Ylenia, an intriguing name with an uncommon Y– beginning, is borne by many young Italian women. The inspiration? Celebrity baby and television presenter Ylenia Carrisi, whose mysterious disappearance at the age of 23 made her one of Italy’s best known missing persons.
Origin
The story behind the name Ylenia (approximately pronounced ee-LEHN-yah) is part Italian pop culture, part episode of Unsolved Mysteries. The name was first brought to the public’s attention in the year 1970 by a celebrity baby – Ylenia Maria Sole Carrisi, the daughter of power couple Albano “Al Bano” Carrisi and Romina Power. Al Bano was a popular Italian musician who performed many duets with his American wife Romina – herself the daughter of Hollywood legend Tyrone Power. Think of Al Bano and Romina as being like Italy’s Sonny and Cher. Ylenia was the couple’s oldest child and they went on to have three more children – a son, Yari, and daughters Cristel and Romina.
Given her famous family, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Ylenia made several film and television appearances, including as a presenter on the Italian version of Wheel of Fortune. But Ylenia’s true ambition was to be a novelist, so she began a literature degree at King’s College London. During her studies, Ylenia was bitten by the travel bug and in late 1993, the 23-year-old journeyed to New Orleans, where she spent time writing, painting and immersing herself in the local culture.
But Ylenia’s adventure in the Big Easy soon turned into a nightmare for her family, as she abruptly stopped all communications. Less than a month after she arrived in the city, Al Bano and Romina reported their daughter missing. To this day, Ylenia has never been found, and in 2014, she was declared legally dead. As with many missing people, there are a number of theories regarding her disappearance, but the truth remains elusive.
Where did Ylenia’s unusual first name come from? Here is what Al Bano wrote about his children’s names in his 2012 autobiography, ‘Io ci credo: perché con la fede non mi sono arreso mai’ [I believe: Because of faith, I never gave up]. Note that the autobiography was published in Italian – I’ve translated it here into English.
Ylenia is a name Romina and I chose together. It’s beautiful, melodious. Do you hear that beautiful sound? It is a musical, harmonious name. I liked Yari too. There is a river in Colombia called Yari, but I didn’t know it then, I would only find out later. Romina and I had two more daughters – the first, we called Cristel, because we wanted her to be placed under the gaze of Jesus Christ. A star of Christ [stella di Cristo], Cristel. We named our fourth daughter Romina, like her mother.
Albano “Al Bano” Carrisi
Reading between the lines, it seems that Al Bano and Romina invented the name Ylenia themselves – which bears out as I have been unable to find any references to the name prior to Ylenia Carrisi’s birth. Some websites claim that Ylenia is a variant of Yelena or Ileana (both of which are forms of the name Helen), but this seems to be speculation. While it’s certainly possible that Al Bano and Romina were inspired by the sounds of existing names (like Yelena), any such inspiration is not mentioned in the autobiography. As such, we have to conclude that Ylenia is a 20th-century invention.
Popularity and Usage
Like her mother Romina and her aunt Taryn, Ylenia Carrisi inspired namesakes across the world – and that effect was especially strong in Italy. In addition to Italy and Italian-influenced regions, the name began to be used in Spain too. The more phonetic spelling Ilenia also gained traction, and by the New Millennium, it was actually the more popular spelling of the name in Italy (see graph).
Unfortunately, Italy’s National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) only provides data on baby names going back to the year 1999, so it’s difficult for me, as a non-Italian, to know how popular the names Ylenia and Ilenia were before Ylenia Carrisi’s disappearance. However, I can say that since 1999, Ylenia and Ilenia have both been trending downward in Italy, apart from an upsurge around the year 2012 (which was possibly inspired by celebrity Ilenia Pastorelli, who appeared on the Italian version of the reality television series Big Brother during that year). In 2021, neither spelling cracked Italy’s top 200.
One region of Europe that does provide detailed name data, spanning back decades, is Catalonia (Idescat), so perhaps we can use the Catalan data to give us an indication of Ylenia’s history more generally (see bar chart). As expected, neither Ylenia nor Ilenia were recorded in Catalonia prior to the 1970s, providing further evidence for the theory that the name’s usage stems from Ylenia Carrisi.
Number of baby girls born named Ylenia and Ilenia by decade in Catalonia, 1970-2019. Data courtesy of Idescat.
There are also a variety of alternative spellings occasionally found in Italy, including Ilenya, Jlenia, Ilenja and Ylenja.
What are your thoughts on the name Ylenia/Ilenia? Do you have any theories about its origin?
First of all, I hope you are having a happy and healthy festive season. It’s been some time since I last updated this blog. Due to work commitments, I found I was unable to research and write my usual long, in-depth posts. Recently, I decided to revive my blog, with a focus on shorter posts on unusual names, particularly those that do not already have an entry on major name websites like Behind the Name and Nameberry. This is my first post in this new series, and I do hope that you enjoy it.
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), the final work of acclaimed Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, is one of the most controversial and censored films ever made — and an unlikely place to find name inspiration. But nevertheless, this is the position I have found myself in. The film features Italian actress Antiniska Nemour (b. 1957), who plays a character of the same first name. I had never encountered this name before and was immediately intrigued by it. During the 1970s, Nemour had several roles in Italian film and television, but she appears to have retired from acting at a young age, her final film being 1978’s La sorella di Ursula.
My initial assumption was that Antiniska was an invented name, and a Google search yielded next to no information about it. Then I noticed in IMDb that Antiniska Nemour is listed as having the alternative names of Antinisca and Antinesca, and further research revealed earlier examples of Italian women with these two names.
Antinesca Quieti was the name of an Italian woman who, during the Second World War, helped twelve Allied prisoners of war, providing them with food and shelter.
A fictional Antinisca is the heroine of the 1956 novel Il profumo dell’assente by prolific Italian romance author Liala (Italy’s equivalent to Barbara Cartland).
The earliest documented instance of the name Antinesca I have found is in Volume IV of the Raccolta di memorie istoriche delle tre provincie degli Abruzzi, a historical treatise on the Southern Italian region of Abruzzo, published between 1781-1783 by Anton Ludovico Antinori. During the entry for the year 1503, the author mentions a woman named Antinesca de’ Gallis. From this, we can infer that Antinesca was in use in Italy by the early sixteenth century and likely earlier.
So where do Antinisca and Antinesca actually come from? These two names are extremely rare (even in Italy), and do not appear in English-language name books and websites. From my own research, the most likely source for the name appears to be late medieval literature. A character named Antinisca appears in Il Guerrin Meschino, an Italian chivalric romance written by Andrea da Barberino around the year 1410. In the story, Antinisca is a princess of Persepolis who is the love interest and eventual wife of the protagonist, Guerrin. (The romance also features other interesting names, such as Elisena, Fenisia, Sefferra and Sibilla.)
Where da Barberino found the name Antinisca is unclear to me. There is very information about Il Guerrin Meschino available in English, and my Italian is rudimentary, to say the least. It’s possible that the author invented the name for the character, but it’s also plausible that he was using an existing but rare name. The name Elisena, for example, does feature in an earlier Spanish chivalric romance named Amadis of Gaul.
