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Hi i would like some informations about this name, taken from the novel Huckleberry Finn. I am a foreigner, I would like to know if it really exists in the us and how much it is common. Thank you.
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I don't think it's used at all as a first name, and I don't think that Mark Twain intended it as a real given name. Huckleberries are a type of berry (like strawberry, raspberry, boysenberry et cetera) and although I'm not certain, I believe that Twain intended it to be taken as a nickname, not a real given name.
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According to http://www.geocities.com/swaisman/huckfinn.htm, "huckleberry" was contemporary slang for a person of no importance, so apparently Twain chose Huck's name to make a statement about the type of person his character was -- one that had no real place in society.
I can't tell you for sure that there's nobody in the United States named Huckleberry today, but it's definitely not a name most people would encounter. A little kid named Huckleberry would get laughed off the playground!
I can't tell you for sure that there's nobody in the United States named Huckleberry today, but it's definitely not a name most people would encounter. A little kid named Huckleberry would get laughed off the playground!
This message was edited 12/20/2004, 8:35 PM
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Thank you both for the informations!!!
That is a pity it had so bad meaning, it sounds so pretty :(
That is a pity it had so bad meaning, it sounds so pretty :(
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Looked Huckleberry up on Dictionary.com
Huckleberry is apparently an alteration of hurtleberry, of which whortleberry is a variant.
Whortleberry/hurtleberry comes from Middle English hurtilberi. Hurtilberi's an alteration of the combination of Old English hurt "an azure-coloured ball" (from Old French heurte) and berye, beri "berry". This makes perfect sense, since huckleberries are indeed blue-coloured and more-or-less ball-shaped: http://snipurl.com/bknl.
Going deeper (because I just can't help myself!), berye is Middle English, and derives from Old English berie. Berie derives from an Indo-European root, bh-.
Dictionary.com didn't provide what bh- means, so I looked it up in the online American Heritage Dictionary (http://snipurl.com/bknk): it's a contraction of bhe- "coloured"; when it became bh-, it had its meaning altered to "to shine".
Derivations of bh- include Germanic bazja- "berry" ("bright coloured fruit"), the aforementioned Old English berie and berige "berry", Old High German beri "berry", and Old French framboise "raspberry" (alteration of Frankish brm-besi "bramble berry").
Whew! Etymologic sources: http://snipurl.com/bkni (Dictionary.com "huckleberry"), http://snipurl.com/bknj (AHD "bh-").
Miranda
EDIT: + Missing period, "sources" -> "etymologic sources"
Huckleberry is apparently an alteration of hurtleberry, of which whortleberry is a variant.
Whortleberry/hurtleberry comes from Middle English hurtilberi. Hurtilberi's an alteration of the combination of Old English hurt "an azure-coloured ball" (from Old French heurte) and berye, beri "berry". This makes perfect sense, since huckleberries are indeed blue-coloured and more-or-less ball-shaped: http://snipurl.com/bknl.
Going deeper (because I just can't help myself!), berye is Middle English, and derives from Old English berie. Berie derives from an Indo-European root, bh-.
Dictionary.com didn't provide what bh- means, so I looked it up in the online American Heritage Dictionary (http://snipurl.com/bknk): it's a contraction of bhe- "coloured"; when it became bh-, it had its meaning altered to "to shine".
Derivations of bh- include Germanic bazja- "berry" ("bright coloured fruit"), the aforementioned Old English berie and berige "berry", Old High German beri "berry", and Old French framboise "raspberry" (alteration of Frankish brm-besi "bramble berry").
Whew! Etymologic sources: http://snipurl.com/bkni (Dictionary.com "huckleberry"), http://snipurl.com/bknj (AHD "bh-").
Miranda
EDIT: + Missing period, "sources" -> "etymologic sources"
This message was edited 12/24/2004, 5:16 AM
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There are other HUCKLEBERRY's in the world
I saw on Oprah it was either Julia Roberts or Cameron Diaz that has a godchild named Huckleberry. As for a nn they used "Huck". I thought it was a little strange at first because I have never actually heard of a person called this name before other then the book. It is being used but I don't think it has made any of the top baby lists. :)
I saw on Oprah it was either Julia Roberts or Cameron Diaz that has a godchild named Huckleberry. As for a nn they used "Huck". I thought it was a little strange at first because I have never actually heard of a person called this name before other then the book. It is being used but I don't think it has made any of the top baby lists. :)
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