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When I was looking at the extended French popularity charts, I noticed the name Kleber. It was in the French top 500 somewhat consistently until about 1960, even occasionally finding its way into the top 100. Since most Frenchmen named Kleber must be elderly, it probably isn't a recent coinage. Does anyone know the origin of this name?
This message was edited 5/19/2017, 1:55 PM
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Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the name is French. If Kleber is in the French popularity charts it is probably French.
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If I interpreted your words correctly, you think that the name is probably French solely because it appears in the French popularity charts? If so, then I should say that this is a simplistic view. Just because a name appears in a country's popularity charts, doesn't mean that the name's etymology is derived from one (or more) words from that country's language. The name can easily be of foreign origin and have been imported (as is the case with many names, e.g. Alexander was brought to us by the Greeks and Marcus by the Romans) and subsequently become truly popular in only the "adoptive country/culture/language".
Take the names of ancient Greek and Roman deities, for example: out of respect for the deities, their names were never used by the people on their own (at most combined with a word, e.g. Hermogenes). So, in ancient times, there were no men named Hermes walking around, but there were men named Hermogenes, Hermokrates, Hermolaos, etc. Many of the names of these ancient deities are now commonplace in modern societies (such as Diana and Gaia), whereas they were not used as given names by their people/culture of origin. In other words: these names are far more common in the cultures/societies that adopted them than in the cultures/societies they originated from. Some of the original societies have since gone on to use the names of these deities as given names (after the introduction of christianity and the eradication of their native religion), but in some cases, the deities' names are still more popular in the countries that they have been exported to.
Similar scenarios have happened with names that didn't belong to deities. The easiest example probably being surnames: many Americans bear a surname as a given name, while those surnames were never used as given names in their country of origin.
Take the names of ancient Greek and Roman deities, for example: out of respect for the deities, their names were never used by the people on their own (at most combined with a word, e.g. Hermogenes). So, in ancient times, there were no men named Hermes walking around, but there were men named Hermogenes, Hermokrates, Hermolaos, etc. Many of the names of these ancient deities are now commonplace in modern societies (such as Diana and Gaia), whereas they were not used as given names by their people/culture of origin. In other words: these names are far more common in the cultures/societies that adopted them than in the cultures/societies they originated from. Some of the original societies have since gone on to use the names of these deities as given names (after the introduction of christianity and the eradication of their native religion), but in some cases, the deities' names are still more popular in the countries that they have been exported to.
Similar scenarios have happened with names that didn't belong to deities. The easiest example probably being surnames: many Americans bear a surname as a given name, while those surnames were never used as given names in their country of origin.
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Thanks!
Thanks for the help!
Thanks for the help!
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It seems the name was initially given in honour of French general Jean-Baptiste Kléber (1753-1800).
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Well, if all the following info is really correct, that name has quite an interesting history:
French given name websites give a meaning of "mason" for the name, e.g. this one:
http://prenoms.famili.fr/,kleber,2277,13679.asp
That particual site also states that the name is from the French region of Alsace. This leads to a family name "Kleber" with a variant of "Kleiber", of German origin, as detailed here:
http://www.geneanet.org/genealogie/fr/kleber.html
Using family names as given names is not unusual, and the Alsace uses, in some ways, a mix of German and French, so a German origin of a family name used there should not be unusual either.
Where does a German word of "Kleiber" lead us? To etymology websites in German, like the following:
http://www.wortbedeutung.info/Kleiber/
https://lexikographieblog.wordpress.com/2015/09/07/kleiber/
They say there is a bird, in German named "Kleiber" (the English name seems to be "nuthatch"), whose name originally meant "plasterer" or "mason", because that bird does something like the work of a plasterer or a mason, when it takes clay to form parts of its nest.
English info about this bird e.g. here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuthatch
Indeed, there still is the modern German word / verb "kleben", with the same roots, meaning to stick / glue / paste / cement something.
French given name websites give a meaning of "mason" for the name, e.g. this one:
http://prenoms.famili.fr/,kleber,2277,13679.asp
That particual site also states that the name is from the French region of Alsace. This leads to a family name "Kleber" with a variant of "Kleiber", of German origin, as detailed here:
http://www.geneanet.org/genealogie/fr/kleber.html
Using family names as given names is not unusual, and the Alsace uses, in some ways, a mix of German and French, so a German origin of a family name used there should not be unusual either.
Where does a German word of "Kleiber" lead us? To etymology websites in German, like the following:
http://www.wortbedeutung.info/Kleiber/
https://lexikographieblog.wordpress.com/2015/09/07/kleiber/
They say there is a bird, in German named "Kleiber" (the English name seems to be "nuthatch"), whose name originally meant "plasterer" or "mason", because that bird does something like the work of a plasterer or a mason, when it takes clay to form parts of its nest.
English info about this bird e.g. here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuthatch
Indeed, there still is the modern German word / verb "kleben", with the same roots, meaning to stick / glue / paste / cement something.
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