Merizalde.
I recently learned that actress Alexis Knapp and her baby daughter both have the middle name Merizalde, and I am curious to learn what the name's meaning and origin are. I am guessing it may be of Germanic origin, with the first element derived from mari "famous". The second element is more difficult, but given that it reminds me of the name Griselda, it may come from hild "battle".I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this. Thank you for your time. :)

"How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on... when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend... some hurts that go too deep... that have taken hold." ~ Frodo Baggins
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perhaps its this?From Maris
the meaning of Meris is "of the sea". topographic name from Basque alde ‘side’, ‘slope’

This message was edited 10/8/2011, 3:27 PM

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That seems to be a tough one.I found this info about a family name Merizalde (instead of a given name) in Spain, but without meaning:
http://www.miparentela.com/mapas/detalles/merizalde.htmlCombining the Germanic elements mari and hild gives Marhild, and this indeed seems to exist as a (quite rare and old-fashioned) given name in Germany. But I found no way to connect Marhild with Merizalde...
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