Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 157, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 July 1912 — HOW NAMES ORIGINATE [ARTICLE]

HOW NAMES ORIGINATE

GREEK AND LATIN SUPPLY MOtTj OF FEMININE ONEB. J Poor Principal Bources for Meet crij... Given Names Used Among Eng. § Ilsh-Speaking People—How -j Mary Boca me Popular. There are four principal sources tod. almost all the given names in nsej among English-speaking people—these) are Latin, Greek, Hebrew and , man. A very few are of Saxon, Syriac, Persian or Arabic origin. - t When England was a Roman Catho lie country the name of the mother of Jesus Christ was, from religioua and superstitious motives, very frequently chosen by parents and for centuries Mary was the - most coxa si mon female Christian name in Eng. After the Reformation the increased familiarity with the scriptures caused! the names of the characters of tbd Old Testament history to be very fra* quentiy adopted. To this period wej owe the introduction of Sarah ox{ Sara, a Princess* and Hannah, graced The latte? has many derivatives, suebj as Ann., Anne, Annie, Anna, Annettetj Nanette, Nan, Nancy, Nance and Net-, The Puritans were Steeped In Bibtet lore and were fond of, taking tbai names of Christian virtues a» frond names for girls, as to them we owe! such names as Mercy, Modesty, Grace* Patience, Prudence, Truth, Faith, Hope and Charity. In Queen Anne’s time came In it fondness for choosing names ending! In a or la, as Amelia, Letitla, Mariai Luclda and Alicia, of several of which! there are alternative forms ending tnj e, le or y, as Olive, Lattice, Mary,* Lucy, Annie and Alice. Elisabeth, which means “conse4 - crated to God,” Is Hebrew and camef Sto general use In England dnrtngt I e reign of Queen Bess. Isabel isj the same name, of Which Ysabel, Isabella are variants; BessJ Bessie, Bet, Betsy, Betty, Elisa, ElsieJ Lizzie, Liz and Lillie being dfmin&lg Other Hebrew names In less com-j mon use are Abigail, Deborah and! Dinah, Pleasure as the significance off Edna, and Eve, the mother of alL* means life. Of Eve or Eva, Eveline and Evefinaj are diminutives. Joan, Jane, Joanna, of which Janet! is the diminutive, are feminine fonnsj of John; Jean, Jeanne and Jeannette) are the French equivalents. The meaning is gift of God. . Jaqueline, Josephs and Tomasa arej respectively feminine forms of JameS*p Joseph and Thomas. The name off Magdalene, given in the gospel to distinguish Mary of Magdala from other) Marys, appears in French as Made* line, the shortened form of which is! „ Maria has two meanings, bitter and) star of the sea. Marion la thej French form of this and May is at diminutive of i)t, The name Marion or Marianne is the result of the com-, bination of Mary and Anne. Martha! means sorrowful or ruler of the honse4 We owe to the two classical lan* guages, Greek ahd Latin, as many! names as to all other sources put to* gether, about 60 female given names* being traceable to the Greek and! about 70 to the Latin. Several Greek! ‘ first names are taken from precious stones and animals. Thus Rhoda is s rose, Phyllis a green! bough and Diantba Sower of Jove. Margaret and its diminutives, Madge, Maggie. Margy, means a pearl; Melissa is a bee and Dorcas. a gazelle. Among the most common Greek names are Dorothea, Dorothy, Helen, which is the original of Eleanor—among the most popular and fashionable names today.—New York World.