April! Definitely a Spring month of new beginnings. I've known several lovely people get married this month — including my gorgeous sister! — and also lots of new babies — even a little Louis who was born a week before the new prince.
It's been such a busy month, so not much chance for name-diving (what I call my explorations through records) but there does seem to be an C-E theme going this month.
Cerula
As regular readers will probably know by now, I'm a big history geek and love watching history documentaries whenever I get a bit of down-time. One I particularly enjoyed this month was Channel 4's Jesus’ Female Disciples: The New Evidence by Bible historians Helen Bond and Joan Taylor.
My name-radar picked up when they investigated the catacombs of San Gennaro, Naples, where they saw the 5th century image of a woman named Cerula, showing her surrounded by open, flaming Gospel books, which some think are symbolic of the role of a bishop (though some historians - naturally - dispute this). Either way the discovery is both fascinating and important and sheds new light on the roll of women in the early Christian church.
Curiously, the word cerula in Latin means "small piece of wax" or possibly "candlestick" or even "red crayon."* It seems that the Romans would "strike out exceptionable passages in books"* or make critical remarks* using small red wax crayons (cerula miniata), so we can at least take a guess at the symbolic meaning behind this Cerula's name.
Cerula has never ranked in the official stats for England and Wales (which needs to have 2 babies or more of the same gender to qualify).
Doron
And it's not just serious historical documentaries I like. I've very much enjoyed Charlie Brooker's BBC mocumentary series Cunk on Britain, the most interesting name from which was that of computing historian and engineer, Doron Swade.
Warning for language on video.
Like Dorothy, Dorothea, Theodore and Theodora, Doron comes from the Greek word δωρον (doron) meaning "gift". And, while I love Theodore, Dorothea and the like for their elegance and grandeur, I think I love Doron's swift and strong simplicity that still retains its ancient allure.
Since 1996, Doron has only ranked once in the official stats for England and Wales (2+ boys) when, in 2009, it ranked #4527 with three births.
Eldra
You may have noticed that the last set of Birth Announcements featured a little girl named Eldra Aur Dafydd. Her birth announcement is below:
Aur (pronounced EYE'R to rhyme with 'tyre') is the Welsh word for "gold" but Eldra intrigued me as it's a name I'd not come across before — at least not in Wales! A quick foray on the internet lead me to information about Eldra Jarman (1917-2000) who was a Welsh harpist from a Welsh Romany family. A Welsh-language film Eldra, based on her life, was released in 2003 and won several awards.
From 1838 to 1980, the name was used only 14 times as a first name in England and Wales, most in the late 19th century.
Eldra has never ranked in the official stats for England and Wales (2+ girls).
Elmerice
Another name which caught my eye in an April birth announcement was featured in the BA of little Sidonie Zita Elizabeth whose mother's name is Elmerice. Turns out that mum is actually Countess Elmerice Karoline Sidonie Elisasbeth von Habsburg-Lothringen. I can, however, find little on the name Elmerice, other than it was the name of the heroine of German romance novel St Roche (1839) by Henriette von Paalzow. I have once come across Almerice in use in the Middle Ages, so I'm going on this as a variant. My investigations continue.
Elmerice has never ranked in the official stats for England and Wales (2+ girls) in any year.
Enissa
I've recently come across Iranian-German comedienne Enissa Amani.
Though I can't find anything definitive, Enissa appears to be an Iranian form of (or at least, inspired by) the Arabic name Anisa, the feminine form of Anis which means "friendly" or "friend." The Turkish form is Enise, while the Bosnian is Enisa.
Enissa has never ranked in the official stats for England and Wales (2+ girls) in any year. However, Enisa has ranked three times since 1996 (3 babies in 1999, 2006 and 2015) and Anisa has consistently been in use, falling steadily from #296 (125 births) in 1996 to #703 (58 births) in 2016.