The etymology of Antinisca/Antinesca is also obscure. The prefix Anti- resembles that of Greek mythological names such as Antiope and Antigone. However, the suffix -nisca/-niska/-nesca does not appear in Greek names. The only source I have found that even suggests an etymology for Antinesca is Onomastica Maremmana by Fabio Galgani (an excellent resource for Italian names). The author suggests that the name is a feminised form of Antinous (or Antinoos), an Ancient Greek name meaning “against the mind”. In history, the name Antinous was borne by a male lover of the emperor Hadrian. Personally, I am not fully convinced by this explanation, but because there are so few sources that mention this name, I am unable to provide any alternative etymologies.
If you are looking for an authentic Italian name that’s (almost) unheard-of, Antinisca and Antinesca both fit the bill.
To Sophias, my beloved sister; Didyme and the sisters (bid you) rejoice in the Lord… Greet beautiful Bikeutia, (and ask) if she has received the head-band and two cakes from Aionios. And greet everyone – Italia, Theodora. Farewell in the Lord.
Quotation from an Oxyrhynchus papyrus
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered in the late 19th century at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. The manuscripts date from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods of Egyptian history. They include religious and literary texts and a variety of public and private documents, such as personal letters, which contain invaluable information on early Egyptian society. The majority of the papyri were written in Greek, which was the lingua franca of the time. Since the late 19th century, scholars have catalogued and deciphered over five thousand ancient documents from Oxyrhynchus, but there are an estimated half a million papyri still waiting to be deciphered. Oxyrhynchus Papyri are currently housed in institutions all over the world.
In his book Letter Christians: Christians, Letters and Late Antique Oxyrhynchus (2012), author Lincoln H. Blumell examines the Christian literary materials found within the Oxyrhynchus Papyri. He devotes one chapter to onomastic data, and provides a list of names which appear in letters that were authored by Christians at Oxyrhynchus. These letters were written between the third and seventh centuries. In this post, I will focus on the names of Egyptian Christian women found in Blumell’s book.
Why women’s names? I have two main reasons. Firstly, far fewer women’s names appear in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri compared with the amount of men’s names. Writing about all the men’s names would be a far more time-consuming task. Secondly, as you can probably tell by my past posts, I have always found women’s names to be more interesting than men’s names, and I enjoy researching them more. Women’s lives and, by extension, their names have often been forgotten by history or left unrecorded, so to focus on women’s names is something of a feminist act. The lives and names of our ancestresses deserve to be honoured and remembered.
Most of the names are Greek, though a few are of Latin, Egyptian, Hebrew or indeterminate origin. Where available, I have provided the names’ meanings and origins. I have marked the names of unknown origin with a “?”; some of these names may be Egyptian, but unfortunately I do not know enough about the ancient Egyptian language to speculate about their meanings. Some names, such as Atienateia and Bikeutia, are really intriguing, and I wish I knew more about their origins.
For the most part, I have used the same spellings as Blumell, but be aware that Greek names can be transliterated into the Latin alphabet in a variety of ways. The letters C and K are often interchangeable, e.g. Macaria could also be written as Makaria and Cyra as Kyra.
Name
Language of Origin
Meaning
Alexandra
Greek
Feminine form of Alexandros (Alexander), from alexandros “defending men”.
Anastasia
Greek
From anastasis “resurrection”, referring to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Asus
?
Athanasia
Greek
From athanasia “immortality”.
Atheas
?
Athonis
?
Atienateia
?
Bikeutia
?
Cyra
Persian/Greek?
Perhaps a feminine form of Cyrus or derived directly from the Greek kuros “supreme power”. Cyra (or Kyra) was the name of a 5th-century saint from Syria. This is the source of the Russian name Kira.
Cyrillous
Greek
Perhaps a feminine derivative of Kyrillos (Cyril), itself derived from Greek kurios “lord, master”.
Didyme
Greek
Means “twin”.
Dionysodora
Greek
A theophoric name meaning “gift of Dionysus”.
Domna
Latin
Means “lady” in Late Latin, a contracted form of domina.
Epiphania
Greek
Means “appearance, manifestation”; also refers to the Christian holiday of Epiphany.
Gablelia
Hebrew
Probably the same person as Gableria (see below).
Gableria
Hebrew
Likely a feminine form of Gabriel, a Biblical Hebrew name meaning “God is my strong man”.
Germania
Latin
Presumably taken from the name of the region (cf. Italia).
Hanu
?
Hecale
Greek
Meaning unknown. Hecale was the name of a woman in Greek mythology who helped the hero Theseus.
Helene
Greek
Meaning uncertain; possibly means “torch”, “corposant” or “moon”. Helene was the original name of the famous Helen of Troy in Greek mythology. The Latin form Helena was borne by the mother of the emperor Constantine, who was responsible for much of the name’s use during the Middle Ages.
Herais
Greek
Possibly means “belonging to Hera”. Blumell notes that this was the second most common woman’s name in the letters. It is the likely source of the Russian name Raisa.
Indarous
?
Irene
Greek
Means “peace”; also the name of a Greek goddess who personified peace.
Italia
Latin
Presumably taken from the name of the region (cf. Germania)
Kale
Greek
Means “beauty” (nothing to do with the vegetable!). The name of a figure in Greek mythology who was sometimes regarded as one of the Charites (Graces).
Loukila
Latin (Hellenised)
A Hellenisation of Lucilla, the Latin diminutive of Lucia (Lucy).
Macaria
Greek
Means “happiness, bliss”. The name of a daughter of Heracles in Greek mythology.
A feminine derivative of Maximus meaning “the greatest”.
Memphis
Egyptian (Hellenised)
From the name of the city in ancient Egypt, derived from the Egyptian for “enduring beauty”. In Greek mythology, Memphis was the name of a naiad who personified the city.
Nonna
Latin?
Perhaps from Latin nonna “nun”.
Philoxena
Greek
From philoxenos “kind to guests, hospitable”
Plusia
Greek?
Perhaps from plousios “rich, wealthy”.
Prosphoria
Greek
From phosphoros meaning “bearer of light”.
Ptolemas
Greek
From ptolemos “war, battle”.
Romana
Latin
Means “Roman (woman)”.
Rufina
Latin
A feminine derivative of Rufus meaning “red-haired”.
Salamai
Hebrew?
Perhaps a form of the New Testament name Salome, derived from Hebrew shalom “peace”.
Sarapias
Egyptian/Greek?
Perhaps derived from the name of the Graeco-Egyptian syncretic god Serapis. Otherwise, it could be derived from the Greek word serapias denoting a species of orchid (which itself is derived from the name of the god Serapis).
Sophia
Greek
Means “wisdom”.
Sophias
Greek
Presumably a derivative of Sophia.
Staurophania
Greek
Means “the cross is manifest”; an explicitly Christian name.
Syras
Greek?
Perhaps derived from suros “Syrian”.
Taion
?
Thekla
Greek
Perhaps a contracted form of Theokleia meaning “glory to God”. Thekla was the name of a 1st-century saint.
