British Baby Names

Name of the Week: Belle

Origin:

Belle started out in the Middle Ages as a pet-form of names ending in -bel (most notably Isabel) but was quickly associated with the French corresponding French word belle “pretty, beautiful fair”—or bele in Old French. The corresponding adjective bel was adopted into Middle English in the 14th century.* By the 17th century, belle was used as a noun in English to refer either to a beautiful, well-dressed and charming woman or the reigning beauty of a group, as in the phrase "the belle of the ball."

Usage:

Isabel(la)—itself a form of Elizabeth—was a powerhouse name in the Middle Ages. Borne by royalty across Europe, it was common in Britain from the 12th century onwards. According to Geoge Redmonds poll of names from 10 English counties in 1377-81, Isabel was the 5th most popular name at that time, and Smith-Bannister's rankings from forty English parishes per decade from 1538-1700, puts Isabel consistently within the top 20 in each decade.  Due to this high use, Isabel developed many hypocoristic forms including Ibb, Ebb, Bib, Tib, Lib which in turn had the diminutives Ibot, Ibota, Ebbot, Bibet, Bibby, Tibot, Libot and Libby.  Bel(l/e) was one of these many hypocorisms, and even itself developed the diminutive Belet/Belot.* Reaney and Wilson have one example from the 1275 Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire of Bella used as a Latinised form of Bele, for the record of a woman named Bele Coty.*  This use of the short-form Bell lead (often partially) to the surnames Bell (which was also used for a bellringer or a person who lived by a bell), Beal (which is also derived from villages named Beal), Bellott, Bellson (which also owes its use to Belisant) and Dambell (which means "Lady Bele" and would have been given to a servant of a lady with the name).  Bell continued into the 16th century. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources has three examples of Bell in use in Northumberland in Wills from 1536, which, interestingly, is where Bella was most common initially.  While rare as an independent name, Bell (the most common spelling in England initially) was in small use in Britain in the 19th century. Dickens used Belle for a minor character in A Christmas Carol in 1843, but it did not spark much usage as an independent name. Bella was slightly more common, but neither was used enough to break into the top 200 in any given year. Isabella (the most popular form at this time) and Isabel both ranked in the top 100 from 1840 to 1900, so Bell may have been more commonly used as a pet-form. Records in the England and Wales Birth Index:   Bell Belle Bella 1840s: 1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: 67 births 73 births 118 births 105 births 135 births 97 births 64 births 16 births 19 births 4 births 8 births 1 births 0 births 3 births 9 births 14 birth 13 births 21 births 31 births 74 births 61 births 63 births 56 births 29 births 18 births 9 births 2 births 17 births 171 births 144 birth 213 births 458 births 531 births 629 births 686 births 627 births 423 births 117 births 35 births 27 births 45 births 99 births Belle had more success in the 19th century in America, ranking #90 in 1880, #127 in 1890 and #181 in 1900. Notable bearers from this era include First Lady of West Virginia, Belle Goshorn MacCorkle (1841–1923), Confederate spy Belle Boyd (1843–1900), American outlaw Belle Starr (1848-1893) and political advisor Belle Moskowitz (1877–1933), who the New York Times referred to as "the most powerful woman in United States politics."