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ArchivesRe: Caroline meaning
in reply to a message by Caroline
I can help with the "man"/"woman" meaning thing.
According to BtN, Caroline is a French feminine form of Carolus, which is the Latinate form of Charles, meaning "man". Now, when a name is feminised, the meaning doesn't change. Ever. Charlotte and Caroline, which both derive from Charles, still mean "man" even though they're feminine forms.
You might be tempted to say that the meaning automactically changes to "woman" because Charlotte / Caroline are feminine forms, but that'd be wrong since the meanings of names don't change.
People are now claiming that Mackenzie means "daughter of" instead of the proper "son of" indicated by the Mac- prefix.
*DISCLAIMER: The following is purely Miranda's pet theory. This is only Miranda's theory, and isn't meant to imply that the following theory is in fact true in any way.*
This is because, imo, people may be justifying using a male name for their daughters.
Anyway, I myself have wondered about the "little and womanly" meaning, so I look forward to the experts' explanation.
Miranda
According to BtN, Caroline is a French feminine form of Carolus, which is the Latinate form of Charles, meaning "man". Now, when a name is feminised, the meaning doesn't change. Ever. Charlotte and Caroline, which both derive from Charles, still mean "man" even though they're feminine forms.
You might be tempted to say that the meaning automactically changes to "woman" because Charlotte / Caroline are feminine forms, but that'd be wrong since the meanings of names don't change.
People are now claiming that Mackenzie means "daughter of" instead of the proper "son of" indicated by the Mac- prefix.
*DISCLAIMER: The following is purely Miranda's pet theory. This is only Miranda's theory, and isn't meant to imply that the following theory is in fact true in any way.*
This is because, imo, people may be justifying using a male name for their daughters.
Anyway, I myself have wondered about the "little and womanly" meaning, so I look forward to the experts' explanation.
Miranda
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