Theodora
Greek
Means “gift of God”. The name of a famous Byzantine empress of the 6th century.
Theognosia
Greek
Means “knowledge of God”.
Thermouthis
Egyptian (Hellenised)
Etymology uncertain. The Greek name of Renenutet, the Egyptian goddess of nourishment and the harvest. According to Josephus, Thermouthis was the name of Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted the infant Moses.
Valeriane
Latin
Likely a variant of Valeriana, feminine derivative of Valerius meaning “to be strong”.
Zenobia
Greek
A theophoric name meaning “life [from] Zeus”. The name of a famous 3rd-century queen of Palmyra.
References
Blumell, L. H. (2012) Lettered Christians: Christians, Letters, and Late Antique Oxyrhynchus, Brill.
Emmett, A.M. (1984) An Early Fourth-Century Female Monastic Community in Egypt? In: Moffatt, A. ed. Maistor: Classical, Byzantine and Renaissance Studies for Robert Browning, Brill, pp 77-83.
Sheard, K.M. (2011) Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Names: for Pagans, Witches, Wiccans, Druids, Heathens, Mages, Shamans and Independent Thinkers of All Sorts Who are Curious About Names from Every Place and Every Time, Llewellyn Publications.
What are your favourite names from this list? I am most intrigued by Thermouthis, Staurophania, Atienateia and Bikeutia.
I write, “Honora”, on the sparkling sand!- The envious waves forbid the trace to stay: Honora’s name again adorns the strand! Again the waters bear their prize away!
Anna Seward
“Onora, Onora,”–her mother is calling,
She sits at the lattice and hears the dew falling
Drop after drop from the sycamores laden
With dew as with blossom, and calls home the maiden,
“Night cometh, Onora.”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Honora is sometimes treated by name books as being simply an elaboration of Honor, but in reality it has a rich history of its own. Honora started life among the Anglo-Normans in the Middle Ages. Its origins lie with one of the following Latin names (or perhaps a bit of all of them): Honoria, Honorata and Honorina.
Saintly Maidens and a Scandalous Princess
Honoria is the feminine form of Honorius, a name derived from the Latin honor “honour, esteem”. Honorius was originally a nomen (family name), but by the 4th century CE it was used as a cognomen (given name)1. Among historians, Honorius is best remembered as the name of an emperor of the Western Roman Empire who was regarded as a weak ruler. There were also four early popes named Honorius, and a number of saints.
The feminine form Honoria was borne by Justa Grata Honoria (fl. 450 CE), an ambitious Roman princess who rebelled against her controlling brother, the emperor Valentinian III. In order to escape an unwanted arranged marriage, Honoria pleaded for help from Rome’s powerful enemy, Attila the Hun, sending him her ring, which he interpreted as a marriage proposal. Attila agreed to marry Honoria – and wanted half the Western Roman Empire as a dowry. Valentinian III, naturally, was not too happy about this arrangement and refused. In retaliation, Attila’s forces invaded Italy, devastating its northern provinces before being pushed back. Honoria never got to marry Attila, and lived out the rest of her life in obscurity.
Sophia Loren portrayed the Roman princess Honoria in Attila (1954).
Honoratais the feminine form of Honoratus (from Latin honoratus “honoured, respected”). This name appears to have been popular among early Christians, as there were at least seven saints named Honoratus, and one Saint Honorata (known in Italian as Onorata), a nun who lived in Pavia (Italy) during the 5th century. In the modern age, Honorata is especially common in Poland. The French forms of this name are Honoré (masculine; probably best known today as being the name of French writer Honoré de Balzac) and Honorée (feminine).
Honorinais the feminine form of Honorinus, a name derived from Honorius and also Honoratus2. The Latin suffix -inus/-ina lacks a straightforward translation. It was originally a patronymic suffix (e.g. the famous Valeria Messalina was the daughter of Marcus Valerius Messala Barbatus), though it was also used to simply create variants of names. Furthermore, in later Latin, the suffix was used to form diminutives3 (as is still the case in Italian).
Saint Honorina (known in French as Honorine) is the oldest and most revered virgin martyr in the Normandy region of France. Little is known about her life but, according to tradition, she was a Celtic woman who lived during the 4th century and was martyred under the persecutions of Diocletian. She is regarded as the patron saint of boatmen.
The Norman Conquest
The Anglo-Norman form Honora arose at some point during the Middle Ages. The Anglo-Normans were the descendants of settlers from Normandy who came to England after the Norman Conquest of 1066 and formed the ruling class of medieval England. They also settled in Ireland during the 12th century and made a huge impact on Irish culture. Anglo-Norman families gradually assimilated into Irish society and became known as “more Irish than the Irish themselves”. Many contemporary Irish names and surnames (such as those beginning with Fitz-) are of Norman origin.
According to Withycombe, Honora was a common name among the Anglo-Normans in England, and it occurs frequently in records from the 12th-14th centuries in the spellings Honora, Onora and Annora (the latter being the most common spelling)4. The name was brought over to Ireland by the Anglo-Normans and became well-established there. An early example of an Irish Honora is Honora (d. 1383), the daughter of William Burke and wife of O’Meagher, who is mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters, an account of medieval Irish history. The Irish Gaelic form of the name is Onóra.
An Irish Favourite
Records show that Honora was among the most common women’s names in Ireland during the early modern period. The name is found in a variety of spellings and forms in 16th- and 17th-century Irish documents, including Onora, Honor, Onor, Onoria and Onory5. A notable Irish Honora of the 17th century was Lady Honora Burke (c. 1675-1698), the wife of Patrick Sarsfield, who was a leading figure in the Jacobite movement.
Honora was also used in England during this period, though not as commonly as it was in Ireland. Honora Sneyd (1751-1780) was an eighteenth-century English writer, mainly known for her associations with literary figures of the day, in particular Anna Seward and the Lunar Society. The poem by Anna Seward at the beginning of this post was written about her.
The Ascendancy of Nora
Honora’s popularity in Ireland is demonstrated by the fact that it established a variety of nicknames and vernacular forms, including Nora/Norah, Nóirín (Anglicised as Noreen), Nonie, Nóinín (Irish for “daisy”), Daisey and Nanno/Nano6.
The short form Nora/Norah (both spellings were used in 19th century Ireland) was so popular that it took on a life of its own and eventually eclipsed Honora in popularity. Nora(h) was subsequently exported to the rest of the English-speaking world.
Nora(h)’s ascendancy can be seen in the Irish census records of 19117. Norah was the nineteenth most common name for women and girls overall (Table 1), and the thirteenth most popular name for Irish baby girls in 1911 (Table 2). Honora, however, did not appear among the top forty names of 1911 (in any spelling).
Rank
Number of women/girls
Norah
#19
15,267
Nora
#21
14,349
Table 1: Number of women and girls named Nora(h) in the 1911 Irish census.
Rank
Number of baby girls
Norah
#13
377
Nora
#20
264
Table 2: Number of Irish girls named Nora(h) born in 1911.
