What's in a name?

[david44]

Names

Many first names in Western Culture are of course biblical, a few from Ancient Greek or Mythology.

I am sure with his hit once sung at Rugby matches Tom Jones the bard of Pontypridd spread Delilah, I actually met two Zachariah's one an American here and another at Sennen Cove garage in Cornwall a smiling hulk whose helpful monosyllabic response t an enquiry was Yep.


The Bible is full of names, and many that were once considered unusual—Moses, for example, and Delilah—are now familiar on playgrounds throughout the land. So if you're looking for unique bible baby names, you have to look a lot harder, but they're still there. Instead of Delilah or Moses, you might try Zillah or Moab.
Along with Zillah and Moab, other unusual biblical baby names worth considering include Boaz, Gaius, Jericho, Joah, Keturah, Omri, Tirzah, or Zipporah. Biblical names that are unique in the US but common elsewhere in the world include Boaz, Linus, and Adah

What are the oddest western names you met , not beckham or Geldof's kids nor perhaps Dweezil Zappa.

Here of course many have "pet" western nicknames raning from fantasy gaming to the Hello Kitty "Star" "Angel" "Big C" and "Hulk" have encountered in Thighland

[david44]

English surnames have a few common origins excluding the many Germanic, Flemish, Norse, Saxon or French Celtic saints and toponymics.

Some are based on occupation like Mercer Smith
A Fletcher worked with arrows
Sawyer a woodcutter a man who cuts wood
Spenser/Spence like Marks and Spencer Princess Di was a stweward or housekeepr who dispensed provisions
Foster short for Forester
Sexton Dean were church officer as were Summoner Pardoner and Clark
Cooper a barrel maker most appropriate for the fine Ozzie Ale
Thatcher made and laid traditional wattle roof
Cordwainer made new shoes whereas they were repaired by a load of Cobblers
The German name is of course plainer Schumacher and in Spanish like the PM Zapatero

Many others are obvious today
Archer, Barber, Bowman, Brewer, Butler, Carpenter, Carver, Cook, Draper, Farmer, Fisher, Forester, Fowler, Gardener, Hunter, Mason, Miller, Piper, Potter, Sadler, Sheppard, Shoemaker, Skinner, Tanner, Taylor, Weaver and Wheeler

[david44]

My own tribe included names meaning Chariot maker Cormac and persons who work with hunting birds, in English Hawker, Falconer etc

Many other names are related to the once omportant textile industry which employed millions

Fuller and of course Weaver

[VocalNeal]

Many others are obvious today
Farmer

Farmer was originally a tax collector.

[Edmond]

I'll need to research where the surname Cheddar might possibly come from.

[david44]

research where the surname Cheddar might possibly come from.

Research Caerphilly tiz a hole in the rear of Mendip

[david44]

Patronymics are global

We Celts have Mc Mac and teh Irish O as in O'Mally O'Sullivan , although these are anglicised spellings
The Russkis and Czechs etc have their =ovas and vic Navratilov and Petrovic etc

What was a revelation was discovering how many common Welsh naes are n fact son of where ap has same as Mac or Van in Dutch de in French della and Von etc

Bowen son of Owen
Prees son of Rhys
Upjohn son of even euan or John from bible same route as Basque Ibane, Russian Ivan Jaun Jean Giovanni Hans etc

[david44]

Some other Welsh ones forgot

Probert son of Robert

Prichard and Pratcheet like Terry son of Richard

Preothero son of Rodders

[david44]

I will defer to Punenema Hat for corrections of teh


ERICS were not idle and give us teh Freds Hals and many others

heinERICKS the hello Henry's of the Huns
rodERICKS Rodders or Roderigos
Fried Ericks come with chips

[Edmond]

We Celts have Mc Mac and teh Irish O as in O'Mally O'Sullivan

Malley, shurely.

Ni, as opposed to O' for unmarried women or those that kept their maiden name after marriage. Though a lot rarer outside of regions still in the 16th century.

[david44]

Surely Shirley twaz lost in Trance Asian, As I said in me parkeeping days No Fencing Tended

O'Mally History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

The surname O'Mally originally appeared in Gaelic as "O Maille."
Early Origins of the O'Mally family

The surname O'Mally was first found in County Mayo (Irish: Maigh Eo)

[Edmond]

regions still in the 16th century.

County Mayo

Makes sense, cheers.

[nidhogg]

Surprised David missed the obvious. 1066 and all that David.

[david44]

1066

Bloom's Day book?

[Backspin]

More name stuff

von and van

The original meaning of “von” is “of” (or “from”), and it denotes the location of a noble family. The “von” was an official predicate of nobility (like British “Sir/Dame”, and was added to the names of persons who were knighted. After WWI, the “von” remained part of the name, but without any privileges. In Austria, the “von” was deleted from the names.

