British Baby Names

Name of the Week: Cariad

Origin:

Cariad is a Welsh vocabulary name. The Welsh noun cariad translates as "love, charity, affection" but is also used as an affectionate term of endearment meaning "beloved, sweetheart, darling".

Usage:

The first transcribed record for in the England and Wales Birth Index was registered for a Cariad Johnson in 1890. Interestingly, the birth was registered in Dorset, not Wales, but little Cariad Johnson was the third born of English-born Music Hall Showman, Samuel Johnson, and Welsh-born Agnes. She and her siblings were part of a family brass band known as the Bramusas:  "Active from 1904 to 1921, performing at various venues around the country. An "all-British family of juvenile musicians". The original Bramusa Family Band consisted of the father, mother, four eldest daughters and two sons - four cornets, horn, euphonium, tuba and percussion. They were billed as the "Seven Bramusas" from 1906 with the children (including the youngest, fifth, daughter) as performers. Performed their extravaganza "Music Afloat" in Sheffield in 1908. The youngest daughter, the drummer, was ten years old in 1909. The family consisted of Samuel Frank Johnson (b. 1861), his wife Agnes Ann (b. 1863), and children Gertrude Esther (b. 1887), Theodore Ystwith (b. 1889), Cariad (b. 1890), Elsie Deborah (b. 1892), Marnesuel “Nessie” (b. 1894), Thomas Charles (b. 1897), Clara Agnes (b. 1898), and Douglas Berkeley (b. 1900) and Annie Miriam "Mimi" (b. 1906)."* But Miss Johnson was a rarity (much like her sister Marnesuel!). The next Cariad—Cariad Isabella Greenway—was not born until 1906 in Yorkshire.  Between this period, however, there are a handful of registrations in Wales for the name Cariadwen. which appears to have been occasionally used in literature as a variant spelling for the mythological Welsh goddess Ceridwen.*   Birth records for Cariad in the England and Wales Birth Index: 1840s: 1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: 1980s: 0 births 0 births 0 births 0 births 0 births 1 birth 1 birth 1 birth 1 birth 1 birth 0 births 3 births 1 birth 13 births 32 births Cariad wasn't consistently used until the 1970s, and it still remained uncommon.  In 1996, Cariad ranked #2683 with 5 births in England and Wales. It grew in use after this but has never broken into the top 1000. To date, it peaked at #1416 with 23 births in 2016.  In 2018, Cariad ranked #1977 with 14 births.  This, of course, is partly because the stats for England and Wales have been combined together. A different picture emerges when we look at Wales alone: 2010: 2011: 2012: 2013: 2014: 2015: 2016: 2017: #477 (4 births) #338 (7 births) #242 (11 births) -- No data-- #326 (7 births) #514 (4 births) #169 (17 births) #277 (9 births)

Famous Bearers:

Contemporary: * Cariad Lloyd (born 1982), a British comedian, actress, writer, and podcaster. Other: * Cariad Cywir, a Welsh folk song that focuses on somebody experiencing unrequited love. * Cariad Lake, a small lake in northeastern Ontario, Canada.

Variants:

Cariadad, Cariadwen

Pronunciation:

KA-ree-ad [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Cari, Cadi, Caro, Adi

Sibling Names:

Mabli     Gwenno     Celyn     Anwen     Betsan     Eleri  Griff     Sonny     Emrys     Idris     Bodhi      Chester

Name Lists:

No Frills Feminine: Dauntless -'d/t' Endings

 

If you like Cariad you may also like:   Kerensa, Mared, Awen, Carys, Eseld, Cadi, Alaw, Elliw, Amoret, Astrid

Thanks to Elisha for requesting this name.

Name of the Week: Rhiannon

Origin:

Rhiannon is an Old Welsh name, derived from the Proto-Celtic route *r-gan "great queen" and was famously borne in Welsh mythology by one of the key female figures in the Mabinogion. In the Welsh prose, Rhiannon is portrayed as a strong-willed, intelligent, generous and beautiful woman who comes from the Otherworld. The name Rhiannon is thought to be the later Welsh form of the reconstructed Brythonic Celtic name Rigantona, thought to have been an earlier Celtic goddess. The meaning of her name suggests that (like Maeve and Guinevere) Rhiannon was once a sovereignty goddess. Rhiannon was also notably connected with horses. When she is introduced in the First Branch of the Mabinogi, Rhiannon is first seen riding a beautiful white horse. Pwyll, the Prince of Dyfed, sends his best horsemen after her two days, but she always stays ahead of them, even though her horse never goes faster than a trot. Eventually, Pwyll himself goes after her. He, too, cannot catch up with her, and eventually entreats her to stop. When she does so, she chastises him for no doing so earlier, explaining that she arrived in the first place as she had decided to marry him rather than her current betrothed (this supports the ideas of her as a sovereignty goddess who confers leadership through marriage). Pwyll and Rhiannon's son, the hero Pryderi, not only grows at a super-human rate but also shows a remarkable affinity with horses, like his mother.  Some scholars equate Rhiannon, therefore, with the Gaulish horse-goddess Epona (whose name literally meant "horse"). It is interesting to note that Regina (Latin meaning "queen") is often found as an epithet of Epona's.*

Usage:

Like several other mythological Welsh names, Rhiannon was not used as a proper given name until the late 19th century when many Old Welsh names were revived. This was partly thanks to the Victorian love of medievalism and also a rise in Welsh nationalism.  It was very rare in use, and only confined to Wales, but started to see the beginnings of solid use in the early 1900s and boomed in the 1920s.  Birth records for Rhiannon in the England and Wales Birth Index: 1840s: 1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: 0 births 0 births 1 birth 0 births 0 births 1 birth 11 births 19 births 93 births 140 births 197 births 230 births 403 births 961 births Even up to the late 1960s, Rhiannon was mostly confined solely to Wales, and those in England often had at least one parent with a Welsh surname. The boost in the 1970s⁠—and Rhiannon's wider use outside of Wales thereafter⁠—can be traced to Fleetwood Mac's 1976 song Rhiannon. Writer Stevie Nicks took the name from a character called Rhiannon in Mary Leader's 1973 novel Triad. According to Nicks, it wasn't until after she had written the song that she found out about the mythological Rhiannon and was struck by how well the song fit her story.   Rhiannon first entered the top 100 of England and Wales at #91 in 1994. Although there is no official data to prove it, it is likely that Rhiannon ranked in the top 100 of Wales alone prior to this. For example, in 1997, (according to official data from the ONS) Rhiannon ranked #36 in Wales alone with 88 births, while it was #94 in England. In 1983, however, there were approximately 120 girls born in Wales with the name Rhiannon, and there were around 100 in 1979 (according to the Birth Index) Though Rhiannon was likely popular in Wales much earlier, the early 1990s are distinguishable because popular Welsh names such as Megan, Sian, Bethan and Rhiannon all moved into the top 100 in England, also.  The table below shows the rankings for Rhiannon in England and Wales, Wales (alone) and England (alone). A * indicates that no data is available for that year:   E&W Wales England 1994: 1995: 1996: 1997: 1998: 1999: 2000: 2001: 2002: 2003: 2004: 2005: 2006: 2007: 2008: 2009: 2010: 2011: 2012: 2013: 2014: 2015: 2016: 2017: #91 * #84 #86 #83 #91 #97 #113 #121 #113 #164 #167 #188 #215 #295 #363 #438 #692 #844 #944 #1094 #1088 #1327 #1457 * * * #36 #32 #31 #46 #55 #46 #52  #97 #74 #96 #82 #95 * #101 #208 #242 * #301 #306 #423 #358 * * * #94 #88  #97 #99 #122 #132 #125 #167 #182 #194 #238 #341 * * * * * * * * * As we can see, Rhiannon ranked in the top 100 of Wales up until 2009, seeing a sharp decline in 2011. Currently, Rhiannon remains far more common in Wales than England.  In 2018, Rhiannon ranked #1170 with 29 births in England and Wales.

