Comments (Meaning / History Only)

My husband's family had a baby names book when he was growing up that listed the meanings "soothsayer" and "teller of the truth" for the name 'Keith', also claiming it had a German root. He of course grew up believing this to be the meaning of his name and was somewhat confused by the (probable) meaning listed here.Some Googling shows a possible connection to the German suffix '-keit' (pronounced like the English word "kite"), specifically as it appears in the German words 'Wirklichkeit' ("reality") and 'Richtigkeit' ("correctness"), both of which can apparently be used in certain circumstances as a translation of the English word 'truth'.The suffix '-keit' actually originates from a sort of misspelling of the suffix '-heit' (pronounced like the English "height"), a wrong segmentation of two suffixes when '-heit' followed '-ec'. The suffix '-heit' is usually equivalent to the English '-ty' and '-ness' and ultimately derives from the Proto-Germanic '*haiduz' (“personality, character, manner, way”) which in turn derives from the Proto-Indo-European '*(s)kayt-' or '*(s)kaydʰ-' (“clear, bright, shining”).Of course... in all my digging, I also happened to stumble upon the interesting tidbit that the English word "truth" comes from the Proto-Indo-European *drū- (“tree”), which is essentially the same as the listed meaning here of the Brythonic element 'cet' ("wood"). It's entirely possible that is the link. This is also, as far as I can tell, also the root for (or at least closely related to) the word 'druid'.
I was born in Dublin at two in the morning during the worst storm in living memory, I am told I was named Keith because it was Gaelic for The Wind in English. I found the Irish word Goath (the wind) which may be a source. Perhaps Gaelic “o” is sometimes sounded as “e” and “a” as “i”. Also I don’t believe there’s a “k” in Gaelic – hope this helps. The Scots wood idea seems intriguing – maybe their word for the sound of the wind in the trees? So here’s a thought - if you’re fond of a Keith, no matter where you are the wind will whisper his name.
Apologies the word (Irish) “Gaoth” not "Goath" is wind. This from a Scottish – English online dictionary:[gaoth] nf. G. Gaoithe; d. Gaoith; pl.+an, wind : gaoth tuath, north wind : gaoth deas, south wind : gaoth an ear, east wind : gaoth an iar, west wind.This from a Scottish Gaelic pronunciation guide: g -velar (with tongue to soft part at the back of the roof of your mouth) for example, like the s in English so the “g” can sound like the “k” that doesn’t exist in written Gaelic (Gàidhlig)I believe the “ao” dipthong is pronounced “ee” in Irish, so I’m pretty sure we’re close enough.One thing I am sure of is this – I was given the name 50 years ago and I been blown all over the world ever since.

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