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Candles, torches, fairy lights and lamps are a key feature at this time of year. Not only prominent in the Christmas traditions of Advent and the Christingle, but also the Hindu festival of Diwali in October/November, and the Jewish festival of Hanukkah in December -- both also know as The Festival of Lights. The candles or lamps are used to illuminate the house from within and without so that they can be seen in the dark by passersby.
Light has been a key theme of winter solstices for millennia. It was at the winter solstice that people celebrated the return of light: that is, the days beginning to become longer again. The Romans lit candles to decorate their houses during the festival of Saturnalia; the Norsemen lit bonfires whilst celebrating and telling stories, and the Celts lit Yule logs to conquer darkness and bring good luck for the following year. By the Middle Ages, the Yule log had become a large Yule candle. It became adopted by Christians as a symbol for Christ, "the light of the world", and such candles were used in many Christmas Eve church services.
In the late 18th century, Yule candles were also used in the home. Tradition in Scotland and Northern England held it that candles should be gifted, and not bought. Merchants began to give loyal customers a large candle at Christmas in thanks for their custom. Yule candles were generally placed on the table where Christmas dinner was to be eaten, and lit on Christmas Eve just as the sun went down -- to light it before was considered to be unlucky. The candles were supposed to be left to burn through the night until dawn.
In Germany, from the 18th century at least, trees were brought into the home and decorated with small candles. One story tells of Martin Luther setting up such a tree with candles to recreate the stars in the night sky for his children.
The Ancient Greek term for light was φῶς (phos), from which came Photios / Fotios, Photine / Fotini, Phaon and Phosphoros "light-bringer", the name of a Greek god and personification of Venus, the morning star. Phoebus (from φοιβος (phoibos) "bright" ) was an alternate name and epithet given to Apollo, god of the sun. The feminine form is the more familiar Phoebe, which was also borne by several characters in mythology.
The Greeks also gave us the name Helene, related to ‘ελενη (helene) "torch," which over the centuries has produced a multitude of offshoots, including Ellen, Elaine, Elena, Eleni, Elin, Helena, Ilona and Lena.
The Latin word for light is Lux, which has been used as both a masculine and feminine name, and from which the Roman name Lucius derives. Lucianus, Lucian, Lucio, Luciano, Lucjan, Luken, are all masculine derivatives, while Lucia, Lucilla, Lucille, Lucinda, Luciana, Lucasta "pure light", Lucienne and Lucy are feminine variations.
St Lucy's Day or the Feast of Santa Lucia is celebrated widely in Scandinavian countries on December 13th (originally the time of the winter solstice in the Julian calendar) whereupon a girl selected to portray Lucia, traditionally portrayed by the eldest daughter in the family, wears a white gown and a crown of candles.
Lumen is another related Latin term from which the rare names Lumia and Lumina derive.
Latin also gives us the name Lucifer from lux "light" and ferre "to bring", cognate with the Greek Phosphoros (see above) and used as the Latin name for the morning star, Venus. It only later became attributed to the archangel who was expelled from heaven. Lucifera is found as an epithet for the goddesses Diana and Hecate, which Edmund Spencer later used as a name for a daughter of Pluto in his epic poem The Faerie Queene.
The Spanish Luz, used as a feminine name in Spain, is taken from the title "Our Lady of Light" for the Virgin Mary. Mariluz is sometimes found as a composite name.
There are several names in Hebrew that have a "light" meaning. A close translation is אור (or) which is found in several names such as Avior, Elior, Eliora, Lior, Liora, Maor, Meyer/Meir, Meira, Or, Ora, Orel, Ori, Orit and Orli. Closely related is אוּר (ur) "fire, light, flame" in Uri, Uriel and Uriela. There is also נֵרִי (neri) "lamp, candle" found in Abner, Neri, Neriah, and זוהר (zohar) "radiance, glow, brilliance" in Zohar, Zohara and Zoharit.
The Arabic word is نور (nur) "light," transliterated as both Nur and Noor for both boys and girls, with Nura as a feminisation. Arabic also gives us a host of delightful Z names. Zahra, زهراء (zahra) "bright, brilliant", Zaahir and Zaahira from زهر (zahara) "to shine, to radiate" and Ziya from ضياء (diya) "shine, glow."
The Old Germanic element beraht meaning "bright" has been used in many many compound names over the centuries including Albert, Bertha, Bertram, Egbert, Ethelbert, Gilbert, Herbert, Hubert, Norbert, Robert and Rupert.
From India, the Sanskrit दीप dipa means "lamp, light" giving the names Dipa, Amandeep, Amardeep, Gurdeep, Hardeep, Kuldeep, Mandeep, Navdeep and Sukhdeep.
In Britain, the surname Blaise derives from the Old English blæse "a torch, flame, firebrand, lamp, even though it also has a separate Latin origin.