To gain an understanding of how common Honora was, we must dig deeper into the census data (Table 3). Ireland’s census records from 1901 and 1911 are available online. (There were earlier censuses conducted in Ireland, but those records were sadly lost.) Even when the various spellings of Honora (e.g. Hanora, Hanorah) are combined, by the year 1911, Nora(h) was more common than Honora. From the census data, we can also surmise that the spellings Hanora and Hanorah were actually more popular than the more traditional Honora. These spellings may have been influenced by Hannah, which was a very common name in Ireland during this time.
Note that these tables show the numbers of women/girls of all ages with these names who were alive at the time of the census, not the numbers of births.
1901
1911
Hanora
5215
3448
Hanorah
1858
1066
Honora
1275
839
Honorah
178
96
Hannorah
126
72
Hannora
127
99
Honnora
6
4
Onora/Onóra
2
5
Annora
1
3
Honnorah
0
2
Table 3: Numbers of instances of the name Honora in the Irish censuses of 1901 and 1911. This table displays the various spellings of the name.
The Latin Honoria also had some degree of popularity during this time, though Hanoria was the more common spelling.
1901
1911
Hanoria
3735
2222
Honoria
2360
1534
Hannoria
26
30
Honoriah
9
5
Table 4: Numbers of instances of the name Honoria in the Irish censuses of 1901 and 1911. This table displays the various spellings of the name.
In Ireland during the 19th century, Honora was Anglicised variously as Honor (in Omeath) and Hannah (in Derry)6, so it is possible some of the women recorded as Honor or Hannah on the 1901/1911 census may have actually been named Honora/Hanora. (Hannah was used to Anglicise a variety of Irish women’s names, including Honora, Áine and Siobhán, which helps to explain why it was so common in historical Ireland.)
Note that Nora also has a history of use in continental Europe, but in that context it stems more from Eleonora/Leonora (forms of Eleanor) than Honora. As an Arabic name, Nora(h) is a variant transcription of Nura, a name derived from Arabic nur “light”, which gives the name a truly international dimension.
Pronunciation
One interesting thing about the name Honora in Ireland is that different pronunciations seem to have been used at different times. In Romance languages such as French, the letter H is (normally) silent, as in English words such as honour and hour. Therefore, it is likely that the H in Honora was originally silent. The Irish Gaelic form Onóra and the alternative forms of the name that were recorded in early modern Ireland (such as Onoria and Onory) provide further evidence for the theory that the H was originally not pronounced.
However, it does seem that by the 19th century, many Irish families did pronounce the H in Honora. Hence, why Hannah was used an Anglicised form of Honora. The common alternative spellings Hanora and Hanorah also suggest that the H was indeed pronounced.
Looking the Nora’s trajectory in the Republic of Ireland (Figure 1), we can see that Nora initially ranked at #30 (264 births) in the year 1964, and peaked at #22 (310 births) in the following year. It then began a slow and gradual decline, reaching its lowest point in year 2001 at #369 (7 births). Since 2001, Nora has made a quiet resurgence in the Republic of Ireland, and it is currently on an upward trend. In 2020, it ranked at #126 (41 births). The spelling Norah (Figure 2) has a similarity trajectory to Nora, though it is less frequently used.
Figure 1: Popularity of the name Nora in the Republic of Ireland, 1964-2020. (Image source: Central Statistics Office)
Figure 2: Popularity of the name Norah in the Republic of Ireland, 1964-2020. (Image source: Central Statistics Office)
On the contrary, Hanora/Honora not seen a similar revival and has almost completely disappeared from the Irish naming pool in the last few decades (Figure 3 for Hanora; Honora is even less common). However, the Irish social media influencer and television personality Aoibhín Garrihy has a daughter named Hanorah (b. 2018), so the name may make a resurgence yet.
Figure 3: Popularity of the name Hanora in the Republic of Ireland, 1964-2020. (Image source: Central Statistics Office)
I hope you enjoyed reading today’s post, and learned something about the historical names of Ireland. What are your thoughts on Honora?
References
Marruchi, O. (1912) Christian Epigraphy: An Elementary Treatise with a Collection of Ancient Christian Inscriptions Mainly of Roman Origin, trans. J. A. Willis, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Krawczyk, M. (2017) Paternal onomastical legacy vs. illegitimacy in Roman epitaphs. In: Nowak, M. et al ed. Tell Me Who You Are: Labelling status in the Graeco-Roman world. Sub Lupa Academic Publishing, pp 107-127.
Nuorluoto, T (2021). Roman Female Cognomina : Studies in the Nomenclature of Roman Women [Internet] [PhD dissertation]. [Uppsala]: Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University. Available from: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-429760
Withycombe E.G. (1977) The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. 3rd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Few names are as enduring as Mary. It was borne by numerous Biblical figures, saints, queens and heroines throughout the ages. For several centuries, Mary was the most common women’s name in England, and the picture is similar in many European nations, where Maria or Marie were as frequent as Mary in England. In Italy, Marias are so numerous that there is a saying “to look for Maria in Ravenna”, or to look for a needle in a haystack. Across various languages, the name has given rise to a myriad of diminutives, variants and vernacular forms; Behind the Name alone lists over 170 names related to Mary. (And that’s not counting the many names that arose from titles of the Virgin Mary, such as Dolores and Consuelo.) Mary, Maria and Marie also have a history of use for men in Catholic lands, though typically as a middle name.
Sacred Origins
Mary began life as the Hebrew Miriam, a name of very uncertain etymology. There are over eighty (!) theories about the name’s origin1, but one of the most popular (and appealing) theories links it to the Egyptian word mry meaning “beloved”. In the Old Testament, Miriam was a prophetess, the sister of Moses and Aaron. In Aramaic, Miriam became Mariam, from which the Greek forms Mariam and Maria derived, the forms used in the New Testament (which was written in Koine Greek). As Christianity spread, Maria passed into Latin and then into other European languages. In Old French, Maria became Marie, from which the usual English form Mary originates.
Mariam was the most common name among Jewish women in Late Antiquity2. There are six (or possibly seven) women with the name Mary/Maria mentioned in the New Testament. The most famous of these, and the one who is largely responsible for the name’s popularity among Christians, is the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Virgin Mary is especially venerated in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, among which there is a rich tradition of Marian devotion expressed through prayers, hymns, art and festivities. The second most important Mary in Christianity is probably Mary Magdalene, a female follower of Jesus who has often been identified with the unnamed woman who anoints Jesus’s feet in Luke 7:36-50. Since early times, Mary Magdalene has been a figure of fascination and many legends about her have arisen. The name Mary was also borne by a number of extra-Biblical saints, such as the 4th-century Mary of Egypt.
The name Maria has been used by Christians since at least the 4th century. A study of letters unearthed from Oxyrhynchus (Egypt) found that Maria was one of the most common names for Christian women in Roman- and Byzantine-era Egypt3. There was also a Christian empress of the Western Roman Empire named Maria (d. 407), the wife of Honorius.
Too Holy?
