indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Gender Feminine
Usage Literature, Arthurian Romance
Other Forms FormsBelissenda, Belisencia, Beliscendis, Bélissant, Belisent, Belisant, Belsant, Belsante
Meaning & History
From an Old French form of the Germanic name Belissendis, possibly composed of the elements bili "suitable, proper, fitting, decent, amiable" (cf. Biligard) and swind "strong, brave, powerful".The form Belisent belongs to a legendary daughter of Charlemagne in the poems 'Ami et Amile' (c.1200) and 'Otinel' or 'Otuel a Knight' (c.1330). In the late 13th-century Arthurian tale 'Arthour and Merlin', Belisent is Arthur's half-sister, the wife of Lot and mother of Gareth; Alfred Lord Tennyson also used the form Belicent in his Arthurian epic 'Gareth and Lynette'.