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Re: Aveling - is there a Germanic link, meaning ancestor?
The Germanic for "ancestor" is ano, which obviously doesn't seem to have much connection to Aveling.I think Aveling's more likely to have derived from Germanic av (its meaning is unknown, and just became popularly with Latin avis "bird" in the Middle Ages). It may have originated from Avis, then Avila, Avelina, and perhaps then Aveline (Norman).The Old English suffix -ing means "descended from", "belonging to"—as in the surname Ætheling, which is usually interpreted as "son of the king" but would literally mean "descended from the noble".So, my guess is that Aveling means "descendant of Avis", possibly with the intended meaning of "son of Avis".

Miranda
"Six hours later I still haven't done my homework, but I did come up with 245 name combos, seven of which I might name my child." — Modified LJ icon quoteProud adopter of 15 punctuation marks.
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Attn:- MirandaMiranda - hey, thanking you once again.
I'm now reading a fascinating book - Slang Down the Ages.A fascinating study of how slang words have devolped from the 14th Century to today. Interesting, in how it shows certain nicknames, that you can see would later form the basis of names we might reconise today. The book further explores the whole history of Bad Language/ swearing and how the terms came about.
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