Given this history, it may seem surprising that Mary (or its equivalent) was, in certain cultures, considered too sacred to bestow on a child. Today, it may be hard to imagine a time when Mary was not a common English name, but the name was not used at all in Anglo-Saxon England. According to Moody, Mary was rare in Western Europe until the time of the Crusades4. The first records of English women named Mary date to the 12th century, though the name was relatively uncommon until the Reformation period. England’s first ruling queen, Mary I (1516-1558), may have boosted the name’s popularity despite her complex legacy. By the year 1800, around one quarter of girls in England and Wales were named Mary5.
In some cultures, the taboo on the name lasted for far longer. In Nice (Southern France), Marie/Maria was very rare as a woman’s name until the 16th century, as it was considered too sacred to apply to anyone but the Blessed Virgin6. According to Hoffman and Helon, Poles also avoided using the name Maria for several centuries, as it was considered too holy. Instead, they opted for similar names like Marianna. As late as the 19th century, Maria was a rare name in Poland, but it subsequently became very popular in the 20th century1. In 2020, Maria was the tenth most popular name for Polish girls.
Mary was also a very rare name in Ireland prior to the 17th century, out of reverence for the Blessed Virgin. The early Irish instead used names like Gilla Muire (“servant of Mary”) and Máel Muire (“devotee of Mary”)7. Even today in the Irish language, the name Mary has two forms: the form Muire is reserved for the Virgin Mary, while Máire is used as a personal name. Mary eventually became very popular in Ireland, and by the year 1911, 16% of Irish women were named Mary8. Mary’s popularity is partly attributed to the fact that it was used as an Anglicised form of the native Irish name Mór (meaning “great, tall”), which was the most common feminine name in medieval Ireland7. Mary was the most popular name for girls in Ireland until 1983, when Sarah claimed the top spot.
Conclusions
The story of the name Mary is one of changing times, fashions and attitudes to religion. In certain regions, Mary went from being considered too sacred to use as a personal name to being ubiquitous, in a few hundred years. Mary can truly be said to be one of the most important names in the Western naming pool.
References
Hoffmann, W.F. and Helon, G.W. (1998) First Names of the Polish Commonwealth: Origins & Meanings. Chicago: Polish Genealogical Society of America.
Feuerverger, A. (2008) Statistical analysis of an archeological find. The Annals of Applied Statistics, 2 (1): 3-54.
Blumell, L. H. (2012) Lettered Christians: Christians, Letters, and Late Antique Oxyrhynchus.Brill.
Moody, S. (1863) What is Your Name? A popular account of the meanings and derivations of Christian names. London: Richard Bentley.
[After the Revolution] French nomenclature, among the educated classes and those whom they influence, has been pretty much a matter of taste. Devotion, where it exists, is satisfied by the insertion of Marie, and anything that happens to be in vogue is added to it. Joséphine flourished much in the first Bonaparte days; but Napoléon was too imperial, too peculiar, to be given without special warrant from its owner; nor are politically-given names numerous: there are more taken from popular novels or dramas, or merely from their sound. Zéphyrine, Coralie, Zaidée, Zénobie, Malvine, Séraphine, prevail not only among the ladies; but among the maid servants of Paris; and men have, latterly, been fancifully named by appellations brought in from other countries, never native to France – Gustave, Alfred, Ernest, Oswald, &c…
All this, however, very little affects the peasantry, or the provinces. Patron saints and hereditary family names, contracted to the utmost, are still used there.
Charlotte Mary Yonge, 1863
The Top Names in France during the 19th Century
What were French children in the 19th century named? Unfortunately, there is no official data for this period. France’s INSEE name frequency data only goes back to the year 1900. To find out which names were the most popular, we must look to other sources.
Please note that I am not a historian, genealogist or expert in French names. I simply enjoy researching names for fun. I try my hardest to provide accurate information, but if you spot any inaccuracies, please correct me.
Below are the top 10 given names for children born in France in the 19th century according to the authors of Larousse de la généalogie (2007).
1800-1809
1850-1859
1890-1899
Marie (and hyphenated names beginning with Marie-)
Marie (and hyphenated names beginning with Marie-)
Marie (and hyphenated names beginning with Marie-)
Jeanne
Jeanne
Jeanne
Anne
Louise
Louise
Françoise
Anne
Marguerite
Catherine
Joséphine
Maria
Marguerite
Catherine
Suzanne
Louise
Françoise
Madeleine
Madeleine
Marguerite
Joséphine
Élisabeth
Augustine
Eugénie
Rosalie
Julie
Anne
The ten most common women’s names in 19th century France.
1800-1809
1850-1859
1890-1899
Jean (and hyphenated names beginning with Jean-)
Jean (and hyphenated names beginning with Jean-)
Jean (and hyphenated names beginning with Jean-)
Pierre
Pierre
Louis
François
Louis
Joseph
Louis
Joseph
Pierre
Joseph
François
François
Antoine
Auguste
Henri
Jacques
Charles
Georges
Charles
Jules
Paul
Etienne
Eugène
Charles
Guillaume
Antoine
Léon
The ten most common men’s names in 19th century France.
Most traditional French names are associated with Catholic saints. During the 19th century, children were often named after their godparents, parents, grandparents or other relatives (Picard, 1990). It was also common for the child’s name to be chosen not by the child’s parents, but by the godparents.
During the 19th century, many names from classical (i.e. ancient Roman and Greek) history were revived. Wilson (1998) notes that there was a vogue for classical names such as Achille, César and Sabine at the beginning of the 1800s in the village of Saint-Émilion (Gironde).
Name popularity varied by region. The names of saints were especially popular in the area where their veneration was centred. Gérard Monsieur notes that the curious women’s name Hunégondewas common in the village of Homblières in the early 19th century, it being the name of the village’s patron saint, a 7th-century abbess. (The name is certainly of Germanic origin, and appears to be derived from the elements hun “bear cub” and gund “battle”.)
Regional Popularity
More data is available for specific villages and regions in France. I will provide links to various sources.
The top sixteen names for each decade of the 19th century have been compiled for the village of Flavy-le-Martel (Aisne) and are available here. Unsurprisingly, Marie was the most popular names for girls, but the top name for boys varied throughout the century. This source is particularly informative as we can observe the changing fashions through the decades. The most popular names included some fairly obscure choices, such as Ismérie and Arméline for girls and Césaire and Agathon for boys.
Further information is provided about the historical names of Flavy-le-Martel in this article. Examples are provided of the intriguing rare names used in the village during the 19th century, such as Bélissante and Charlemagne. The author comments on the changing fashions in given names, and the historical and literary figures that influenced parents’ choices:
The popularity of Joséphine is attributed to Joséphine de Beauharnais, the first wife of Napoleon.
Virginie was boosted by Paul et Virginie, a popular novel by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, and Suzanne by The Marriage of Figaro by Beaumarchais.
Louise‘s popularity may be connected with Louise of Orléans, daughter of Louis Philippe I.
Eugénie was promoted by Eugénie de Montijo, the wife of Napoleon III.
Information is available about the first names chosen in the village of Havernas (Somme) on this local history website. The author Gilbert Delbrayelle notes that a greater variety of names were used after 1850, and women’s names ending in -ine such as Victorine and Laurentine were particularly in fashion.
