idea how it is said or pronounced or what it's origin and meaning might be.

Baileyann - another name off of the SSA's list. I wouldn't have thought of combining these two names as though they were one unit. I actually don't mind it, though I would think that I would.

Cadrian - another SSA entry. I haven't researched it but my initial guess is that this is an invention. Using the idea of the name Cade (which is given to girls as well as boys) and the name Adrian and smooshing them to get just one name.

Dacota - from the SSA list. I'm assuming this is just a creative spelling of Dakota.

Edlynn - from the SSA list

Faige - from the SSA list

Galit - from the SSA list. This is a Jewish girl's name, a variant of Gal, according to behindthename.com, which means "wave". However, this  can be found as a word or part of a name in other languages, for instance, Margalit, a form of Margaret, or the Welsh word for 'hill'.

Haileen - from the SSA list

Ikea - from the SSA list

Jenedy

Jetta - a Dutch form of Henrietta.

Kabria - from the SSA list

Lynlea - from the SSA list

Ma - from the SSA list. Not sure if this is a foreign name or a very short spelling of May.

Naaliyah - from the SSA. Another name I'm unsure about. It might just be an elaboration of Aaliyah. But I have not yet researched it.

Olvia - from the SSA list. This name is curious to me. Perhaps it is exactly what you see and a name with a history and established etymology. On the other hand, it might be a creative spelling (or typo) of Olivia.

Pal - from the SSA list. I will have to research this, as it is more a word to me or name of a pet. But I could see it as a nickname for Paloma or just being a name I'm unaware of.

Quaniyah - from the SSA list. Again, maybe this name is one I need to research. Maybe it is an elaboraton of Quanah. It seems possible though that it is an example of taking part of a name you like and matching it up with another sound you like, with no intended similarity to one particular name. It reminds me of Shania, in a way.

Racelyn - from the SSA list. Bonafide name? Typo that should have been Gracelyn? Smooshed names? Total invention?

Sabel -from the SSA list. Maybe it's Sable just spelled differently. But maybe it's Mabel with an S instead. Though it could be 'suh BELL', similar to Sabella or Sybella. Maybe it's just the last part of Isabel with a soft s instead of a z sound. Could it be Hindi, and said more like 'suh BEAL'? or is it more like Maybelle, said like two separate names? It's a mystery for now.

Trinh- Vietnamese, meaning "virtuous" or "loyal" or "chaste", according to behindthename.com.

Uilani - from the SSA list

Vaishali - from the SSA list

Wardah - from the SSA list

Xavianna - from the SSA list

Yaila - from the SSA list

Zadaya - from the SSA list




BOYS

Azarion - from the SSA list (2013)

Babacar - from the 2013 SSA list

Bix - a nickname for Benedict

Cahari - from the 2013 SSA list

Daelynn - from the 2013 SSA list

Earon - from the 2013 SSA list

Fatin - from the 2013 SSA list

Gabel - from the 2013 SSA list

Haaris - from the 2013 SSA list

Idhant - from the 2013 SSA list

Jabel - from the 2013 SSA list

Kabriel - from the 2013 SSA list

Laila - 5 boys were given this name according to the SSA list

Maadhay - from the 2013 SSA list

Nacari - from the 2013 SSA list

Oh - from the 2013 SSA list

Palash - from the 2013 SSA list

Robson - usually used as a surname, meaning "son of Rob", an alternate spelling of Robeson or Robison.

Names for the Last Sunday of the Year

GIRLS

Blakelyn

Blondina

Fiducia

Livonia

Marcha

Parmely

Philena or Philenda

Tida

Weltha

Yocheved

Zonya

Zorina


BOYS

Albigence

Albo

Amarion

Brylen

Colson

Dashawn

Davion

Davon

Deanthony

Demarco

Demarion

Dennon

Draven

Eason

Elderkin

Hilan

Jabraylen

Jairo

Jakhari

Jakori

Jaquan

Kilburn - Old English, "ciele" meaning "cool" and "burn" meaning "stream. I saw another etymology that suggested the beginning comes from "cylla" meaning "kiln".

Ladarius

Lamarion

Lamson

Maturin

Philander

Orra

Rashawn

Van-Rosselaer


NOT SURE WHICH GENDER

Mansor

Morrisett

Signesama

225 More Names to Go

I got a few of the unusual names from today's 'new' names from British Baby Names as well as from the list of the most popular baby names in 2013 in the United States by the Social Security Administration. Bonus points to anyone who can, without cheating, figure out which names came from which source! (including those that came from neither source)


GIRLS

Amphelisia- Greek, meaning "talking in two languages".

Euphroyne - a form of Euphrosyne, which is Greek and means "mirth".


