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ArchivesQuestions about some old "word" names
Saw these in the top 1000 list in the US for 1900-1909:
Icy (g) - EYE-see, EE-see, something else? is it short for something?
Tiny (g) - TIE-nee, TEE-nee, something else? variation of Tina?
Fate (b) - FAYT, FA-te, something else? again, where did it come from?
Lemon (b) - LE-mon, LEE-mon, something else? where did it come from?
Saw these in a list of medieval names:
Mare (g) - MAIR, MA-re, something else? variation of Mary?
Cyan (b) - SIGH-an, KIE-an, something else? is it after the color?
Mace (b) - MAYS, MA-se, something else? where did it come from?
Gentian (b) - JEN-chen, GEN-tee-an, something else? Gentius was a second-century B.C. king of Illyria, what does his name mean?
Icy (g) - EYE-see, EE-see, something else? is it short for something?
Tiny (g) - TIE-nee, TEE-nee, something else? variation of Tina?
Fate (b) - FAYT, FA-te, something else? again, where did it come from?
Lemon (b) - LE-mon, LEE-mon, something else? where did it come from?
Saw these in a list of medieval names:
Mare (g) - MAIR, MA-re, something else? variation of Mary?
Cyan (b) - SIGH-an, KIE-an, something else? is it after the color?
Mace (b) - MAYS, MA-se, something else? where did it come from?
Gentian (b) - JEN-chen, GEN-tee-an, something else? Gentius was a second-century B.C. king of Illyria, what does his name mean?
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Replies
Icy, Icey, and Icie have turned up as given names in the Southern USA for years. They are probably originally pet forms of names such as Bernice and the like, which were sometimes pronounced with the final syllable like the word "ice" in the 19th century.
Tiny and Fate are probably uses of the words. Since it's a girl's name, Lemon could be considered a plant name like Rose or Magnolia, but it might also be a surname transfer.
Mace is a medieval pet form of Matthew, IIRC. I am presently visiting my relatives in Tennessee and so don't have my reference books to check. :)
Tiny and Fate are probably uses of the words. Since it's a girl's name, Lemon could be considered a plant name like Rose or Magnolia, but it might also be a surname transfer.
Mace is a medieval pet form of Matthew, IIRC. I am presently visiting my relatives in Tennessee and so don't have my reference books to check. :)
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I would assume that Icy, Tiny, Fate, and Lemon are probably just from the words...Tiny could be a nn, or just a name based on the fact that she was small at birth, but then was given as an official name.
For the medieval names, my guess is that Mare is a variation of Mary, and Cyan a variation of Cian (KEE-an). Of course it depends on where they are from, but since spelling was MUCH more flexible up until...oh, the 1700s at least (Shakespeare spelled his name over 20 different ways).
Mace has been used as the name of the spice which comes from the nutmeg tree since at least the 1200s. It comes from Latin, originally. A mace is also a kind of weapon, and in that sense it has been around at least since the 1300s. Again, this meaning comes from Latin but from a different etymology.
Wikipedia says that Gentian "appears to derive from PIE *g'en- "to beget", cognate to Latin gens, gentis "kin, clan, race"." However, it doesn't cite any sources. The Oxford English Dictionary backs up the Latin and PIE (proto-Indo-European) words, but that doesn't necessarily mean that that's where the name comes from -- although it would make sense to have a king's name with that meaning.
For the medieval names, my guess is that Mare is a variation of Mary, and Cyan a variation of Cian (KEE-an). Of course it depends on where they are from, but since spelling was MUCH more flexible up until...oh, the 1700s at least (Shakespeare spelled his name over 20 different ways).
Mace has been used as the name of the spice which comes from the nutmeg tree since at least the 1200s. It comes from Latin, originally. A mace is also a kind of weapon, and in that sense it has been around at least since the 1300s. Again, this meaning comes from Latin but from a different etymology.
Wikipedia says that Gentian "appears to derive from PIE *g'en- "to beget", cognate to Latin gens, gentis "kin, clan, race"." However, it doesn't cite any sources. The Oxford English Dictionary backs up the Latin and PIE (proto-Indo-European) words, but that doesn't necessarily mean that that's where the name comes from -- although it would make sense to have a king's name with that meaning.
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