In Liorac (Dordogne), the most common first names from the 1836 census are available here (in a handy pie chart format). For information about historical names in the village of Lignerolles (Allier), see this PDF. Finally, the most common first names in 1836 in ten villages across France are listed in a research paper by Jacques Houdaille.
Multiple Given Names
When she was a child, she was usually addressed as Antoinette, because it was the name of the Queen of France. During the successful wars of the Empire, Victoire naturally prevailed. After their marriage, my father always called her Sophie.
George Sand, writing about her mother, Antoinette-Sophie-Victoire Delaborde.
The custom of bestowing more than one given name began among the Italian aristocracy in the ninth century. The practice gradually trickled down through the social classes and spread to other regions. The custom reached France during the twelfth century (Leibring, 2016). However, it was not until the 19th century that the practice of bestowing multiple given names became standard. Partly, this was about imitating the naming practices of the upper classes. Additionally, bestowing a second or third given name allowed parents to express their personal tastes and creativity while respecting the tradition of naming children after their godparents and relatives. For example, by choosing three given names, a mother could give her own name to her daughter, add the name of the child’s godmother and also include a fancy, fashionable name (Larousse, 2007).
Here are some examples of French women with multiple given names who were born during the 19th century, taken from the LEONORE database, an online database of Légion d’honneur recipients who died before 1977. Names could get very long during this period; in some cases, children received five or more given names!
Gabrielle Eulalie Eugénie
Louise Catherine Léonie
Claire Blanche Marie Louise
Marie Rosalie Désirée Amélie
Germaine Léontine Marie Sophie
Véronique Antoinette Léonie
Joséphine Jeanne Claudine Louise
Jeanne Clémentine Madeleine Caroline
Albertine Marie Joséphine
Sophie Joséphine Virginie
For more examples, I would recommend looking at the LEONORE database.
What about rare names?
Here are some examples of uncommon women’s names, found within the LEONORE database, and their origins. Many of them are saints’ names, classical names or feminine forms of masculine names.
Onésiphorine – Feminine form of Onésiphore, the French form of the Biblical Greek name Onesiphorus. This name appears to be highly unusual, if not unique. It appears once in LEONORE; Irma Onésiphorine Eloïse Vallée (b. 1859) was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 1948.
Victurnienne – Feminine form of Victurnien, an obscure saint’s name. The aristocrat Marie Adrienne Anne Victurnienne Clémentine de Rochechouart de Mortemart (1847-1933) was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 1919.
Hersilie – From the Latin Hersilia, the name of a Sabine woman who was the wife of Romulus in Roman legend.
Herminie – French form of the ancient Roman Herminia, a nomen (family name). The Italian form Erminia features in the influential poem Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso, which likely promoted the name. Herminie had a few notable bearers in 19th century France; Herminie Déhérain (1798-1839) was a painter, and Herminie Cadolle (1845-1926) was the inventor of the modern bra.
Ambroisine – Feminine form of Ambroise (Ambrose), a saint’s name of Greek origin.
Radegonde – Of Germanic origin, Radegonde was the name of a Frankish queen who lived during the sixth century.
Octavie – From the ancient Roman Octavia, a nomen (family name).
Corisande – A name of uncertain etymology which originated in the Spanish Romance of Amadís de Gaula. La Belle Corisande (“the beautiful Corisande”) was a nickname of a mistress of King Henry IV of France, Diane d’Andoins. Antonia Corisande Élisabeth de Gramont (1875-1954) was a French writer.
Léocadie – From the Latin Leocadia, the name of an early saint, which is probably of Greek etymology.
Zéphirine – Feminine form of the Latin Zephyrinus, the name of an early pope, which is derived Zephyros, the name of the Greek god of the west wind. The spelling Zéphyrine was also used. Princess Marie Zéphyrine of France (1750-1755) was the short-lived daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France. She received her name as she was born on the feast day of St Zephyrinus.
Azéline – Possibly from Azalaïs, a medieval Occitan form of Adelaide.
Zénaïde – From Zenaida, the name of an early saint, derived from the name of the Greek god Zeus. Zénaïde Lætitia Julie Bonaparte (1801-1854) was a niece of Napoleon.
Isoline – Possibly derived from Isolde. Isoline (1888) was the name of an opera by André Messager.
Anthelmine – Feminine form of Anthelm, a name of Germanic origin which was borne by a 12th-century French bishop. Marthe Anthelmine Chenal (1881-1947) was a noted French opera singer.
Espérance – Means “hope” in French, derived from the Latin spes. See my post on Vera for information regarding the religious history of this name. Louise Marguerite Espérance Langlois (1805-1864) was a French painter and printmaker.
References
Larousse (2007). Larousse de la généalogie: A la recherche de vos racines. Paris: Larousse.
Leibring, K. (2016). Given Names in European Naming Systems. In: Hough, C. ed. The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Picard, J. (1990). Prénoms de naissance et prénoms de baptême. Prénoms usuels. Un aspect de la mentalité religieuse rurale au XIXe siècle, Annales de Démographie Historique, pp 345-356.
Wilson S (2004). The Means of Naming: A Social History. Taylor & Francis.
I hope you enjoyed reading today’s post. The paintings used in the banners are by Berthe Morisot. What are your favourite vintage French names?
Spring has sprung in the Northern hemisphere and my garden is filled with bright blossoms, so there’s never been a better time to talk about flower names. This list comprises some of the most common floral and plant-related names for girls in the Spanish-speaking world. They range from the classic Rosa and Margarita to the lyrical Azucena and Amapola.
Please note that some names may have more than one meaning. E.g. margarita means “daisy” in Spanish, but Margarita is also a medieval saint’s name derived from the Greek margarites “pearl”. The flower was named after the saint.
Vera, the name of the Forces’ Sweetheart, combines vintage charm with a rich spiritual history.
Origin
Vera is a name of multiple origins.
Principally, Vera is a name derived from the Russian vera “faith”. Vera was originally a Russian translation of the Greek name Pistis (meaning “faith, trust” in Greek). In Greek mythology, Pistis was a minor goddess, the personification of trust and good faith. Pistis was used as a given name in ancient Greece; the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names lists sixteen instances of the name Pistis from written sources. The Greek word pistis also has Biblical significance: the three key Christian virtues, outlined in 1 Corinthians 13:13, are faith, hope and charity (in the original Greek, pistis, elpis and agape).
In Christian legend, the sisters Faith, Hope and Charity (known in Greek as Pistis, Elpis and Agape, and in Latin as Fides, Spes and Caritas) were the young daughters of a Roman Christian woman named Sophia (whose name means “wisdom”). They were said to have been martyred under the persecutions of Hadrian in the 2nd century. Many scholars consider the account to be mythical rather than historical. It may have arisen as a personification of the saying that wisdom is the mother of faith, hope and charity. In Russia, the martyrs’ names were translated as Vera, Nadezhda and Lyubov and they were much venerated in the Russian Orthodox faith. See the “Usage and Popularity” section for further discussion of Vera as a Russian name.