* Despite its French origins, Belle can only be found a handful of times as an independent name in France itself, though Isabelle ranked in the French top 100 from 1900 to 1918 and 1949 to 1991. Indeed, official data from Insee states that Belle has only ranked in 1981 (3 births), 2010 (3 births), 2011 (3 births), 2013 (3 births), 2015 (4 births) and 2016 (4 births). Presumably, it would have been as daring to them to call their daughters Belle, as it would be for us to call our daughters "Beautiful" or "Pretty." Belle was used in the original French version of the fairy-tale La Belle et la Bête (“Beauty and the Beast"), first recorded by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in 1740. In many English-language retellings of the tale, the heroine's name is translated directly as "Beauty", or sometimes given a completely different name such as Althea or Catherine. However, since the late 20th century, some English versions have chosen to call the character Belle—such as the 1976 American TV film. Famously, Disney used Belle for their animated version of the tale in 1991, though curiously, this had little impact on the usage of the name Belle in Britain, which remained rare until the turn of the 21st century.  In England and Wales, Belle ranked below the top 1000, in every year but one, until 2007.  Similarly, in Scotland, Belle had no more than 4 births in any given year until 2009. A noticeable change came in 2011 when Holly Willoughby named her daughter Belle. The impact was immediate and widespread with Belle jumping from #463 to #270 in England and Wales, and #509 to #229 in Scotland. This was also the same year that Bella entered the top 100 in England and Wales, boosted by the release of the Twilight movies (2008-2012). Since this time, Belle has been rising intermittently across Britain. It ranked #240 with 209 births in 2017 in England and Wales. Regional data from 2017 shows that Belle is most common in the East of England, with the exception of London where it is least popular:  N. East N. West Yorkshire E. Midlands W. Midlands East London S. East S. West Wales #213  #319 #266 #210 #247  #169  #496  #182  #260  #194 In Scotland, Belle ranked #156 with 30 births in 2018.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Belle Reynolds (1840–1937), American heroine of the American Civil War. * Belle Goshorn MacCorkle (1841–1923), American former First Lady of West Virginia. * Belle Kendrick Abbott (1842–1893), American author. * Isabella "Belle" Boyd (1843–1900), Confederate spy during the American Civil War. * Belle Cole (1845–1905), American contralto. * Belle Starr (1848–1889), American outlaw. * Belle Hunt Shortridge (1858–1893), American author. * Belle Skinner (1866–1928), American businesswoman and philanthropist. * Belle Moskowitz (1877–1933), American political advisor. * Belle Benchley (1882–1972), American director of the San Diego Zoo from 1927 to 1953. * Belle Cooledge (1884–1955), American politician, first female mayor of Sacramento, California. * Belle Montrose (1886–1963), Irish-American actress. * Belle Mitchell (1889–1979), American film actress. * Belle Bennett (1891–1932), American stage and screen actress. * Belle Fligelman Winestine (1891-1985) American writer and suffragist. * Belle Baker (1893–1957), American singer and actress. * Isabella "Belle" Moore (1894–1975), Scottish Olympic freestyle swimmer. * Belle Baranceanu (1902–1988), American artist. * Belle Chrystall (1910–2003), British actress. Contemporary: * Belle Perez (born 1976), Flemish musician and songwriter. Literature and Other Media: * Belle, the main character from the 1991 Disney film Beauty and the Beast and 2017 live-action remake, based on the fairy tale. * Belle, a character from Charles Dickens's novel A Christmas Carol (1843). * Belle Watling, a character from the novel Gone with the Wind (1936) and the 1939 film adaptation. * Belle French, a character from the ABC television series Once Upon a Time. * Belle Dingle, from the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.