Florrie

Frithuswith - Old English

Fynvola

Harietta

Henhenet - Egyptian

Iona

Joshika

Merilda -

Orla

Tem - Egyptian

Valinda

Vinnette



BOYS

Conradin

Edordu

Ezel

Furkan

Gospatric

Gustin

Hylan

Isauro

Jyler

Kenhelm-

Kitson

Kyvon

Lyrix

Myan

Nyzere

Oswyn

Ozell

Priansh

Quy

Rawdon

Ryerson

Symere

Trophimus

Tyrick

Uyiosa

Vonzell

Woodley

Wyborough

Xzayvian-

Yogesh -

Zymari

45 Names

So far you have learned 1,744 new names on my blog this year. To reach our goal of learning 2,014 names this year we still need to learn another 270 names over the next week. 45 names each day should do the trick.

A thank you to the name blog via Australia called Waltzing More than Matilda for the names Hesba and Caeles.



GIRLS


Aedyt-

Alisochka - Russian form of Adalheidis.

Austeja -

Bahee-

Calibrid-

Calycrist-

Calyhony -

Calypatric-

Calyvorri-

Hesba - Greek, from 'hesperus' meaning 'western'.

Ibott-

Isott-

Johna-

Johnet-

Kateryn-

Lishka - a nickname for Elizabeth. In the movie Christmas in Connecticut, with Barbara Stanwyck, the main character's name is Elizabeth and her uncle Felix calls her Lishka. It was so sweet and adorable! But I do not yet know what language it comes from.

Mariot -

More-

Sissot - I also saw the form Sessot on the webpage Manx Names in the Early
16th Century

Vorgell-



BOYS


Abelek - Czech form of Abel.

Allow-

Aronek - Polish form of Aaron.

Avile - Etruscan, the Roman equivalent being Aulus. Behind the Name listed this name as Aule.

Caeles - Etruscan, from the name of the earth goddess Cel and meaning "honored".

Galfrid-

Germot-

Gibbon -

Gilander -

Gilcom-

Gilmartin -

Gilmere -

Gilmurry-

Gilno-

Hane -

Huan-

Huchon-

Hugen-

Mold - a name that bears more research. I came upon it on a webpage about names used on the Isle of Man, though that may or may not mean that is of Manx origin.

Murghad-

Nele-

Ranlyn-

Thomlyn-

Thormot-

Urmen-

Some Names to Unwrap this Christmas Night

Another neat name webpage I came across is called Viking Answer Lady Webpage. Many thanks to her plenteous explanations of Norse names.


GIRLS


Ægileif - Norse, possibly derived from the Icelandic Aegir, the sea or the god of the sea, or from aegja, to frighten or to make terrible, and leif, meaning "one who comes after" or "heir", derived from laibo which means legacy or inheritance.

Curline

Kalani - meaning "the heavens". Ka is the equivalent of the word 'the' in Hawaiian and 'lani' means 'sky' or 'heaven' or 'royal' or 'majesty.

Kalea - Hawaiian, meaning "joy" or "happiness".

Lodean -

Tiggi -

Xiu - Chinese, meaning "beautiful" or "elegant".




BOYS


Barsabbas - Aramaic, meaning "son of the Sabbath". Bar means 'son of' and 'sabbas' comes from the Hebrew 'shabat' which means 'sabbath', which is the 7th and holy day and therefore a day of rest. For Hebrews this began at Sundown on Friday and ended at sundown on Saturday. For Muslims Friday is the Sabbath. Christians generally celebrate Sunday as their Sabbath. A day of rest in all three religions.

Bartimaeus - Aramaic; Greek, meaning "highly prized" or "honorable" or "honorable son". It derives from the Aramaic 'bar' meaning 'son of' and the Greek 'timaeus'.

Bishlam- Hebrew?, meaning "with peace".

Elhanan - Hebrew?, meaning "is gracious".

Eliasaph - Hebrew?, meaning "increases the family".

Eliathah - Hebrew?, meaning "comes".

Elishama - Hebrew?, meaning "hears".

Elzaphan - Hebrew?, meaning "conceals".

Ishbosheth -

Jahdiel - Hebrew?, meaning "gladdens".

Jehaleel - Hebrew?, meaning "is praised".

Jehoahaz - Hebrew?, meaning "holds fast".

Jehoram - Hebrew?, meaning "is high".

Jehozadak - Hebrew?, meaning "is just".

Jerahmeel - Hebrew?, meaning "has mercy".

Kaleo - Hawaiian, meaning "the voice" or "the sound".

Malchiel - Hebrew?, meaning "is king".

Qiang - Chinese, meaning 'strength'.

Raamiah - Hebrew?, meaning "thunders".

Shephatiah - Hebrew?, meaning "judges".



Both Genders


Jia - Chinese, meaning either "good" or "fine" (depending on the Chinese character chosen)  or else "home" or "family.

Lehua - Hawaiian, meaning "the ohia flower".