A Russian Orthodox depiction of Saint Sophia and her three daughters (Image credit: s_shugarov, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)
Before the Russian Vera existed, Vera was a name used in ancient Rome. It was the feminine form of the cognomenVerus, from Latin verus “true, real” (which ultimately derives from the same Proto-Indo-European root as the Russian vera). This was a fairly common cognomen in Ancient Rome – Lucius Verus (130-169 CE) was co-emperor alongside Marcus Aurelius. In a study of ancient Roman women’s cognomina, the classical philologist Iiro Kajanto identified 215 instances of the name Vera, and a further four instances of the name Verissima1 (from verissimus “the truest”, the superlative form of verus). There is some evidence that Verus and Vera continued to be used in Italy and France into the Middle Ages. There were a handful of very obscure early saints named Verus and Vera, and the Florentine Catasto (tax census) of 1427 lists two women named Vera. However, Vera does not appear to have survived into the modern era as a Latin name.
Vera is also an Albanian name, derived from the Albanian verë meaning “summer” (and also “wine”).
Vera is also sometimes used as a short form of Veronica, a name that has its own, equally fascinating history.
Usage and Popularity
Due to the paucity of English-language sources on historical Russian women’s names, it is difficult to say with certainty when Vera became established in Russia as a given name. According to the writers of the Russian-language Wikipedia page on the name, its use dates to the early 18th century. An early notable bearer of the name was Countess Vera Nikolaevna Zavadovskaya, née Apraksina (1768-1845), a Russian noblewoman who served as maid of honour to Catherine the Great. The countess was reportedly named after her great-aunt. You can view a portrait of the countess, alongside her daughter Tatiana, here.
While researching for this post, I came across an interesting passage in a book titled Sketches of the Rites and Customs of the Greco-Russian Church by H.C. Romanoff, published in 1869. “It was the 17th of September – a day of almost universal festival in Russia, for it is dedicated to the very popular saints, Sophia, Vera, Nadejda [Nadezhda] and Lubove [Lyubov]; and as there is scarcely a family but has one or two (and sometimes all the four) members who bear either of these names, it may truly be called a national holiday“. From this we can surmise that Vera was a common name in Russia by the mid-19th century.
It was during the late 19th century that the Russian Vera started to be widely used in Western Europe. Vera’s uptake in the West was influenced by its use in Russian literature2. Characters named Vera appear in A Hero of Our Time (1840) by Mikhail Lermontov and War and Peace (1869) by Leo Tolstoy. Western authors began to take note of the name too. In Britain, Vera came into fashion following its appearance in the popular novels Moths (1880) by Ouida and A Cigarette-Maker’s Romance (1890) by Francis Marion Crawford3.
In Britain, Vera was popular during the early decades of the 20th century. A notable bearer of the name was Dame Vera Lynn (1917-2020), an English singer who achieved great popularity during the Second World War and was known as the “Forces’ Sweetheart”. The name fell out of fashion for many years, but there are signs that it is being re-embraced by British parents as a vintage choice.
According to the latest available data, Vera is currently very popular in Sweden (#11), Moscow (#23), Spain (#36) and the Netherlands (#55).
Notable Bearers
Historical
Vera Zasulich (1851-1919), Russian revolutionary.
Vera Figner (1852-1942), Russian revolutionary.
Vera Brittain (1893-1970), English writer and pacifist.
Vera Lynn (1917-2020), English singer.
Vera Rubin (1928-2016), celebrated American astronomer.
Contemporary
Vera Miles (b. 1929), American actress best known for her work with Alfred Hitchcock.
Vera Wang (b. 1949), American fashion designer.
Vera Farmiga (b. 1973), American actress and director.
Pronunciation
Approximately VEER-uh or VEHR-uh in English, VYEH-ruh in Russian and VEH-rah in many other languages.
Sibling Names
Iris, Mabel, Alma, Daphne, Phoebe, Colette
Ivan, Roman, Hugo, Milo, Felix, Leon
Trivia
In modern Greek and Italian, vera is a word meaning “wedding ring” (derived from the Latin viria, which referred to a type of bracelet).
References
Nuorluoto T. Roman Female Cognomina : Studies in the Nomenclature of Roman Women [Internet] [PhD dissertation]. [Uppsala]: Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University; 2021. Available from: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-429760
Faure, R. (2008) Diccionario de nombres propios. 3rd edn. Madrid: Espasa.
Withycombe E.G. (1977) The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. 3rd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Today’s name of the day was inspired by last week’s post regarding “bad” name meanings. Poor Claudia often appears on lists of baby names with the “worst” meanings. But is its origin really so negative? In this post, I will attempt to sort the facts from the myths.
Origin
Claudia is the feminine form of Claudius, an ancient Roman nomen (family name). In ancient Rome, Claudius and Claudia were not given names – they were family names, indicating membership of the powerful gens Claudia (the word gens can be translated as “family”, “clan” or “tribe”). The Claudii were one of the patricians, a group of aristocratic families who dominated social and political life in ancient Rome. Many of the earliest Roman Emperors were members of the gens Claudia; to be a Claudia was to be an elite.
According to Roman tradition, the gens Claudia were of Sabine ancestry. The Sabines were ancient tribe who inhabited the Apennine Mountains before the founding of Rome. They had their own language, Sabine, which was distinct from Latin. The legendary founder of the gens Claudia was Attus Clausus, a Sabine nobleman who was an advocate for peace between the Romans and the Sabines after many years of war. He settled in Rome ca. 504 BCE and reached the rank of consul (the highest political office of the Roman Republic). His name was Latinised to Appius Claudius.
So what do Clausus and Claudius actually mean? Any attempt at explaining the etymology of this name requires us to first pin down its language of origin, which proves tricky. The name has traditionally been derived from the Latin claudus meaning “limping”1; perhaps the founder of the gens Claudia walked with a limp. This interpretation may have been reinforced by association with the Emperor Claudius, who was known to have had some form of disability. However, it is possible that this is an example of a folk etymology.
Attus Clausus was said to belong to the Sabine tribe; if true, then his name most likely originated in the Sabine language, not Latin. Perhaps the name’s similarity to the Latin claudus is simply by coincidence. Unfortunately, it is difficult to prove this theory since the Sabine language is long extinct and almost nothing is known about it today. The Sabines had no writing system of their own, and only traces of Sabine vocabulary were recorded by Roman authors. Moreover, some historians have questioned the gens Claudia’s claim of Sabine ancestry and suggested that it may have been invented for political reasons. Some have instead argued that the family were really of Etruscan descent2. Unfortunately for us, little is known about the Etruscan language, either. It is possible that the true meaning of Claudius and Claudia has been lost to time.
Claudia is an example of name that has remained in use for over two thousand years, not for what it means (which is an uncertainty), but for what it represents – ancient Rome at its peak.
Usage and Popularity
Since every member of the gens Claudia bore the nomen Claudius (if male) or Claudia (if female), both were common names in ancient Rome. The A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women lists numerous famous and influential women named Claudia (and several more named the variant form Clodia)3. One such example is Claudia Octavia, daughter of the Emperor Claudius and the first wife of the Emperor Nero. The Latin diminutive of Claudia was Claudilla.