Variants:

Bella (Italian, Spanish)

Pronunciation:

BEL

Possible  longer forms:

Abbeline, Adabelle, Amabel, Annabelle, Arabella, Beletili, Belinay, Belinda, Belisama, Bella, Belisent, Belladonna, Bellamira, Bellamy, Bellatrix, Bellona, Belmira, Belphoebe, Beverley, Bluebell, Christabel, Claribel, Corabel, Cybele, Dulcibel, Dulcibella, Elizabeth, Gabriella, Gabrielle, Isabel, Isabella, Jezebel, Kimberley, Mabel, Maribel, Mehetabel, Mirabel, Mirabella, Orabel, Rosabel, Rosabella, Sabella

Sibling Names:

Mae     Ada    Rose     Lila     Mya     Eve  Rex     Seth     Otis     Rafe     Eli     Myles

Name Lists:

Vintage Names   Dulcet Dainties  Short & Sweet   Dickensian Names   Disney Names

 

If you like Belle you may also like:   Edie, Betsy, Tess, Lois, Alba, Polly, April, Hope, Olive, Nell

Thanks to Lydia Rose for requesting this name.

Name of the Week: Herbert

 

Origin:

Herbert is the modern English and French form of the Frankish name Heriberaht, composed of the Old High German elements heri "army" and beraht "bright." Heriberaht was Latinised as Her(e)bertus, which then became Herbert in Old French. This Old French form was brought over to Britain by the Normans where it reinforced, and later replaced, the Old English cognate form Hereberht.

Usage:

A handful of English and French saints bore the name in the early Middle Ages. In France, Saint Herbert was bishop of Marmoutier and archbishop of Tours, but little is known of his life. A little more is known of Saint Herbert of Derwentwater (died 687), an Anglo-Saxon hermit and priest who lived on an island in Lake Derwentwater. The island is now called St. Herbert's Islands in his honour.  Several Frankish counts also bore the name, including four counts of Vermandois (from 889 to 1080) and two counts of Maine (from 1017 to 1062).  Map from PASE for the name Herbert The Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE) database has 12 examples of the Anglo-Saxon name Hereberht in use before the Conquest, including an abbot, ealderman and several moneyers. The database also has 29 examples of the Old French form Herbert in use after the Conquest. The image (right) shows all the areas attached to the name Herbert in the Domesday Book of 1086. Red areas are for Tenant-in-Chiefs in 1086 named Herbert, orange denotes Subtenants in 1086, and yellow signifies Sub-subtenants in 1086 named Herbert. Herbert was modestly used in the Middle Ages in Britain. George Redmonds describes it as "rare in 1377-81" but familiar to us now because it has been revived more recently.* Reaney and Wilson describe it as "introduced by the Normans, but much less common than Hugh."*  The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources has a handful of records for Herbert in England in the 12th century, but even more for France from the 7th to 16th century. Herbert was at least used enough by the 13th century to create the surnames Herbert, Herbit, Harbard, Harberd, Harbot, Harbutt, Fitzherbert, Herbertson, Harbertson, Herbinson, Herbison and Harbison amongst others.  The surname Herbert has held a prominent place in the British peerage. William Herbert (1423–1469), a Welsh nobleman and courtier, was created Baron Herbert, and later 1st Earl of Pembroke. One line of his descendants became Dukes of Beaufort; another became the Earls of Pembroke. The Hon. Oscar Seyfried Herbert (b. 2004) and the Hon. Reginald Herbert, Lord Herbert (b. 2012) are the current heirs apparent to these titles. In The Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames, Reaney and Wilson also point out that diminutives for Herbert were "formed but have not survived" citing examples of Herbelott, Herbelot, Herbelyn and Herbekyn.  Unlike other medieval names, Herbert never really died out, and baptism records can be found across England in both the 16th and 17th century. It was, however, only moderately used and only became common by the late 18th century. The fact that Herbert was an aristocratic name is one of the reasons why it became popular in the 19th century (as we can see in the success of other peerage surnames such as Sidney, Stanley, Percy, Clifford and Neville). Other reasons why Herbert ticked several boxes for Victorian parents was the fashion for medievalism and the many other -bert names in use such as Robert, Albert, Gilbert, Hubert and Cuthbert.  By the time Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, Herbert had made it into the top 50 England and Wales, as we can see from registrations records for Herbert (as a first name) in the England and Wales Birth Index: Chart via flourish:namehistory 1840: 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900: 1904: 1914: 1924: 1934: 1944: #45 #32 #24 #20 #17 #19 #20 #21 #25 #46 #73 *out of the top 100* Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (1852–1928) was Prime Minister of the United Kindom from 1908 to 1916 and is celebrated for his role in creating the modern British welfare state. Other famous contemporaries to bear the name include philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820–1903); Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850–1916), First World War field marshal famous for the iconic "Kitchener Wants You" WWI recruitment poster; Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer (1857–1932), another senior British Army officer of the First World War and author Herbert "H.G." Wells (1866-1946).  Having been in the top 50 in England and Wales for pretty much a century, Herbert began to decline sharply from 1915 onwards. From 1996 to 2006, Herbert sat mostly outside of the top 1000 in England and Wales.  Since 2006, Herbert has been modestly rising reaching #684 with 51 births in 2017.  Diminutive Herbie has also seen a rise since 1996. To date, it has peaked at #516 with 68 births in 2011. In 2017, Herbie ranked #719 with 48 births.  In Scotland, Herbert has only ranked in 12 years out of 43 since 1975 and been given to no more than two boys in any given year. In 2018 in Scotland, Herbert ranked #1282 with 1 birth.

