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Re: Ethne
in reply to a message by Kai
A little poking around finds that the name Ethne, sometimes accented Ethné, has a possible origin in early Christianity.Ethné (from ethnos) apparently meant "foreign nations" in Greek. It was used as a translation of the Hebrew "goyim," which means the "gentile peoples." These phrases meant "not Jewish" to the Jews and then "neither Jewish nor Christian" to the Christians. In English, ethnos/ethné is the root of the words "heathen" and "ethnic."This all seems rather an odd origin for a Christian girls name, but Greek words and names were, for a time, all the rage in the English and French learned-class. It is possible that the name Ethné slipped under the door, as it were, due to its similarity to Ethan or some such.And there is no doubt that the name Ethne is an also an Anglicization of the Irish-Gaelic name Eithne. Eithne is pronounced [EN-yah] because it follows the rules of the Gaelic language, not English.But Ethne, no matter the language from which it came, is pronounced in English as is natural. Some might say [ETH-nee] and others [ETH-neh]. I presume the accented Ethné is naturally French, but it may be an affectation.Now, I've not seen the movie nor read the book, so I can't speak with absolute certainty. If I was to guess, I assume the character's name in this English period-piece would be sourced back to the Greek rather than the Gaelic.
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I haven't seen the movie either, but South Africa is full of elderly ladies called Ethne, for some reason. And they all pronounce it ETHnee. But it hasn't made a comeback yet.
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Thanks! both those messages helped a lot!
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Well, my name is Ethne and a lot of people have trouble pronouncing it! I think the easiest way to remember is to read it like 'Eth-knee'....Ethne!
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My name is Ethne, too, and I thought of the same thing. I love my name, and it has encouraged me to be unique in every way possible.
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Also, my parents got the idea from a movie called "the four feathers." I have not watched it, but my parents say it is a good movie.
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