As a Christian name, Claudia makes a brief appearance in the New Testament as the name of a Christian woman living in Rome (2 Timothy 4:21). Both the names Claudius and Claudia were borne by a handful of early saints, the most famous of these being Claudius of Besançon (also known by the French form Claude), a 7th-century French bishop whose relics were said to have miraculous powers.
Neither Claudius nor Claudia seem to have been commonly used during the medieval era. It is not until the Renaissance that we again start to see examples of notable women named Claudia4. One of the earliest of these was Queen Claudia or Claude (1499-1525), Duchess of Brittany and consort to Francis I of France. She herself was the daughter of Louis XII and was named in honour of Claudius of Besançon. (NB: Though Claude is usually a masculine name in English, in French it is unisex, being both the French form of Claudius and Claudia.) The name continued to be used by the royal and noble families of continental Europe e.g. Princess Claude of France (1547-1575), Claudia de’ Medici (1604-1648) and Claudia Felicitas of Austria (1653-1676). Claudia was first used in England in the 16th century1.
In the modern era, Claudia (or its equivalent form in the local language e.g. Klaudia) is now fairly common across much of Europe and other Western countries. According to the latest available data, Claudia is especially popular in Spain (#16) and Italy (#89).
Notable Bearers
Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson (1912-2007), wife of US President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Claudia Ruggerini (1922-2016), Italian partisan and doctor.
Claudia Cardinale (b. 1938 as Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale), Italian actress.
Claudia Schiffer (b. 1970), German fashion model and businesswoman.
Claudia Winkleman (b. 1972), English television presenter.
Claudia Jessie, English actress.
Fiction
Claudia, a character in The Vampire Chronicles series by Anne Rice.
Claudia, a character in the animated television series The Dragon Prince.
Trivia
In several languages, the fruit greengage (a cultivar of plum) was named in honour of the French queen Claudia. In French, the fruit is known as reine-claude and in Italian, Regina Claudia.
Pronunciation
Approximately KLAW-dee-uh in English, and KLOW-dee-ah or KLOW-dyah in many other languages.
Julian, Cassius, Dominic, Adrian, Damian, Augustus
Notes
A note on terminology: in many baby name books and websites, the Latin word claudus is translated as “lame” or “crippled”. Many people in the disabled community consider these terms outdated and offensive when used to describe people, so I have chosen not to use them in this post. Instead, I have chosen to translate claudus as “limping”, a translation which was used by K.M. Sheard1.
References
Sheard, K.M. (2011) Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Names: for Pagans, Witches, Wiccans, Druids, Heathens, Mages, Shamans and Independent Thinkers of All Sorts Who are Curious About Names from Every Place and Every Time, Llewellyn Publications.
Levick, B. (2015) Claudius, Routledge.
Lightman, B. and Lightman, M. (2008) A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, Facts On File.
Tanet, C. and Hordé, T. (2009) Dictionnaire des Prénoms, Larousse, Paris.
I am currently on Easter break from university and have been relaxing by watching one of my favourite fantasy series on Netflix, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. It is a prequel to Jim Henson’s film The Dark Crystal (1982) and is visually stunning through its mix of puppetry and computer-generated imagery. It has also many unique and interesting character names. Here is a selection of my favourite names from the series and my thoughts regarding their origins.
FEMALE CHARACTERS
Brea (pronounced BRAY-uh) – The name of a princess of the Vapra Clan, the youngest daughter of the All-Maudra. The origin of the name Brea is not clear to me. In Spanish, brea means “tar” and it appears in several place names; however, to me this seems like an unlikely source for the character’s name. K.M. Sheard writes that Braya is a medieval Cornish name probably derived from bregh “brave”1, a meaning that would be fitting for the character.
Deet – The name of a young Gelfling from the Grottan Clan. Her full name is Deethra. Both Deet and Deethra appear to be invented names.
Tavra – Short for Katavra, Princess Tavra is a daughter of the All-Maudra and a sister to Brea and Seladon. The names Tavra and Katavra were probably invented for the series.
Mayrin – The name of the All-Maudra (a title similar to “queen”) of the Gelfling, and mother of Seladon, Tavra and Brea. The origin of the name Mayrin is not clear to me, though it does bear a resemblance to Maren (a Danish form of Marina) and Máirín, an Irish diminutive of Máire (Mary) which was Anglicised as Maureen in the past. Mayrín Villanueva is a Mexican actress.
Seladon – Princess Seladon is the oldest daughter of the All-Maudra and sister to Tavra and Brea. Her name was probably inspired by celadon, the name of a shade of pale green and a type of pottery which originated in China. Celadon was also the name of a male figure in Greek mythology1.
Mira – The name of the girlfriend of Rian at the beginning of the series. Mira is a truly multicultural name with many possible origins. In Sanskrit, mira means “sea, ocean”, and in Slavic languages, Mira originated as a short form of names containing the element mir meaning “peace”. In Hebrew, Mira is a variant or diminutive of Miriam, and in Latin mira is the feminine form of the adjective mirus meaning “wonderful”.
Onica – The name of a Gelfling of the Sifa Clan. Her name was possibly inspired by Annika, a diminutive of Anna, or onycha, the name of a mysterious ingredient used to make incense mentioned in the Bible.
Naia – The name of a princess of the Drenchen Clan and the sister of Gurjin. In the television series, Naia is a secondary character, but she is the central character of the spin-off book, Shadows of the Dark Crystal. Naia is a naiad-like name of various origins; in Basque, it reportedly means “wave” or “sea foam”2 and in Hawaiian nai’a means “dolphin”. In Greenlandic, the similar-sounding Naja means “younger sister (of a male)”. The spelling Naya is best known through the late actress Naya Rivera.
Fara – The name of the proud Maudra of the Stonewood Clan. Possibly from Farah, an Arabic name meaning “joy”, or inspired by Farrah Fawcett, the American actress, best known for her role in Charlie’s Angels. Fawcett’s birth name was Ferrah, a name her mother invented. She later changed the spelling to Farrah.
MALE CHARACTERS
Rian (pronounced REE-ann) – At the beginning of Age of Resistance, Rian is a castle guard from the Stonewood Clan and the boyfriend of Mira. Rian is an Irish name, perhaps derived from rí “king” and -án, a diminutive suffix1. It gave rise to the surname Ó Riain (“descendent of Rian”), which was Anglicised as Ryan. As a Dutch name, Rian is a short form of Adrian.
Ordon – The name of Rian’s father, the captain of the castle guard. The name was possibly lifted from the Polish surname Ordon.
Kylan – The name of a friend of Kaia. Kylan is a modern English name that arose in the late 20th century, probably as an elaboration of Kyle.
Gurjin – The name of a Drenchen castle guard and friend of Rian. The name was perhaps inspired by Gurjinder, an Indian name.
References
Sheard, K.M. (2011) Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Names: for Pagans, Witches, Wiccans, Druids, Heathens, Mages, Shamans and Independent Thinkers of All Sorts Who are Curious About Names from Every Place and Every Time, Llewellyn Publications.
Enchanted Names 