Famous Bearers:

History: * St. Herbert of Derwentwater (died 687), Anglo-Saxon hermit, priest, and saint. * Herbert I, Count of Vermandois (848–907), Frankish count. * Herbert II, Count of Vermandois (880–943), Frankish count. * Herbert III, Count of Vermandois (987–997), Frankish count. * Herbert I of Maine (died 1036), Frankish count. * Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois (1045–1080), Frankish count. * Herbert II of Maine (died 1062), Frankish count. * Herbert Spencer (1820–1903), English philosopher. * Herbert Giles (1845–1935), British diplomat and translator. * Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850–1916), British First World War field marshal and colonial administrator. * Herbert "H. H." Asquith (1852–1928), UK Prime Minister (1908-16). * Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer (1857–1932), senior British Army officer of the First World War. * Herbert Lawrence (1861–1943), general in the British Army. * Herbert Baker (1862–1946), British architect. * Herbert Austin (1866–1941), British car maker and founder of the Austin Motor Company. * Herbert "H. G." Wells (1866–1946), British writer. * Herbert Croly (1869–1930), American writer. * Herbert Sanborn (1873–1967), American philosopher. * Herbert Hoover (1874–1964), 31st President of the United States. * Herbert Irving Preston (1876–1928), American Marine and Medal of Honor recipient. * Herbert Ashwin Budd (1881–1950), British painter. * Herbert Stothart (1885–1949), American composer. * Herbert Elliott (1887–1973), English cricketer. * Herbert Marshall (1890–1966), English actor. * Herbert Lumsden (1897–1945), senior British Army officer of World War I and II. * Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979), German philosopher. * Herbert Bayer (1900–1985), Austrian graphic designer. * Herbert Butterfield (1900–1979), British historian. * Herbert von Karajan (1908–1989), Austrian conductor. * Herbert Hirche (1910–2002), German architect and designer. * Herbert C. Brown (1912–2004), American chemist. * Herbert Hauptman (1917–2011), American mathematician. Contemporary: * Herbert W. Franke (born 1927), Austrian writer. * Herbert Gelernter (born 1930), American scientist. * Herbert Stevens IV (born 1987), American hip-hop recording artist who records under the name "Ab-Soul". Literature and Other Media: * Sir Herbert Subboys, a knight in John Marston's play The Dutch Courtesan (1605). * Herbert Birdsfoot, a Sesame Street Muppet. * Herbert "Bertie" Pelham, 7th Marquess of Hexham, a character on TV's Downton Abbey.

Variants:

Herberto (Spanish, Portuguese), Aribert (German), Erberto (Italian)

Pronunciation:

HER-bət [key]

Possible diminutives:

Herb, Herbie, Bert, Bertie

Sibling Names:

Agatha      Winifred     Rosemary     Frances     Dorothy     Millicent Wilbur     Ronald     Barnaby     Winston     Raymond     Orson

Name Lists:

Victorian Darlings   Roaring Twenties Names   Funky-Clunky

 

If you like Herbert you may also like:   Hubert, Dorian, Arnold, Howard, Reginald, Clayton, Nelson, Percival, Calvin, Sidney

Thanks to Jessica for requesting this name.  

