They top our Christmas trees and, next to the main role of Mary, the role most little girls covert the most in their school Nativity is that of an angel.
The role of angels at Christmas is well established thanks to the prominent role they play in the Nativity as the messengers of God. It is an angel that first tells Mary she is expecting; an angel that reassures Joseph in a dream about marrying Mary, and tells Zechariah of the birth of his son, John. It is an angel that appears to the shepherds to guide tell them of the birth, and, later, an angel warns Joseph to flee Bethlehem.
The word angel derives from the Greek ἄγγελος (angelos) "messenger" via the Latin angelus. Around the world, Angel is used as a name for both boys and girls. In the Spanish speaking world, it more commonly used for boys and pronounced ON-chell (like the 'ch' in loch).
Many names derive from angelus, including Angela, Angelos, Angeline, Angelina, Angelino, Angelica, Angelien, Angeliki, Angelique, Angelita, Aniela, Anxo and Anzhela. The Ancient Greeks used the element in many names, such as: Angelis, Agathangelos, Angelippos, Aristangelos, Evangelos, Theangelos, Pythangelos and Chrysangelos. Evangeline, popularised by the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, means "good message."
To the Greeks, Hermes, the messenger-god, with winged sandals and helmet, was also known by the names Angelos Athanaton "Messenger of the Immortals" and Angelos Makarôn "Messenger of the Blessed Ones." Hermione is a feminine derivative of his name, while Mercury was the Roman cognate.
The Hebrew name Malachi is translated as "my messenger", "my angel" or sometimes "angel-like." Appropriately, Malachi was the name of a biblical prophet who foretold the coming of Christ. The Arabic word for "angel" is the related ملاك (malak). Malak is used as both a feminine and masculine name, while the plural Malaika "angels" is used for girls.
For other "messenger" names, we can look to the Arabic Rasul for boys, and for girls the Slavic Vesna, Anahera in Maori and Airi (EYE-ree) or Aira (EYE-ra) in Finnish.
Both the Jewish and Christian faith have a hierarchy of different classes of angels. Both include the classes Cherubim, Ophanim and Seraphim. From the latter, the names Seraphina, Seraphino, Séraphine, Séraphin, Serafina, Serafino, Serafima and Serafim derive.
More angel inspired names with tomorrow's theme. Stay tuned!
