Name of the Week: Garth

 

Origin:

Garth was adopted as a first name from the surname Garth, derived from the Middle English garth "area of enclosed ground, yard, garden," which ultimately derives from the Old Norse garðr "enclosed area, courtyard, fence, garden, farmyard." Most likely the name was given to a person in charge of an enclosed piece of land such as a garden, cloister or enclosure where cattle were kept.  The Old English cognate geard became our modern English word yard however garth still survives as a dialect word in the North West thanks to the strong Viking heritage there.  Garðr itself was actually used as an Old Norse given name with Gerðr as a feminine form, and several dithematic Germanic and Norse names contained it as an element -- mostly as a feminine suffix. There is, however, no evidence of the name Garðr in use in Britain, or that it influenced the surname Garth.

Usage:

The first recorded citation of Garth as a surname is John del Garth in 1297 in Yorkshire, followed by a Mariota del Garth in Cumberland in 1332. Data from the Surname Atlas (click to enlarge) The surname continued to be prevalent in the North of England, and even by the 1881 census, it was still most common in Yorkshire and the the surrounding counties, and Lanarkshire in Scotland. These hot spots of popularity correspond directly to the use of Garth as a given name which, at this time, was adopted as a family surname.  This all changed after 1909 when Florence L. Barclay's novel The Rosary was published, featuring Garth Dalmain as the romantic hero whose love stays true to the woman he loves even through terrible hardships. The book was a sensation, translated into eight languages, and was declared the Number 1 bestselling novel of 1910 in the United States by the New York Times. In the 1920s, the book was still popular and was even adapted for the Parisian stage. The impact of this can clearly be seen in the rise in number of children registered with the first name Garth.  Registered births per decade in England and Wales: 1840s: 2 births 1850s: 1 birth 1860s: 2 births 1870s: 2 births 1880s: 11 births 1890s: 20 births 1900s: 30 births 1910s: 83 births 1920s: 162 births 1930s: 354 births 1940s: 725 births 1950s: 201 births 1960s: 235 births 1970s: 154 births Some of Garth's fall in usage in the 1950s may be due to the popularity of Gareth which moved into the top 100 in England and Wales in the 1954 and remaining there until 1994. This may have deterred some parents from using Garth due to confusion with more popular Gareth.  Garth has hefty credentials as a comic book hero, being both the "real" name of DC Comic's Aqualad (later Tempest) from 1960-2010 and of Lightning Lad (1958-). Garth was also the hero of the Daily Mail comic strip Garth which ran from 1943 to 1997. Australian cricketer Graham "Garth" McKenzie (b. 1941) is said to have got his nickname from the latter character due to his muscular physique.* From the late 1980s onwards, Garth has been rarely registered as a given name in Britain. Since 1996, Garth has only ranked (i.e. given to three babies or more) ten years in the last twenty, with no more than ten births in any given year. It last ranked at #4678 (3 births) in 2010.  In Scotland, there have been no more than two registrations for the name in any given year since 1974 and no registrations at all since 2000 when it ranked #514 (2 births).

Famous Bearers:

Contemporary: * Graham "Garth" McKenzie (b. 1941), Australian cricketer. * Garth Brooks (b. 1962), American country music artist. * Garth Ennis (b. 1970), Irish comics writer. Literature and Other Media: * Garth Dalmain, hero of Florence L. Barclay's novel The Rosary (1909).  * Garth, titular hero of the Daily Mail's comic Garth.  * Garth, DC Comics superhero known as Aqualad and Tempest. * Garth Ranzz, DC Comics superhero known as Lightning Lad.  * Garth Fitzgerald IV, a character from the TV series Supernatural.

Variants:

Garðr

Pronunciation:

GARTH

Possible diminutives:

N/A

Sibling Names:

Dixie     Hazel     Olive     Betty     Mavis     Fallon  Rhett     Clark     Travis     Cash     Woody     Jarvis

Name Lists:

N/A

 

If you like Garth you may also like:    Garrett, Cody, Trevor, Graham, Gavin, Grant, Zane, Ray, Gerard, Lance

 

Thanks to Kathryn for requesting this post.