Famous Bearers:

Contemporary: * Rhiannon Giddens (born 1977), American musician. * Rhiannon Lassiter (born 1977), British writer. * Rhiannon Jeffrey (born 1986), American swimmer. * Rhiannon Roberts (born 1990), Welsh footballer. Literature and Other Media: * Rhiannon, a 1975 Fleetwood Mac song. * The Song of Rhiannon, a 1972 fantasy novel by Evangeline Walton. * The Sword of Rhiannon, a 1942 science fiction novel by Leigh Brackett. * Rhiannon's Ride, a 2004–06 series of novels written by Kate Forsyth. * Rhiannon Marcus, a character on TV's "Party of Five". * Rhiannon Abernathy, a character in film "Easy A". * Rhiannon Bates, a character on Australian soap "Neighbours". Other: 16912 Rhiannon, an asteroid discovered in 1998.

Variants:

Rhianon, Riannon

Pronunciation:

rhee-AN-non (Welsh), ree-AN-nən (English) [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Rhi/Ree, Annie, Ronnie, Non

Sibling Names:

Eleri     Catrin     Bethan     Tamsin     Lowri     Carys  Owen     Lloyd      Emrys     Ioan     Osian     Griffith

Name Lists:

Cosy Celtic    Demi-Gods and Mortals of Mythology

 

If you like Rhiannon you may also like:   Gwenan, Angharad, Branwen, Demelza, Fenella, Olwen, Arianwen, Briallen, Betsan, Aneira

Thanks to Rhiannon for requesting this name.

Name of the Week: Sholto

Origin:

Sholto is an anglicised form of a Scottish name, specifically adopted by Clan Douglas from the name of their legendary ancestor. The Douglas Clan were one of the most powerful families in medieval Scotland.  The name looks very likely to be derived from the Scots Gaelic sìoltaich "sower," "begetter", "propagator" itself derived from sìolaich "to seed, to beget, propagate, be fruitful, spring from."* Clan genealogists—specifically David Hume of Godscroft (1558–1629)—identified the founder of the Douglas clan as Sholto Dhu Glas (Sìoltaich Dhu Glas) c.770, and the Douglas family adopted the name as a given name in the 18th century.  Writing in 1863, Charlotte Mary Yonge wrote of Sholto: "the heralds and genealogists of the gallant lineage of the bleeding heart made out an ancestor, Sholto Dhu Glas ('see the dark grey man'), and thence Sholto was adapted as a name in the Douglas family, and crept from thence to others. I have found no instance of it before the seventeenth century in looking through the peerage of Scotland, and the probable derivation of the word would be sioltaich, a sower." C.M.Yonge echoes here the tale told by David Hume in his History of the House and Race of Douglas and Angus (1644). His work starts with a mythical battle "in 767, between King Solvathius rightful king of Scotland and a pretender Donald Bane. The victory was so nearly Donald's when a certain noble man, disdaining to see so bad a cause have good successe, struck in for the king and turned the fortunes of the day. When the king inquired about the knight who had done such valuable service, somebody exclaimed 'Sholto du glasse!'...'Behold the black gray man!'."* (Douglas derives from the Gaelic dubh "dark, back" and glas "green, water, stream, river.") Hume is widely regarded today as an inaccurate historian and more of a "partisan panegyricist of the Douglas family." The first record of the name Douglas appears in a charter in 1174 belonging to William of Douglas (d.c.1214). He, historians believe, was most likely the true ancestor of the clan while Sholto Dhu Glas is regarded as an example of pseudohistory.  It seems worth noting that while sìoltaich means "sower," it also means "propagator". While⁠—we can hypothesise⁠— the 'created' name Sìoltaich Dhu Glas could translate as "sower by the black water" (Dhu Glas = Black Water = a river in Scotland), perhaps early Douglas genealogists, desperate to deliver an ancestor to their patrons, simply coined the name Sìoltaich Dhu Glas to mean "progenitor of Douglas."

Usage:

The People of Medieval Scotland database has no record of Sìoltaich, Sìoltach or Sholto in use as a name. Given that the legendary Sìoltaich Dhu Glas was mythical (see above), this does not seem surprising.  The first person to bear the name appears to be Sholto Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton (1732–1774). The title Earl of Morton was created in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith, one of the many strands of the noble Douglas family. From this point, Sholto was adopted by many in the Douglas Clan; when not used as a first name, it was often used as a middle. The website The Peerage is littered with examples of Douglas descendants bearing the name right up to present day.   Births records for Sholto as a first name: Click to enlarge   Scotland England and Wales   First name Middle name First name Middle name 1840s: 1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: --- --- 1 birth 4 births 9 births 1 birth 6 births 2 births 1 birth 0 births 1 birth 1 birth 4 births 7 births --- --- 2 births 5 births 9 births 6 births 3 births 5 births 7 births 1 birth 5 births 1 birth 1 birth 6 births 2 births 6 birth 12 births 29 births 16 births 22 births 8 births 8 births 7 births 4 births 4 births 3 births 16 births 24 births 3 births 4 birth 5 births 16 births 30 births 27 births 13 births 2 births N/A* N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A *In the mid-1910s, all middle names were recorded as initials in the Birth Index. Due to it being an aristocratic name, Sholto had much more use in England than its native Scotland, mostly because even the Scottish peers by the 19th century had English country homes and London townhouses. Data from the 1881 census (see image, above right) shows that it was most common in the south of England, especially in London, but was also used in lowland Scotland where the Douglas family heralded from.  In recent years, Sholto has been in rare-uncommon usage. In Scotland, it peaked at #490 with 3 births in 2004.  In England and Wales it peaked at #1962 with 7 births in 2003.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Sholto Douglas, 15th Earl of Morton (1732–1774), Scottish nobleman and peer. * Sholto Percy, pseudonym of Joseph Clinton Robertson (1787–1852), Scottish patent agent, writer and periodical editor. * Sholto Douglas, (b. 1833) Admiral in the Royal Navy. * Sholto Douglas, 19th Earl of Morton (1844–1935), Scottish landowner, businessman and representative peer. * Sholto Johnstone Douglas (1871–1958), Scottish artist. * Sholto Douglas (1873–1916), English cricketer. * Sholto Marcon (1890–1959), Church of England clergyman and international field hockey player. * Sholto Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Kirtleside (1893–1969), Marshal of the Royal Air Force. Contemporary: * Sholto Kynoch, English pianist. * Sholto Taylor (born 1972), New Zeland wheelchair rugby player, and a member of the national team, the Wheel Blacks. Literature and Other Media: * Sholto Pinn, a character in The Bartimaeus Sequence by Jonathan Stroud. * Sholto Lennox, baby in the 2004 BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North & South. * Thaddeus and Bartholomew Sholto, characters in Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of the Four.