In Italian, “from” is “da”, so as most people know, “Leonardo da Vinci” means Leonardo from Vinci (the painter came from Vinci).


The “van” (Belgian “Van”) is Dutch, and does not indicate nobility (except if it is Belgian and written lowercase). It has the same meaning as “of” as the German “von”.

^ That's odd. Vans are spelled lower case in English in most cases. I had a boss who thought I made an error on my resume because the van was lower case.

[Switch]

More name stuff

von and van

The original meaning of “von” is “of” (or “from”), and it denotes the location of a noble family. The “von” was an official predicate of nobility (like British “Sir/Dame”, and was added to the names of persons who were knighted. After WWI, the “von” remained part of the name, but without any privileges. In Austria, the “von” was deleted from the names.

In Italian, “from” is “da”, so as most people know, “Leonardo da Vinci” means Leonardo from Vinci (the painter came from Vinci).


The “van” (Belgian “Van”) is Dutch, and does not indicate nobility (except if it is Belgian and written lowercase). It has the same meaning as “of” as the German “von”.

^ That's odd. Vans are spelled lower case in English in most cases. I had a boss who thought I made an error on my resume because the van was lower case.

As in ‘Van c Hoover’ = famous vacuum salesman?

[happynz]

For the Iberian Peninsula:

Hernandez - son of Hernando
Ramirez - son of Ramiro
Gonzalez - son of Gonzalo
Rodriguez - son of Rodrigo

...and so on.

[david44]

Aileen

• Origin: Scottish, Irish
• Meaning: Light, from the green meadow
• Alternative Spellings & Variations: Aila, Aileana, Ailein, Aileene, Eileen, Helen, Leena, Lina

[david44]

Fiona

• Origin: Gaelic, Irish, Scottish
• Meaning: Feminine, fair

Craig

• Origin: Scottish, Irish, Welsh
• Meaning: Rock

Alan m English, Scottish, Breton, French
The meaning of this name is not known for certain. It was used in Brittany at least as early as the 6th century, and it possibly means either "little rock" or "handsome" in Breton. Alternatively, it may derive from the tribal name of the Alans, an Iranian people who migrated into Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries

[david44]

David m English, Hebrew, French, Scottish, Welsh, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Czech, Slovene, Russian, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Romanian, Biblical, Biblical Latin
From the Hebrew name דָּוִד (Dawid), which was derived from Hebrew דּוֹד (dod) meaning "beloved" or "uncle".

Donald m Scottish, English
From the Scottish Gaelic name Dòmhnall meaning "ruler of the world", composed of the Old Irish elements domun "world" and fal "rule". This was the name of two 9th-century kings of the Scots and Picts.

Hamish m Scottish
Anglicized form of a Sheumais, the vocative case of Seumas.

[david44]

Neil m Irish, Scottish, English
From the Irish name Niall, which is of disputed origin, possibly connected to the old Celtic root *nītu- "fury, passion" or the (possibly related) Old Irish word nia "hero". A derivation from Old Irish nél "cloud" has also been suggested. This was the name of a few early Irish kings, notably Niall of the Nine Hostages, a semi-legendary high king of the 4th or 5th century.

Wallace m English, Scottish
From a Scottish and English surname that was derived from Norman French waleis meaning "foreigner, Celt, Welshman" (of Germanic origin). It was first used as a given name in honour of Sir William Wallace, a Scottish hero who led the fight against the English in the 13th century.

[qwerty]

In my grandmother's family, there for 4 generations in a row named Zephaniah! Fortunately the last one ended that tradition.

The meaning is disputed, but my favorite is 'Yah lies in wait'.

[reinvented]

find this stuff fascinating

pretty sure Alan means bright and relates to the horse people of the plains



my surname is one of those Welsh Ap- thingies

my maternal side is more interesting (to me anyway):

The Irish surnames Costello, Costelloe, and Costellow are anglicized forms of the Gaelic surname Mac Oisdealbhaigh, itself a Gaelicized form of an Anglo-Norman name. This was the first example of a Norman family assuming a Gaelic name.^[2]
This surname has been mainly borne by a notable Irish family who claimed descent from Jocelyn de Angulo, an Anglo-Norman mercenary who accompanied Richard de Clare to Ireland in 1170 during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland.

my mum traced it back to a place called Casla, and discoverd we were 50% spear chucking mayo muck savages (as my friends from Tipp called us)

[reinvented]

named - Map your surname across the UK

these are pretty good fun too

[reinvented]

https://forebears.io/surnames

this site tells me there are 700+ of us in Thailand