Summer is here! And Britain is in the crux of a heatwave and World Cup fever. So, in between enjoying a bit of sunshine, here are some names that have peaked my interest this month.
Aroha
New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has given birth to a baby girl whom she and partner Clarke Gayford have named Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford.
The first name Neve is a conscious anglicised spelling for "simplicity" of the Irish Niamh ("bright, radiant") with Ardern saying they chose this to avoid the spelling mistakes 'Clarke with an e and Jacinda with a d' had gone through. (Though apparently this has already been slightly in vain, as media outlets were spelling the baby's name Niamh before the spelling was confirmed.)*
Mum has been quoted saying ""When we met her we thought she looked like she suited the name [Neve]. Also it means, in various forms, bright and radiant and snow, which seemed like a good combination for Matariki (Maori new year) and for solstice."
Neve's middle name, Te Aroha, is the name of a New Zealand town which takes its name from Mount Te Aroha. It's name is Maori for "The Love" and has many layers of significance for the couple. Ardern has been quoted saying:
"“Te Aroha was our way of reflecting the amount of love that this baby has been shown before she even arrived. I thought, how do we reflect all of the generosity, particularly of all the Iwi [Māori tribes] who gifted us names? And Te Aroha seemed to be a way to show that love and generosity. It is also the place where all my family is from, and I grew up under that mountain.”
Aroha itself is the Maori for "love" and is used in New Zealand as a given name. Aroha Newby is a NZ model and Aroha Harawira and Aroha Hathaway are TV and radio presenters. The A-a pattern is highly fashionable at the moment, especially with Amelia in the top spot. Ava, Aria, Anna, Aisha, Arabella, Aurora, Alexandra, Anaya, Ariana, Ayla, Amaya, Ada, Alexa, Alana, Arya, Anastasia, Alisha, Aliza, Amira, Aleena and Alyssa are all in the top 200 of England and Wales.
Aroha is currently rare here, but it was given to 3 babies in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Lena
Another Royal baby arrived this month. Zara Tindall, daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, and her husband Mike Tindall have welcomed their second daughter to join big sister Mia. After a lengthy wait, the name was announced recently as Lena Elizabeth Tindall.
Lena is 19th in line to the throne and the Queen's seventh great-grandchild.
The middle name Elizabeth is a clear nod to the Queen, but is also a middle name of grandmother, Princess Anne and mum Zara herself. Of the name Lena, a spokeswoman for the couple has said "it was just a name they liked."
Lena is a pan-European short form of names ending in -lina/lena such as Helena or Magdalena and has traditional use in Russia, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia and many Slavic counties. Its heyday in Britain was in the late-19th century when it ranked #136 in 1880, #119 in 1890 and #118 in 1900. In America, however, it was even more popular (likely because of immigration from across Europe, particularly Germany, Russia and Slavic countries) ranking in the US top 100 from 1880 to 1920.
In the last two decades, Lena has had a huge rise in usage in popularity in England and Wales. From ranking #823 (27 births) in 1996, it rose to #461 (84 births) by 2006 and then had a steep upward curve from 2008 onwards. It peaked in 2013 at #128 with 427 births and was #138 with 407 births in 2016.
Having been used across Europe, the pronunciation is a bit of an issue. Some countries opt for LEE-na and others for LAY-na or LEH-na. As it was never especially popular here historically, there is no set consensus.
Mike Tindall has confirmed that the couple are pronouncing the name LAY-na. News broadcasters no doubt will continue to confuse the issue. They still pronounce Princess Eugenie's name anything from you-JEE-nee to you-ZHAY-nee, even though she herself has publicly said its YOU-jen-ee.
Coincidentally, the news of Lena Tindall's name came not long after the DMNES announcement of the publication of their latest addition -- and it includes Lena! According to the new entry, Lena is "a hypocoristic of any name ending in -line or -lina, such as Adeline, Emmeline, or Leceline (cf. Lettice)." and they have a Latinised entry of Lenota from the Suffolk Poll Tax in 1381. A Dictionary of English Surnames also has records of Lina, and Linet and Linota from the 12th and 13th century.
The -ota was a Latinised form of dimutive suffix -ot (found in Emmot, Amelot, Anot, Belot, Gunnot, Gillot, Mallot, Mabot and many many more names) and was usually attached to a shortened form e.g. Mary > Mal > Malot / Isabel > Ebb > Ebbot.
Theodram
The new publication of DMNES's latest addition also includes many other fascinating additions, including the gem Theodram.
At first, my mind was emphasising the -dram part, but when I thought of it as a cross between Theodore and Bertram, my tongue found it settled on the much softer THEE-o-drum pronunciation.
Just like Bertram, Theodram's second element derives from the Old High German (h)ram "raven". The first is from Old High German þeud “people.”
Cassia
Cassia is another addition to the DMNES new edition. It is far from a new name to me -- though it was never common, it was in use as a feminine form of the Roman Cassius and is also the Latin name for cinnamon -- but the detail added to the entry is fascinating. The DMNES has found an example of a Cassya from Florence in 1366 as the name of a Tatar slave.
I can't help wondering what this Cassya's life was like, and all the places she had seen.
Cassia itself has a stylish edge to it but is uncommon enough to be a un. However, even though it has ranked in every year since 1996 in England and Wales, it has rarely ranked above the top 1000. It's peak was at #761 (33 births) in 2002 and as of 2016, ranks at #1278 with 26 births.
Kyffin
To celebrate his centenary year, this month, the BBC aired their documentary Kyffin Williams: The Man Who Painted Wales on the life of Welsh artist Kyffin Williams.
Kyffin was born John Kyffin Williams in Anglesey in 1918. Kyffin was his grandmother's maiden name which he later adopted as his professional name.
Pronounced KUFF-in (y in Welsh makes an 'u' sound), Kyffin is a Welsh surname which derives from various places in Wales with the name Cyffin or Gyffin which derive from the Old Welsh word cyffin "border, boundary."
Kyffin has not ranked in the official data of England and Wales from 1996 meaning that it not been given to 3 or more children in any given year. This does not mean that it has not been used in small numbers, however. Kyffin has been used as a first name in small numbers since at least 1839 in Wales.