Variants:

Sìoltaich (Scots Gaelic)

Pronunciation:

SHOL-tō [key]

Possible diminutives:

Holt, Sol, Solly, Solo, Tolly, Olly

Sibling Names:

Kinvara     Perdita     Heloise     Portia     Christabel     Arabella Torquil     Ranulph     Piers     Ewart     Jolyon     Montgomery

Name Lists:

Upright Elegance

 

If you like Sholto you may also like:   Cosmo, Sorley, Algernon, Cedric, Ivo, Tarquin, Otto, Montague, Caspain, Elgin

Thanks to Paula for requesting this name.  

 

Name of the Week: Iona

Origin:

Iona is the name of a picturesque Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides. The island is most famous for its Abbey, which was founded by Saint Columba in 563, and was the focal point for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland. One of the oldest Christian religious centres in Western Europe, Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaelic monasticism for three centuries. Iona is also known for its sandy beaches and wildlife -- including whales, dolphins, seals, otters and vast array of birdlife. The name Iona is the anglicised form of Ioua, the adjectival name for the island found in Adomnán's Vita Columbae (c. 700). The u was misread as n (attest as early as 1274) and the form Iona became standard. William J. Watson argues that this error likely "gained currency from the remark of Adamnan on Columba's name, which he says is in Hebrew Iona (Jonah), a dove."* The nominative form of the island's name was Eo (later Ì, Hi and Ia in Gaelic), which corresponds to the Old Irish eo "yew". Adomnán may have derived his adjectival for Ioua from the Gaulish Ivova meaning "yew-place."  The yew tree was held sacred by the Druids who observed how yews were able to form new trunks when branches of the old tree touched the ground. Thus, the yew tree came to symbolise resurrection in Celtic culture.  The fact that Iona's name means "yew-place" demonstrates that it was considered to be a sacred place long before Scotland was Christianised.  Confusingly, the Gaelic form Ì (derived from Old Irish eo "yew") also came to be used as a Scottish Gaelic noun meaning"island" which is why you may sometimes find Iona's meaning listed as "island."  Other names for the island include Ì Chaluim Chille "Columba's Iona" and Ì nam ban bòidheach "the isle of beautiful women." In Wales, Iona is also used as a derivative of Ionawr, the Welsh name for January.

Usage:

There are a small number of Latin baptism records from the 16th century with the name Iona but this is almost certainly a Latinised form of Joan.*  Iona came into use in its own right at the beginning of the 19th century alongside other Scottish island names such as Isla and Ailsa. Births records for Iona:   Scotland England and Wales 1840s: 1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: --- --- 2 births 0 births 3 births 6 births 9 births 11 births 21 births 41 births 54 births 78 births 185 births 241 births 0 births 1 birth 4 births 8 births 20 births 29 births 45 births 48 births 136 births 152 births 242 births 216 births 425 births 302 births From the 1930s, Iona was most commonly used in Wales (94 births in Wales, 58 in England and 41 births in Scotland in the 1930s; 132 births in Wales, 110 in England and 54 in Scotland in the 1940s). This high use in Wales is most likely because it was used as a variant of Ionawr, the Welsh name for January. It is notable that the January-March quarter was when the highest number of Ionas were registered in Wales. Ionawr itself was also used occasionally as a given name, and always in the first annual quarter.  By the 1980s, Iona grew in use in Scotland, reaching the top 100 for the first time in 1994 at #81 (74 births). Iona has been in the Scottish top 100 ever since.  In 2018, Iona ranked #56 with 83 births.    Click to enlarge In England and Wales, Iona has been in moderate use since 1996, peaking at #199 with 210 births in 2000.   Click to enlarge In 2017, Iona ranked #394 with 113 births.  Regional data from 2017, however, shows that Iona is greatly varied in use. It is most common in the North East and Yorkshire and did not rank in the data for Wales at all: N. East N. West Yorkshire E. Midlands W. Midlands East London S. East S. West Wales #191  #446  #266  #377  #564  #680  #419  #491  #272  -- Iona ranked at joint 12th place in the Telegraph birth announcements in 2017.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Olivia Iona Louise Langdon (1845-1904), wife of American novelist Mark Twain. Contemporary: * Iona Campagnolo (b. 1932), the 27th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. * Iona Brown, OBE (1941-2004), British violinist and conductor. * Iona Wynter (b.1968), Jamaican cyclist. Literature and Other Media: * Iona, a character in film Pretty in Pink. * Iona MacLean, a character on TV series Monarch of the Glen. * Iona McNair, a character in Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis.

Variants:

Ivova

Pronunciation:

ī-Ō-nə (UK) EE-ō-na (Welsh) [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Nonie, Io

Sibling Names:

Orla     Thea     Niamh     Cora     Ada     Lena  Arthur     Rory     Angus     Blake    Fraser     Lyle

Name Lists:

Ripe Renovations

 

If you like Iona you may also like:   Ailsa, Isla, Cliona, Morven, Clova, Skye, Robyn, Bonnie, Flora, Olive

Thanks to Elizabeth for requesting this name.

Name of the Week: Winifred

Origin:

Winifred is the Anglicised form of the Old Welsh name Gwenfrewi via the Latinised form Wenefrida, a spelling which may have been influenced by the Old English name Winfrið (wine "friend" and frið "peace"). St Gwenfrewi (or more commonly, St. Winefride) was a 7th century Welsh virgin martyr, niece of St Beuno and abbess of Trefynnon & Gwytherin. According to legend, Gwenfrewi was the daughter of the chieftain of Tegeingl. When she decided to become a nun, her enraged suitor, Caradog, decapitated her , but she was brought back to life by her uncle, Saint Beuno. On the spot where her head fell sprung a healing spring which later became a shrine and pilgrimage site called St Winefride's Well in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales.  It is interesting to note the connection between shrines of early British saints and previous pagan Celtic shrines. It is very likely that St Winefride's Well was previously a sacred Celtic shrine and that Gwenfrewi herself was once a Celtic deity. As Kimberly Rachel Grunke points out, "sources of water were sacred to the pagan Celts. Offerings were often thrown into waters to become the property of the Celtic deities. [...] Lakes and rivers were thought of as places of healing. Almost every Irish, British, and Breton tradition has a holy well named after one or more of their saints. It’s clear that many of the holy wells existed well before the introduction of Christianity into the Celtic lands. Renaming these holy wells was a “monotheistic reinterpretation of the spirit that dwells within and guards the (often) healing waters.” These wells were usually natural springs that had buildings built over them for protection and into the Christian tradition, many of them were still believed to contain healing properties. Some wells reputedly sprang up when a saint was beheaded, such as the wells of St. Reina, St. Jutwara, St. Ludd, St. Noyala, and St. Gwenfrewi."* Gwenfrewi has traditionally been assumed to be from the Welsh gwyn "fair, white, blessed," and Old English frið "peace" (possibly thanks to confusion with the Old English name Winfrið). That a Welsh name would contain an Old English element is incredibly unlikely, so this definition has, in more recent times, popularly been bypassed, and instead you'll often find Gwenfrewi popularly derived from the Welsh gwyn and frewi "peace, reconciliation."  The major problem with this theory is that you'll be hard pushed to find frewi in a Welsh dictionary at all, let alone meaning "peace" (for that you need hedd or tanc). It seems that the old idea of the Saxon element  frið "peace" has just been erroneously reassigned as a Welsh element.  One Welsh word that does seem possible as a source is the Welsh ferwi, which derives from berwi "to bubble, to effervesce"* The move from ferwi to frewi could be an example of metathesis or simply scribal error. This word seems even more likely when we consider that St. Winefrede's Well in Holywell, Flintshire actually does bubble. Furthermore, the element berwi "to bubble, to effervesce" has precedence as a given name which we can see in the Celtic Bormanna, the goddess of spring waters and healing. She was the feminine equivalent to Bormo/Bormanus (Berw in Welsh) which itself is similar to the name of St. Winifrede's uncle, St. Beuno.  It is possible that gwyn could be an example of an epithet ("Blessed"), which eventually became attached to the name, giving Gwenfrewi the meaning of "Blessed Bormanna" or "blessed bubbling waters."  K.M. Sheard also points out the similarity of the name Gwenfrewi to Ffraid [an alternate name for the saint is Gwenffrwd], the Welsh form of Bridget. With gwyn "blessed" as an epithet, and -wy as a suffix (which was commonly attached to names associated with water), Sheard believes that Gwenfrewi may really represent "a survival of the cult of the great Brythonic Goddess Brigantia."* We do know that offerings were made to Brigantia (whose name means "the exalted/high one") in wells and springs across Europe* and several rivers were named after her.* St Winefrede's Well may have originally been one of these sites sacred to Brigantia.

