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ArchivesDifferent approach to ROSALIE
In my Dictionaire des Prénoms (Larousse), I find the following derivation of ROSALIE:
Emploi particulier du latin Rosalia, les „Rosalies“, nom d’une fête religieuse où l’on portait des fleurs, et surtout des roses, sur les tombes. Ce mot, devenu prénom, dérive de rosalis, „qui concerne les roses“, lui-même de rosa, „rose“.
Special use of the Latin Rosalia, the "Rosalies", a religious celebration, where one would carry flowers, especially roses, to put them on top of the graves. This word, that has become a given name, stems from rosalis, „of roses, rose-like“, which itself is from rosa, „rose“.
Now I haven’t been able to find anything about such a religious (Christian?) feast called Rosalia or Rosalies. If this should in fact be a Christian feast – could there be a connection with rosaries and the Festum Beatae Mariae Virginis a Rosario, as other sources suggest (Wilfried Seibecke, Historisches Deutsches Vornamenbuch)?
Emploi particulier du latin Rosalia, les „Rosalies“, nom d’une fête religieuse où l’on portait des fleurs, et surtout des roses, sur les tombes. Ce mot, devenu prénom, dérive de rosalis, „qui concerne les roses“, lui-même de rosa, „rose“.
Special use of the Latin Rosalia, the "Rosalies", a religious celebration, where one would carry flowers, especially roses, to put them on top of the graves. This word, that has become a given name, stems from rosalis, „of roses, rose-like“, which itself is from rosa, „rose“.
Now I haven’t been able to find anything about such a religious (Christian?) feast called Rosalia or Rosalies. If this should in fact be a Christian feast – could there be a connection with rosaries and the Festum Beatae Mariae Virginis a Rosario, as other sources suggest (Wilfried Seibecke, Historisches Deutsches Vornamenbuch)?
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Replies
Very interesting! I've seen that explanation too: if I recall, in an Appendix to Chambers English Dictionary, a pretty old edition (1960s perhaps). Not sure if they appropriated it from the Oxford Dictionary of English Names, but they might have. My assumption was that the hanging of roses on tombs was more likely to be pagan than Christian, but my Latin dictionary (Cassell's) doesn't give it.
Rosalis, or Rosalys, turns up in a 19th century poem called The Blessed Damozel, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti: there, she is one of the handmaids of the Virgin Mary 'whose names are five sweet symphonies', but only gets a passing mention.
I look forward to more input!
Rosalis, or Rosalys, turns up in a 19th century poem called The Blessed Damozel, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti: there, she is one of the handmaids of the Virgin Mary 'whose names are five sweet symphonies', but only gets a passing mention.
I look forward to more input!
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The "rose" derivation was not new to me, only the festival was. Folk etomolygy seems to play a role in this:
De Felice has the following:
L’origine e l’interpretazione del nome è incerta: se il culto, e quindi anche il nome, risale al XII o XIII seculo, come paiono confermare documenti calabresi e siciliani, potrebbe rappresentare un adattamento siciliano in Rusulinu al maschile e Rusulina al feminile des francese antico Roscelin e Rocelin, di origine germanica, introdotto nell’isola dai Normanni; poi per influsso di Lia, Rusulina si è transformato in Rusulia e quindi, per un accostamento dovuto a etimologia populare a Rosa e rosa, nella forma italianizzata Rosalia // attuale. V. anche Rosolina e Rosolino, che in parte sono appunto varianti di Rosalia e Rosalio.
Origin and interpretation of the name are uncertain: if the cult, and hence the name, date from the twelfth or thirteenth century, as seem to confirm Calabrian and Sicilian documents, the name could represent a Sicilian adaptation into the male Rusulinu and the female Rusulina of the Old French Roscelin and Rocelin, of Germanic origin, introduced to the island by the Normans; later by the influence of Lia (=Lea), Rusulina became Rusulia and this, through a harmonisation (due to folk etymology) with Rosa and rose, led to the current Italianized form Rosalia. See also Rosolina and Rosolino, which are in part just variations of Rosalia and Rosalio.
De Felice has the following:
L’origine e l’interpretazione del nome è incerta: se il culto, e quindi anche il nome, risale al XII o XIII seculo, come paiono confermare documenti calabresi e siciliani, potrebbe rappresentare un adattamento siciliano in Rusulinu al maschile e Rusulina al feminile des francese antico Roscelin e Rocelin, di origine germanica, introdotto nell’isola dai Normanni; poi per influsso di Lia, Rusulina si è transformato in Rusulia e quindi, per un accostamento dovuto a etimologia populare a Rosa e rosa, nella forma italianizzata Rosalia // attuale. V. anche Rosolina e Rosolino, che in parte sono appunto varianti di Rosalia e Rosalio.
Origin and interpretation of the name are uncertain: if the cult, and hence the name, date from the twelfth or thirteenth century, as seem to confirm Calabrian and Sicilian documents, the name could represent a Sicilian adaptation into the male Rusulinu and the female Rusulina of the Old French Roscelin and Rocelin, of Germanic origin, introduced to the island by the Normans; later by the influence of Lia (=Lea), Rusulina became Rusulia and this, through a harmonisation (due to folk etymology) with Rosa and rose, led to the current Italianized form Rosalia. See also Rosolina and Rosolino, which are in part just variations of Rosalia and Rosalio.
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Well, the association with the Roman celebration seems logical.
The use of the name in Europe seems to com from the Sicilian St Rosalie, originally Rosalia de' Sinibaldi. Based only reading of the Wikipedia page of the saint in a few languages, the only explanations I found for her name was that her mother was called Rosa and that by folk etymology, the name Rosalia is often understood as being a contraction of rosa (rose) and lilium (lily). However, it's quite possible that the association with flowers came later, and the name was actually a variation of germanic Ros- names (by Norman influence) or even another name entirely.
The use of the name in Europe seems to com from the Sicilian St Rosalie, originally Rosalia de' Sinibaldi. Based only reading of the Wikipedia page of the saint in a few languages, the only explanations I found for her name was that her mother was called Rosa and that by folk etymology, the name Rosalia is often understood as being a contraction of rosa (rose) and lilium (lily). However, it's quite possible that the association with flowers came later, and the name was actually a variation of germanic Ros- names (by Norman influence) or even another name entirely.
This message was edited 12/22/2019, 8:53 AM
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