View Message

This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

Re: Why the name Terence is common in Ireland?
Until quite recently in Ireland, priests would not christen a child unless a saint's name was used. This was the case when my husband's aunt was being baptised in the early 1960s, for example. Her parents wanted to give her an Irish language adjective as a name, and the priest refused. So they picked the name of an aunt who is a nun as her baptismal name, and called her the name they wanted in everyday life. This used to be common in Ireland - a relatively small pool of Christian names was used until quite recently, and family names were used and reused, meaning that nicknames and alternative versions of given names were popular. As there is a Saint Terence I am guessing this is the origin of the use of Terence.I don't know how far the usage of Terence goes in Ireland but remember we had Viking, Norman and English invasions and settlements from early on, leading to an introduction of foreign languages, and names hundreds of years ago.
vote up1vote down

No replies