Usage:

St Winifred's veneration dates at least to the 12th century, and was not uncommon in England. In 1138, her remains were brought to Shrewsbury Abbey, making it a major centre of pilgrimage. St. Winifred's Well in Holywell is also mentioned in the 14th century medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight showing how well known it was as a sacred site. It is difficult to tell how early Winifred's use dates from as records are scant, but it was certainly in moderate use in the 16th century in England and Wales. Variants retaining the G of Gwenfrewi can also be found in the forms Gwenffrid, Ginnifret, Gwyniffrid, Gweenyfrid and Guinifritha.  Winifred was not uncommon among the peerage: notable early bearers include Winifred Maxwell, Countess of Nithsdale (c.1680–1749), who arranged the daring escape of her husband from the Tower of London in 1716 following the Jacobite Battle of Preston, and Winifred, Lady Strickland (1645–1725) who was a courtier and governess to James, Prince of Wales (1688-1766).  Smith Bannister's rankings of top 50 names from forty English parishes in each decade from 1538 to 1700 has Winifred ranking twice: #39 in 1538-49 and #49 in 1620-29.  It wasn't until the 19th century, however, that Winifred really started to become a mainstream name, rising rapidly by the end of the century. The short form Winnie also rose in use over the century and rose to #183 by 1900.  Records for Winifred as a first name in the England and Wales Birth Index: 1840: 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900:  1904: 1914: 1924: 1934: 1944: 1954: 1964: 1974: 1984: 1994: #124 #121 #138 #91 #58 #36 #18 #12 #10 #19 #48 — — — — — — By 1996, Winifred was firmly below the top 1000. By 2010, however, it began to see a rise and reached #842 (45 births) by 2014. In 2017, Winifred ranked #785 with 50 births.  Regional data for 2016 shows that Winifred is most common in the South West (#395), followed by the South East (#529). In contrast, it did not rank at all in Wales, Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East.  Originally less common, by 2011, the short form Winnie became the more common form, ranking #814 (47 births) in 2014. Winnie saw a huge jump in 2017 when it almost doubled in use, moving from #666 (63 births) to #394 (113 births).

Famous Bearers:

History: * Winifred, Lady Strickland (1645–1725), Jacobite courtier. * Winifred Maxwell, Countess of Nithsdale (c.1680–1749), Jacobite courtier. * Winifred Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (1863–1954), British humanitarian and animal welfare activist. * Winifred Edgerton Merrill (1862–1951), the first American female to receive a PhD in mathematics. * Winifred Lewellin James (1876–1941), Australian writer. * Winifred Brunton (1880–1959), South African painter.  * Winifred Mary Letts (1882–1972), British writer. * Winifred Greenwood (1885-1961), American silent film actress. * Winifred Lawson (1892-1961), British opera and concert singer. * Winifred Lamb (1894-1963), British pioneering archaeologist. * Winifred Holtby (1898–1935), British novelist and journalist. * Winifred Spooner (1900–1933), British aviator of the 1920s and 1930s. * Winifred Copperwheat (1905–1976), British violist. * Winifred Atwell (1914–1983), Trinidadian pianist who enjoyed great popularity in Britain in the 1950s ragtime hits. Contemporary: * Winifred "Winnie" Mandela (born 1936), former wife of Nelson Mandela. Literature and Other Media: * Winifred Banks, a character from Mary Poppins. * Winifred "Winnie" Sanderson, a character from Hocus Pocus (1993). * Winifred "Winnie" Foster, a main character from the American book and movie Tuck Everlasting (1975). * Winifred "Wendy" Torrance, a main character from the American book and movie The Shining.

Variants:

Winnifred, Gwenfrewi, Winifrede

Pronunciation:

WIN-ə-fred [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Winnie, Wenna, Freda, Freddy

Sibling Names:

Dorothy     Constance    Henrietta     Rosemary     Millicent     Cecilia      Leonard     Sidney     Reginald     Ernest     Montgomery     Benedict

Name Lists:

Terrifically Tudor  Victorian Darlings   Roaring Twenties Names   Funky-Clunky   Upright Elegance

 

If you like Winifred you may also like:   Gwendoline, Marigold, Rosanna, Olive, Margery, Wilhelmina, Blanche, Cassandra, Rowena, Elspeth

Thanks to Louise for requesting this name.

Name of the Week: Brodie

 

Origin:

Brodie is a Scottish place name in Moray, Scotland. Brodie Castle in Moray is the traditional family seat of the Brodie Clan for over 400 years, though the clan have been on the site since the 12th century.  There are several theories for the origin of the place name: * From the Scots Gaelic bruthach "precipice, ridge, brow, bank." * From the Scots Gaelic brothach "muddy." * From the Scots Gaelic brod "brood; youngest in the family." * From the Pictish name Bridei (also Brude, Bruide). There are several early Pictish kings named Brude, though it is commonly believed that this may actually be a title meaning "king."* As a surname, Brodie not only derives from the place name, but can, in some cases, be a spelling variant of Bradie, the Scottish form of the English and Irish surnames Brady.  Originally used as a nickname, the English Brady derives from the Old English brād "broad" and ēage "eye," ēg "island" or haeg "enclosure." Reaney and Wilson* have examples of Bradeye and Brodhegh in the Assize Rolls of Durham and Bedfordshire, and Brody and Brodeie in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire and Nottingham in the 13th century. The Irish Brady is thought to derive from the Irish Gaelic bragha "chest" which may have been used as a nickname for someone broad-chested.  MacLysaght* cites Brodie as the Scottish form of the Irish (O)Brollaghan which itself derives from the Old Irish name Brollach (from OI brollach "breast, chest"),

Usage:

Clan Brodie is an old one in Scotland, though much of their early records were destroyed when Brodie Castle was burned down in 1645. It is thought that they have Pictish ancestry, especially given the evidence of Pictish settlements in Moray.  Like most surnames, Brodie began to get used as a given name in the 18th century, usually as an adoption of a family surname or godparent's surname.  As we would expect, it was most commonly used in Scotland, and data from the 1881 UK census shows that both the surname and given name match up in usage, seeing the highest concentration in Lanarkshire and Midlothian.  For the most part, this use as a given name represents Brodie being used as a middle name, generally because it was the mother's maiden name. For the most part, Brodie was masculine in use as a given name, but there are a handful of records for girls.  Usage in Scotland Records for Brodie as a first name in the Scotland's statutory birth records: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 12 births 11 births 16 births 11 births 12 births 9 births 15 births 4 births 4 births 9 births The spelling Brody was only registered once as a first name, in 1871. During the 1970s and 1980s, Brodie remained uncommon, but it began to see a rise in the late 1990s and seeing a marked rise after 2001.  Brodie first entered the top 100 for boys in Scotland in 2005 at #95 (64 births) and reached the top 50 in 2013. It peaked in 2015 at #31 with 193 births and, in 2017, ranked #32 with 170 births.  The spelling Brody has always been less common in Scotland, not ranking at all as a first name until the early 1990s. It, too, saw a steep rise from 2005, peaking at #96 (73 births) in 2014 -- the only time it has been in the top 100.  In 2017, Brody ranked #144 (40 births) in Scotland.  Both Brodie and Brody have also been used for girls in Scotland, though in smaller numbers. Brodie managed to reach a peak of #183 (25 births) in 2005 -- the same year that Brody peaked for boys and Brodie reached the top 100 for the first time. In 2017, Brodie ranked #570 with 5 births while Brody was not registered.  Usage in England and Wales Records for Brodie as a first name in the England and Wales Birth Index: 1840s: 1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: 3 births 0 births 1 birth 2 births 5 births 9 births 5 births 0 births 7 births 2 births 8 births 5 births 8 births 25 births Brodie was rare as a given in England and Wales in the 19th century and Brody was completely unused. Brodie only became more established in the 1970s, and so too, the spelling Brody also saw some use.  From 1996 to 2007, both Brodie and Brody were used in small but growing numbers. Brodie was the most common spelling, ranking between #500-#300 while Brody was less common.  This changed after 2007 (when they both ranked #458 jointly) after which time Brody took over in England and Wales as the dominant spelling.  Both Brody and Brodie have continued to rise ever since, and in 2017, Brodie ranked #222 with 240 births, and Brody ranked #151 with 380 births in England and Wales.  As in Scotland, Brodie/Brody has also seen some usage for girls. Brodie is the most common spelling for girls in E&W, peaking at #367 (93 births) in 2002. Brody is rarer, and has never been above the top 1000. It peaked in 2004 at #1383. Both spellings have declined for girls since their peak.  In 2017, Brodie ranked #1628 with 19 births, and Brody ranked #4763 with 4 births in England and Wales.  Elsewhere Long before it reached the top 100 in its native Scotland, Brodie was a hit in Australia from the early 1990s. Brodie reached #79 in 1994 in Australia and then ranked in the top 100 from 1994 till 2000. It dipped below the top 100 twice, returning for one year in 2003 (at #83) and again from 2006 to 2008.  Similarly, Brody ranked in the Canadian top 100 from 2004 to 2014, peaking at #61 in 2008.  Catching on a little later, in America, Brody reached the top 100 first in 2008 when it jumped from #105 to #70. It has since seen a decline to #152.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Brodie McGhie Willcox (1786–1862), Liberal Party MP and the co-founder of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company. * Sir Brodie Haldane Henderson (1869–1936), British railway engineer. Contemporary: * Brodie Greer, American actor. * Brodie Henderson, Canadian professional rugby union player. * Brodie Retallick, New Zealand rugby union player. Literature and Other Media: * Brodie Bruce, character played by Jason Lee in the film Mallrats. * Brody Davis, character in the television series Roswell.

Variants:

Brody, Brodey, Brodee

Pronunciation:

BRŌ-dee [key]

Possible longer forms:

Broderick, Broden

Sibling Names:

Isla     Freya     Orla     Layla     Maisie     Esme  Rory     Flynn     Harris     Fraser     Callan     Cole

Name Lists:

Scottish Clans

 

If you like Brodie you may also like:   Logan, Blake, Murray, Cody, Jamie, Blair, Callum, Brady, Dexter, Quinn

Thanks to Gemma for requesting this name.  

 

Name of the Week: Cillian

 

Origin:

Cillian is an Anglicised form of the Irish name Cillín (earlier Cillíne, Cilléne) most likely derived from the Old Irish cell "a church, a cell."  In some cases, Cillian may also be an Anglicised form of Ceallachán, a diminutive of Ceallach (earlier Cellach). This, too, has been traditionally derived from cell "a church, a cell," but it is now considered to be a much older name, derived from the Old Irish cenn "head" and luach "bright, value, worth."

Usage:

One of the most notable saints to bear the name was an Irish missionary bishop in the 7th century. Legend has it that he left Ireland with eleven companions and travelled to Würzburg (modern northern Bavaria). There he converted the pagan Frankish Duke, Gozbert and many of local inhabitants but got into trouble when he objected to the Duke having married his brother's widow. Upon the outraged duchess's orders, he was beheaded and quickly became one of Germany's principle saints.  Across Europe, he is most commonly called Saint Kilian (or Killian), though the preferred spelling in Ireland itself is Cillian.  Thanks to the saint's prominence, Kilian can be found in Germany from at least the 16th century.  Usage in Ireland Both Cilléne/Cillíne and Cellach were borne by several early Irish saints, and both names are recorded in use several times in the 8th and 9th century in the Irish Annals.**  Both Cillian and Killian have had regular use in Ireland in the 20th century. By 1964, Killian ranked #204 with 5 births, intermittently rising gradually over the following decades. Killian reached the Irish top 100 at #98 in 1988 and remained in the top 100 until 2016 -- peaking at #55 (121 births) in 2001.  The spelling Cillian was later to catch on, not ranking until 1970, but it too, swiftly rose in popularity, reaching the top 100 for the first time in 1992 at #84. By 2003, Cillian took over as the dominant spelling when it ranked #60 and Killian ranked #67. Since then, Cillian has continued to rise, ranking in the top 30 since 2006.  Cillian's rise as the dominant spelling coincides with the career of Irish actor Cillian Murphy, whose Hollywood career began in 2002. He landed the lead role in 28 Days Later (2002) and starring in blockbuster films Batman Begins (2005), Red Eye (2005) and Inception (2010). Since 2013, he has played the lead role in the hugely successful BBC television series Peaky Blinders. In 2017, Cillian ranked #16 (302 births) and Killian ranked #106 (62 births) in Ireland. Usage in Britain  Despite it's common use in neighbouring Ireland, Cillian was little used in Britain until the 20th century – even in fellow Gaelic Scotland.  The spelling Kilian (like the saint) has some rare usage in England in the 19th century -- it was registered once in 1867, 1872 and 1875 -- but Cillian and Killian were not registered at all until 1965 and 1942 respectively.  In Scotland, Killian was used as a middle name once in 1869 but wasn't used again until 1925, and until 1955 as a first name. Cillian wasn't registered in Scotland as a first name until 1973.   Northern Ireland Unlike in Ireland where Killian and Cillian have been in good use since the 80s, Cillian's rise in neighbouring Northern Ireland directly coincides with Cillian Murphy's career. Both Cillian and Killian ranked below the top 150 in NI from 1997 until 2005. Killian has continued to do so, whereas Cillian started rising, reaching the top 100 at #79 (40 births) in 2007 and continuing to #15 (109 births) in 2017.  England and Wales Cillian and Killian have both seen rare in England and Wales from the 1970s onwards. From 1996 to 2006, both spellings ranked below the top 1000.  Cillian moved into the top 1000 in 2007 at #782 (34 births) As with the rest of Britain, Cillian's rise in usage matches Cillian Murphy's fame -- especially since the airing of the first series of Peaky Blinders in 2013.  In 2014, Cillian jumped up to #550 (66 births) and has been rising since. Killian moved up into the top 1000 for the first time in 2016 at #712 (48 births).  In 2017, Cillian ranked #324 (151 births) and Killian ranked #628 (57 births).   Scotland In Scotland, too, Cillian was in rare use up until the late 2000s. It was only registered once in 1983, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2004 and 2005. However, from 2006, it began to be used more regularly, reaching the top 500 in 2009. By 2014, Cillian ranked #276 (15 births) and continued to rise to #204 (25 births) in 2017.  World Wide Thanks to Saint Kilian, the name has had some usage across Europe. It has been particularly notable in recent years. In Germany, Kilian is a modern staple, having ranked in the top 100 since the turn of the century. In 2017, it ranked #75. Kilian has been in the Austrian top 100 since 2001, and currently ranks at #56. Similarly, in Switzerland, Kilian was a top 100 name from 1998-2004 and 2010-2017. It currently ranks at #77 in Catalonia, too.  In France, Killian was in the top 100 from 1997 to 2009, peaking at #43 in 2002 and 2003. It has since been superseded by the spelling Kylian (made famous by footballers Kylian Hazard and Kylian Mbappe) which entered the French top 100 in 2001, peaked at #41 in 2008 and 2009, and currently ranks at #73.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Killian K. Van Rensselaer (1763–1845), member of the United States House of Representatives. Contemporary: * Killian Brennan, Irish footballer. * Kílian Jornet Burgada, Spanish ski mountaineer, long-distance runner, mountain biker and duathlete. * Kylian Hazard, Belgian footballer * Kylian Mbappé, French footballer. * Cillian Murphy, Irish actor. * Cillian Sheridan, Irish professional footballer who plays for Kilmarnock. * Cillian Vallely, Irish musician. * Cillian Willis, Irish professional rugby union player. Literature and Other Media: * Captain Killian "Hook" Jones, a fictional character on the TV series Once Upon a Time.

Variants:

Kilian (German), Killian (Anglicised, French), Kylian (French)

Pronunciation:

KIL-ee-ən [key]

Possible diminutives:

Cilly, Kee, Keel, Lian, Lee

Sibling Names:

Maeve     Orla     Niamh     Cora     Farrah     Robyn  Conor     Shea     Ronan     Lorcan     Sullivan     Brodie

Name Lists:

N/A

 

If you like Cillian you may also like:   Cian, Faolan, Conall, Cormac, Fintan, Nolan, Caolan, Ciaran, Tiernan, Flynn

Thanks to Laura for requesting this name.  

 

Name of the Week: Macsen

 

Origin:

Macsen is the Welsh form of the Roman name Maximus – from the Latin maximus "greatest." It was used as cognomen in the Roman Empire: the third name which started life as a nickname and eventually became hereditary, often used much like a surname to distinguish a certain branch of a Roman clan (gens).  Why the 'cs' in Macsen? This is simply because the Welsh language does not contain the letter 'x'. However, Maxen is sometimes found as a anglicised form.  Magnus Maximus The name Macsen is most commonly associated with Magnus Maximus (c.335-388), the Roman Emperor of the Western Empire, who is known as Macsen Wledig (wledig = "lord, king, prince, ruler") in Welsh tradition.  According to historical sources, Magnus Maximus was born in Gallicia, Spain. He cut his teeth early on in the Roman army and became a respected general. By 380, Magnus Maximus was the commander of Roman troops in Britain, defeating the Picts and Scots again in 381.  As Susan Wise Bauer point out: "At first Magnus Maximus posessed only the loyaty of the troops in Britannia: he was, in effect, king of the Britons – despite being a Roman citizen and Spaniard by birth. But it seems likely that he had exercised a king-like power in isolated Britannia for some years."* At this time, three Emperors ruled the Roman Empire: Theodosius I in the East, Valentinian II in Italy (a 12 year old boy) and Gratianus in the West of which Britannia was part. As Gratian became increasingly unpopular, Magnus Maximus' British troops proclaimed him Emperor in 383 and he quickly marched across Europe to confront Gratian's troops, many of whom he won over. Gratian was defeated and Maximus reigned as Western Emperor until he was defeated by Theodosius in 388.  Macsen: Father of the Welsh Nation Magnus Maximus's time and exploits as leader of Britain is remembered several times in Welsh folklore as the figure Macsen Wledig, many of which give him the role of the founding father of several medieval Welsh royal dynasties. John Davies describes him as a "ubiquitous lurker" in the history or mythology of the kingdoms of Wales, as well as in the stories of the saints and Cornish literature.* Gwynfor Evans argues that Macsen is second only to Arthur in Welsh legend* while others go so far as to regard him as the father of the Welsh nation.* "Macsen Wledig’s virtues as a leader and as a warrior were considered a benchmark against which the qualities of future Kings were judged, and it would seem that future royal and noble families drew legitimacy and honour from their claim as his descendants." (Alisdair Menzies*) The most famous account of Macsen is The Dream of Macsen Wledig (Breuddwyd Macsen) which was written in the 11th century and now makes up part of The Mabinogion [a collection of Twelve main tales from Welsh folklore].   According to the legend, Emperor Macsen has a dream in which he is transported over rivers, mountains and valley, finally arriving at a great castle. There he meets the most beautiful woman he has ever beheld, and, as he embraces her, he awakes.  Every night he dreams of her. Consumed with longing, Macsen sends messengers for three years to the three parts of the world to seek the maiden out.  After a year, thirteen of his messengers reach Arvon (modern day Caernarfon) – which perfectly matches Macsen's description – and the Castle of Aber Sain where they meet the beautiful Elen Luyddog (Helen of the Hosts).  When news reaches Macsen, he travels to Wales and immediately marries Elen and remains in Britain for seven years, building roads and castles, and thus becomes the forefather of the Welsh royal houses.

