Name of the Week: Remy

Origin:

Remy is the Anglicised spelling of the French name Rémy: a form of the Roman name Remigius, derived from the Latin remex "rower."

Usage:

Saint Remigius of Reims (known as Saint Rémy in French) was 5th century bishop who famously baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks which led to the conversion of the entire Frankish people to Christianity. Another Frankish saint followed in the 8th century, this one the third archbishop of Rouen, as well as several other notable French noblemen throughout the early Middle Ages. This explains why there are several examples of Remigius in the Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources though not such a large number as to suggest that it was overly popular.  By the 14th century, the Old French form Rémi can be found in records, with Rémy used in the 15th century.  Remigius came over to Britain with the Norman Conquest. Remigius de Fécamp was a contemporary of William the Conqueror and was present at the Battle of Hastings. He was given the Bishopric of Dorchester in 1067 which was the largest diocese in England at the time and was responsible for the building of Lincoln Cathedral.  There are a handful of examples of Remigius in use in Britain, but on the whole it was rare.  Rémy became an established name in France from the 15th century. The older spelling Rémi was used by Hector Malot for the protagonist of his 1878 novel Sans Famille. The  By 1900, Rémy ranked #113 and reached the top 100 in 1912. It stayed in the bottom half of the top 100 (peaking at #60 in 1947) until 1970 and then returned again in 1980. It reached a second peak at #60 in 1990 after which it began to fall, leaving the top 100 in 2002 and the French top 500 in 2014.  The spelling Rémi ranked at #150 in 1900 in France and entered the top 100 in 1922. It stayed between #70-#100 from 1922 to 1969, dipped slightly below in the 1970s, but returned to the top 100 in 1977 when it quickly began to rise, reaching a peak of #31 in 1991. There was a notable rise in 1982,(when it jumped from #76 to #54) perhaps inspired by a 6-part TV adaptation of Sans Famille in 1981.  Rémi remained in the top 100 until 2009. In 2017, it ranked #386 in France.  In Britain, Remy and Remi were used in very small numbers from the 18th century, though Remington, and even Remigius were more common. We can only guess whether some of the boys named Remington or Remigius went by Remy as a short form.  By the 1980s, Remy became slightly more common, by which time it was also used for girls. Indeed, by 1996, Remy ranked #562 (44 births) and Remi ranked #484 (57 births) for girls, while, for boys, Remy ranked #898 (16 births) and Remi ranked #654 (24 births) in England and Wales. For girls, the name began to decline afterwards, with both spellings ranking below the top 1000 by 2001. Since 2012, however, Remi has seen a more determined rise, reaching the top 500 again in 2016.  For boys, Remy has seen a steep rise since 2010, overtaking its feminine counterparts. Remi, too, has seen a sharp rise since 2015.  click to enlarge Regional data from 2017 shows that Remy (which ranked #326 overall) is most common in the south of England and least popular in London and Wales: N. East N. West Yorkshire E. Midlands W. Midlands East London S. East S. West Wales #359  #414  #376  #286  #297  #279  #453  #214  #235  -- In Scotland, Remy was rare for both boys and girls until the turn of the 21st century. It has seen a rise for both boys and girls, but neither have ever ranked in the Scottish top 300.  Remi, on the other hand, was initially more common in Scotland. It has remained in consistent use for boys but has seen a steep rise for girls since 2014.  In 2018 in Scotland, Remi ranked #167 (27 births), Remy ranked #361 (9 births), Remy ranked #583 (5 births) and Remi ranked #704 (3 births)

Famous Bearers:

History: * Saint Remigius of Reims (died 533), bishop who converted Clovis I, king of the Franks. * Saint Remigius of Rouen (755–771), archbishop of Rouen and illegitimate son of Charles Martel. * Remigius of Lyon (died 875), archbishop of Lyon. * Remigius "Remi" of Auxerre (died 908), theologian and teacher. * Remigius de Fécamp (died 1092), bishop of Lincoln. * Rémy Belleau (1528–1577), French renaissance poet. * Rémy Ceillier (1688–1761), French Benedictine monk and historian. * Rémy Jacques (1817–1905), French lawyer and politician. * Remy de Gourmont (1858–1915), French writer. Contemporary: * Remy Charlip (1929-2012), American children's book author and illustrator. * Rémy Belvaux (1966-2006), Belgian actor. * Rémy Di Gregorio (born 1985), French professional cyclist. * Rémy Cabella (born 1990), French footballer. Literature and Other Media: * Rémi, the main character in Sans Famille (1878), a French novel by Hector Malot. * Rémy Legaludec, a character in the novel The Da Vinci Code (2003). * Remy, the main character in Ratatouille (2007). * Detective Lieutenant Remy McSwain, the main character in the film The Big Easy (1986).

Variants:

Remigius (Roman), Remigio (Italian, Spanish), Remigiusz (Polish)

Pronunciation:

REM-ee [key]

Possible longer forms:

Remigius, Remington, Remiel, Remus, Raymond, Jeremiah, Jeremy, Redmond, Rembrandt

Sibling Names:

April     Nina     Lois     Nora     Etta     Louisa Guy     Hugh     Otto     Kit     Fabian     Barney

Name Lists:

N/A

 

If you like Remy you may also like:   Rudy, Blaise, Emery, Otis, Vincent, Thayer, Noel, Oren, Xavier, Noam

Thanks to Nicole for requesting this name.