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Ginta, Bregje and Behati
I came across several names of fashion models that weren't in the database. Does anyone know their meanings?
Ginta - There is a Latvian model named Ginta Lapina
Bregje - Dutch model Bregje Heinen. I know names that end in -je are typically nicknames in Dutch. Does anyone know what it could be a nickname for?
Behati - There is a white Namibian model named Behati Prinsloo. I don't know much about Namibia, but her surname suggests a possible Dutch ancestry.
Also, how are Bregje and Behati pronounced?

This message was edited 5/21/2012, 5:37 AM

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Prinsloo is indeed of Dutch origin. It is composed of the Dutch words prins "prince" and archaic Dutch loo, which signifies a clearing (i.e. open spot) in a forest. The surname is extremely rare in The Netherlands nowadays, with 5 bearers in 2007 and 0 bearers in 1947. This seems to indicate that the 5 bearers must be immigrants from (South) Africa. As such, this is definitely a typical but old Afrikaner surname.
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Thanks
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Huibrecht gives Breggie in Afrikaans and should logically give Bregje in Dutch. Either way, it's a female form of Hubert. You're right: that -je is a diminutive ending. Bertie, perhaps? As for pronunciation, my Dutch is mangled but it's close to a short e as in bed, followed by that wonderful throat-clearing sound that is always said to be "like the -ch in Scottish loch", and a ye, same short e as before, and the j has an English y sound.Can't help at all with Ms Prinsloo, but a lot of white Namibians have Afrikaans surnames, of which Prinsloo is one. I'd guess bi-HAH-ti, but it is a guess and the name looks invented.
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BehatiThanks for your input about Bregje.
I should really have checked this before I posted, but I found this interview with Behati Prinsloo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXaXVJDP9YE
She pronounces her name bay-AH-tee and says it means "blessed" in German. Perhaps she means it's a variant of Beate or Beatrice or somesuch. I was wondering if it was a traditional Afrikaans or Dutch form of Beate, but it seems not to be.
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Nope. Definitely kre8iv, and probably a one-off. When I saw it, I wondered about the Indian ln often written as Beharrie, though there are variants; but clearly not.
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The "Nederlandse Voornamen Databank", to be found here:
http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/voornamen/vnb/gives Bregje as as form of Brecht, and that in turn as a short form of various names containing the name element "brecht" which is also in the database here, cognate of the English word "bright".For Behati I could not find reliable info, only some hints that it may derive from (or be a variant of) the Swahili word bahati, probably meaning "luck":
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bahatiAnyway, if you search for the given model, you quickly see that her name is written in both forms, Behati and Bahati. Maybe that wants to tell us something, or maybe not - maybe people just are not sure about the spelling...

This message was edited 5/21/2012, 12:13 PM

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Thanks for the info
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According to Woordenboek van Voornamen by J. van der Schaar, Bregje is a form of Brecht, a woman's name from a Germanic word meaning "radiant, shining, brilliant". In other words, it's a form of the same Germanic word which became "bright" in English.Other Dutch forms of Brecht besides Bregje are Brechje, Brechtje, Bregina, Bregtina, and Bregtje.
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Thank you
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