Usage:

Despite Macsen Wledig's fame as the progenitor of several Welsh kingdoms, Macsen itself wasn't used as a given name in the Middle Ages. It does not appear in any of the early royal Welsh houses and didn't see any use in the early modern period. It seems that the name Macsen was too attached to the legendary figure – like Vortigern, Merlin or Lear.  The surname Maxon looks to be from the same source, but it is fact a corruption of Maxton – a place name found in Kent and Roxburghshire.  In fact, Macsen was so rare, that it didn't even see a revival in the late 19th century in Wales, when many legendary Welsh names were revived and vocabulary names were created.  The first Macsen to be registered in the Birth Index of England and Wales 1838-2007 was Macsen Jay [Surname] in 1968 in Lancashire, followed by a Dominic Macsen Geraint [Surname] in 1971 in Hereford, then Macsen Jago [Surname] in 1975 in Lincolnshire. It is interesting to note that these earlier registrations for Macsen were outside of Wales, which perhaps indicates that it was first used as a legendary/historic choice (in the same vein as Guinevere, Isolde, Gawain etc) rather than as a Welsh revival.  The chart below shows births in the Birth Index of England and Wales 1838-2007 with Macsen as a first name, which I have separated into registrations in England and Wales separately. As we can see, Macsen was used more in England and Wales up until the turn of the millennium.   Wales England 1980-85 1986-90 1991-95 1996-00 2001-05 1 3 0 10 23 0 4 7 14 18 Ironically, the teenage character Macsen "Macs" White, who featured in the Welsh language soap Pobol Y Cwm from 2002 to 2004, had a somewhat anachronistic name as the approximate birth year of the character would have been around 1985 when (as we can see from the table above) Macsen was an extremely rare name in Wales. In recent years, Macsen has risen swiftly in England and Wales, as we can see from the chart below: click to enlarge However, most of the births for Macsen in recent years have been in Wales. When the data for England and Wales is separated, we get a very different picture. The following chart shows the regional data for Wales alone from 2010 to 2016: The 2013 regional data is missing, as it was not released by the ONS. However, based on the total number of births of Macsen in that year, I am estimating would have ranked around the #120 mark in Wales that year.  The chart below shows the disparity between the usage of Macsen in Wales and England individually.    Wales England E&W Combined 2014 2015 2016 #77 (44 births) #92 (37 births) #75 (50 births) #1421 (17 births) #1815 (12 births) #1498 (16 births) #583 #682 #565 Macsen looks set to continue to rise within the Welsh top 100, while it remains outside of the top 1000 in England.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Macsen Wledig, Welsh name for Magnus Maximus (c.335-388), Western Roman emperor.  Contemporary: * Macsen Lintz, American actor. Literature and Other Media: * Macsen "Macs" White, character in Welsh soap Pobol y Cwm (2002-04) played by Iwan Rheon.

Variants:

Maxen (Anglicised), Massen (Cornish)

Pronunciation:

MAKS-ən [key]

Possible diminutives:

Mac, Max

Sibling Names:

Seren     Nia     Eleri     Lowri     Cerys     Eira       Cole     Jonah     Rhys     Griffith     Rowan     Caio

Name Lists:

Cool Celtic

 

If you like Macsen you may also like:   Morgan, Jago, Myles, Rhydian, Gethin, Maxwell, Lorcan, Rex, Finlo, Jowan

Thanks to Kristin for requesting this name.  

 

Name of the Week: Maeve

 

 

Origin:

Maeve is the anglicised form of the Old Irish name Medb. which later became Medbh/Meadhbh and Meabh in modern Irish. Queen Medb Famously, Medb was the warrior queen of Connacht who is the central character in the Old Irish prose epic Táin Bó Cúailnge ("The Cattle Raid of Cooley"). She was beautiful, independent, strong-willed and with a reputation as a great warrior.  According to legend, Medb was an Irish princess, the daughter of Eochaid Feidlech, High King of Ireland, who lived around the 1st century. She was married to Conchobar Mac Nessa, King of Ulster, first but the marriage went sour and Medb left him. Her father then deposed the King of Connaught and made Medb its queen (in some versions she married the deposed king, Tinni). When Tinni lost in single combat, she next married the warrior Eochaid Dála and, when his kingship was challenged, she married the victor Ailill. Throughout her many marriages one thing is consistent – the men only gain power because they marry her, and not the other way round as is usual in a patriarchal society. In the most famous account of Medb, she went to war to possess the magnificent Brown Bull of Cooley. Medb and Ailill got into an argument about who held the higher status. To settle it, they counted out all their belongings. The only difference between them was that Ailill had a magnificent white-horned bull, while Medb had nothing that could compare to it. Medb was not about to stand back and let her husband have superiority so she sent her scouts to find a bull just as magnificent: the Brown Bull of Cooley.  To cut the rest of the saga short, Medb went to war against Ireland's most mighty warrior, Cúchulainn. After much fighting, some tactful negotiation, and great cunning on Medb's part, she eventually got the bull.    There is also another Medb – Medb Lehderg who was the goddess of the sovereignty of Tara. She, too, had many successive husbands of different generations who all obtained kingship of Tara through her. It is widely thought that both Medbs are one and the same, and that, in fact, Queen Medb is a later euhemerised form of an Irish sovereignty goddess whose function was to confer kingship either through union with the king or the presentation of a drink.* This explains the many successive husbands attributed to Medb as this is symbolic of the transfer of sovereignty from one king to another.  Etymology It is widely thought that Medb derives from the Proto-Celtic feminine adjective *medua which became medb "strong, intoxicating" in Old Irish and meddw and mezv "intoxicated, drunk" in Welsh and Breton respectively. This adjective derives from the Proto-Celtic noun *medu- "mead" which led to the Old Irish mid, Welsh medd and Breton mez "mead." Most scholars have argued that Medb is the feminine form of the adjective, or a feminine derivative of the noun (meaning "mead-woman").* For many, this etymology directly connects Medb to her role as a sovereignty goddess in which kings are selected by the presentation of a drink. In recent years, the traditional etymology of Medb has come under debate. Georges-Jean Pinault in 2007* argued that Medb actually derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *med- "to take appropriate measures when facing a problem." This root has disseminated into many languages and undergone many semantic developments such as "to judge, to rule, to heal, to measure." This includes the Welsh meddu "to own" and the Old Irish midiur "to judge." Pinault points to the Gaulish given name Epomeduos as meaning "the one who masters/rules horses". This element is also found in the Gaulish goddess Meduna* and the theonym Comedovis.* There are also some examples from Roman Britain of "Med" inscribed in pottery as well as the name Docimedis inscribed in Roman Bath. Some scholars now look to the Proto-Celtic word *medwa "the ruler" as the root for Medb. This would make it equivalent to the names of many other Celtic goddesses which contain the element rígan "queen" such as Morrigan and Rhiannon.  For more in-depth information on the scholarly debate about Medb and the etymology of the name, I recommend Britta Irslinger's fantastic paper Medb 'the intoxicating one'? (Re-)constructing the past through etymology. In conclusion, she sums up: "While a goddess called Medb "the intoxicating one" is not unequivocally attested anywhere, the figure of Medb "the queen'" finds numerous parallels in Celtic and non-Celtic mythologies. Despite the association between sovereignty and alcohol in medieval Irish literature [...] Medb is not involved in the offering of drinks or with intoxication any more than other alleged sovereignty goddesses. This is consistent with the fact that the adjective medb "intoxicating" was on the whole already opaque during the Old Irish period. This suggests that later medieval audience probably did not conceive Medb as 'the intoxicating one', in contrast with what is commonly claimed by modern scholars."*

Usage:

Usage in Ireland Medb was used as a genuine given name in medieval Ireland. One Medb ingen Indrechtach was Queen of Ailech in the 8th century which shows its early usage. It appears in the Irish Annals five times in the years 1444, 1502, 1555, 1577, 1582 in the Early Modern Irish forms of Medbh and Meadhbh. According to O'Corrain and Maguire in Irish Names (1990), Medb was "one of the twenty most popular names in later medieval Ireland, but it occurs as a male name in the very early period" and "it was in use [as a female name] especially in the north of Ireland until the late nineteenth century where it [... was] replaced by the English 'translations'." As with most Gaelic names, Medb was 'translated' into English as Madge, Marjory, Mabel and Maud. It also gained a diminutive form of Meidhbhín which was anglicised as Meaveen and Mabbina.* From 1964 to 2009, Maeve ranked in the top 100 of Ireland in every year bar twelve over forty-six years. It has only recently show signs of starting to decline.  Conversely, the modern Irish spelling – Meabh – has been steadily rising. It properly gained use in small numbers in the 1980s, and first reached the top 100 in 2008.  In 2017, Meabh ranked #76 (81 births) and Maeve ranked #133 (43 births) Usage in Britain  Despite it's common use in Ireland, it was little used beyond its shores until the 19th century – even in fellow Gaelic Scotland.  Maeve is first recorded as a first name in both Scotland and England and Wales in 1898, while Meave was recorded as a middle name in Scotland in 1859. The modern Gaelic spelling Meabh wasn't recorded in either Scotland or England and Wales and Wales until the 1990s.  England and Wales The following table shows the registrations for Maeve and Meave in England and Wales. In many cases, at least one parent had an Irish surname.    Maeve Meave 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: 2 births 8 births 6 births 13 births 18 births 50 births 63 births 64 births 71 births 0 births 0 births 1 birth 10 births 4 births 6 births 2 births 4 births 7 births click to enlarge Maeve has continued its steady but under-the-radar usage right up to today in England and Wales.  Since 1996, Maeve has been on a very gentle rise. From 1996-2006 it average 24-39 births each year and since 2009 has averaged between 51-67 births.  In 2016, Maeve ranked #638 with 66 births.  Regionally, it was most common in the South of England where it ranked #395 in the South West and #462 in the South East.  Northern Ireland Maeve ranked in Northern Ireland's top 100 from 1997 to 2004 after which it fell below. Similar to Ireland, this also coincided with the rise of the spelling Meabh which has been steadily gaining in use since 2012.  In 2017, Meabh ranked #44 (47 births) and Maeve ranked #159 (14 births). Scotland Maeve increased in use in Scotland in the 1970s but it remained fairly uncommon. From 1974 to 2001, it ranked in every year except 1977, 1983, 1988 and 1996 but had no more than 4 births in any given year.  Since 2004, however, Maeve has seen an increase in usage, reaching a peak of #275 (14 births) in 2017.  The spelling Meabh was only registered for one child in 1995, 1998, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2014 and 2015, and for two girls in 2013. 2017, however, saw it rise to #570 with 5 births.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Medb ingen Indrechtach (fl. 800), Queen of Ailech. * Maeve Brennan (1917–1993), Irish short story writer and journalist. Contemporary: * Maeve Kelly (born 1930), Irish writer. * Maeve Binchy (1940–2012), Irish writer. * Maeve Kinkead (born 1946), American actress. * Maeve Ingoldsby (born 1947), Irish writer. * Maeve Higgins (born 1981), Irish comedian. * Maeve Dermody (born 1985), Australian actress. * Maeve O'Boyle (born 1987), Scottish singer-songwriter. * Méabh De Búrca (born 1988), Irish footballer.  * Maeve O'Donovan (born 1990), Irish singer. Literature and Other Media: * Maeve Millay, a main character in the TV series Westworld. * Maeve Donavan, character in the American police drama Criminal Minds. * Maeve Benson, character in the ABC Family drama Make It Or Break It. * Maeve Stoddard, character in the American soap opera Guiding Light.

Variants:

Medb, Meadhbh, Méabh, Meave

Pronunciation:

MAYV  [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Maevy

Sibling Names:

Cora     Hazel     Orla     Carys     Lena     Pippa  Rory     Lorcan     Ronan     Cormac     Maxwell     Rhys

Name Lists:

Cosy Celtic   Ripe Renovations   No Frills Feminine: Flawless -'f/v' Endings      Demi-gods and Mortals of Mythology

 

If you like Maeve you may also like:   Iona, Bonnie, Rhiannon, Niamh, Lilias, Celyn, Merryn, Flora, Reeva, Cliona

Thanks to Helen for requesting this name.

Header model via Elandria / landscape via Pixabay

Name of the Week: Elowen

 

  

 

Origin:

Elowen is a modern Cornish name which derives from the vocabulary word elowen meaning "elm tree."  Cornish is a close relative of the Welsh language and the two share a common cultural heritage. As with Welsh, three syllable names in Cornish generally put the stress on the middle syllable, meaning Elowen is pronounced el-OH-en or sometimes el-OO-en. To the Ancient Celts, the elm was the tree of the Underworld or Otherworld and was particularly associated with elves. Cornwall also has its own species of elm called the Cornish Elm and are Cornwall's most common hedgerow tree.* The Cornish language was spoken locally up to the 18th century. It gradually began to decline and, though it is now spoken by less than 1% of the population, it still plays an important part of Cornwall's identity.  Like many Cornish names currently in use, Elowen's use is quite new, sparked by the Cornish language revival movement in the 1970s and 1980s. At this time, many Cornish names were either revived or taken directly from the modern Cornish dictionary. Specifically, the adoption of many of these modern names was thanks to a short book entitled Names for the Cornish by Cornish publishers Dyllansow Truran in 1970, in which Elowen was included.

Usage:

Elowen was first registered as a middle name in Britain in 1983 but was not registered as a given name until 1997. Since then, Elowen has steadily increased in use in England and Wales, as has the alternate spelling Elowyn. This rise can be seen in the birth rankings (recording 3 or more births) for England and Wales: Sadly, there are no official statistics for Cornwall itself, but the closest we can get is the regional data for the South West of England which includes Gloucestershire, Bristol, Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon as well as Cornwall. In this data, it is clear that Elowen is more common in its native Cornwall and surroundings than in the rest of the country. This rise coincides with the revival of other Cornish names such as Lowenna, Merryn, Senara, Sennen, Jago, Piran, Lowen and many others.  Name ranks in the South West (birth count in brackets):   Elowen Elowyn 2014 2015 2016 #305 (13) #264 (15) #200 (22) - - #482 (7) In 2016, Elowen took over Jennifer and Merryn as the most popular Cornish name in Cornwall for girls. Overall in England and Wales, Elowen ranked #1031 (34 births) and Elowyn was #1920 (15 births).

Variants:

Elowyn

Pronunciation:

el-LŌ-en; el-OO-en  [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Ellie, Ella, Lo, Lola, Wenna

Sibling Names:

Merryn     Lyra     Neve     Orla     Ffion     Bryher  Fraser     Jago     Rafe     Robin     Asher     Rafferty

Name Lists:

Cornish Names   Cool Celtic

 

If you like Elowen you may also like:   Endelyn, Lowenna, Everly, Merewen, Fearne, Arwen, Iona, Hazel, Saffron, Rowan

Thanks to Kathleen for requesting this name.