 

Name of the Week: Caroline

Origin:

Caroline is the Anglicised form of Carolina, an Italian diminutive form of Latin Carola which itself was the feminine form of Carolus.  Carolus is the Latinised form of the Germanic name Karl which meant "man, husband."  The word karl itself is thought to stem from the Proto-Germanic *karlaz "little man, young man"; a term which extended through languages across Europe. In Old English, ceorl (later a carl or churl) referred to a freeman: a status between a noble and a serf. They held the right to bear arms, attend local courts, and payed dues directly to the king. In Slavic languages, the word came to mean "king" thanks to the Carolingian dynasty (e.g. Polish krol, Lithuanian karalius, Czech and Slovak král, Russian король).

Usage:

The Italian Carolina spread into Germany, and from there into Britain in the late 16th century. I have been able to find baptism records online for Caroline Chompfield in 1571, Carolina Bayly in 1588 in Dorset, Caroline Miller in Norfolk in 1589, Caroline Barnes in 1600 in Hampshire, a Caroline Stocke in 1605 in Somerset.  It was rare at first, but baptism records increase across the 17th century. It was most likely adopted in further numbers in honour of King Charles I (1600-1649) whose Latin regnal name was Carolus Rex. The Province of Carolina, named in his honour, was established in 1629 which later became the A North and South Carolina. Smith Bannister's rankings for 1538-1700 from forty English parishes does not have the name ranking within the top 50 during this period, however, Leslie Dunkling's rankings for 1700 puts Caroline at #48.  In 1714, George I came to the British throne, starting the Hanoverian age. George I already had adult children and young grandchildren when he became king. His son and heir, George Augustus (later George II) had married Caroline of Ansbach (1683–1737), daughter of Margrave John Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach in 1705 and, by 1714, the couple had four children (Frederick, Anne, Amelia and Caroline). Caroline came to Britain in 1714 and was invested as Princess of Wales: the first woman to bear the title since Catherine of Aragon. She became queen consort in 1727.  Queen Caroline was known for her intelligence and compassion and was widely mourned when she died in 1737. In 1733, Voltaire wrote of her, "I must say that despite all her titles and crowns, this princess was born to encourage the arts and the well-being of mankind; even on the throne she is a benevolent philosopher; and she has never lost an opportunity to learn or to manifest her generosity."* Here is Lucy Worsley's take on Caroline in the BBC series The First Georgians: Queen Caroline had a daughter—Princess Caroline of Great Britain (1713–1757)—and a granddaughter—Princess Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (1751-1775) named in her honour, which firmly cemented the name into British royalty in the 18th century.  In 1795, another German princess, Caroline of Brunswick (1768–1821)—whose mother was the granddaughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach—married George, Prince of Wales (later George IV). She became queen consort in 1820, but died in the following year. Caroline and her husband had a very strained marriage, and while her husband was extremely disliked by the public, Caroline was immensely popular.  England and Wales All of these royal Caroline's had a direct impact on the popularity of the name; by 1800, the name ranked #32 according to Leslie Dunkling.  The name continued to grow in usage, as registration records for Caroline (as a first name) in the England and Wales Birth Index show: 1840: 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900: 1904: 1914: 1924: 1934: 1944: 1954: 1964: 1974: 1984:  1994: #16 #19 #22 #27 #40 #54 #68 #81 *out of the top 100* *out of the top 100* *out of the top 100* #95 #62 #15 #19 #46 *out of the top 100* Caroline fell out of the top 100 after 1904, but had returned again by 1944 at #95. This makes Caroline quite unusual, as many of the other names that fell out after 1904 (such as Lydia, Harriet, Eliza, Ella) didn't return until the 1990s at the earliest—an affect of the Four Generation Rule.  One of the most likely reasons for Caroline's early return was the popularity of other variant names which had all appeared in the top 100 between 1934 and 1943. By 1944, Carol ranked #12, Carole ranked #27 and Carolyn ranked #76. Carole and Carolyn fell out after 1964, while Carol lasted until 1974. Caroline, on the other hand, rose to a peak of #15 in 1964 and only fell out of the top 100 in 1994—interestingly, just as Caroline entered the top 100 in America for the first time. Click to enlarge Thanks to Caroline's 1960s peak, the name is currently in its nadir—credit it's being in the "Second Generation" (i.e. the names of the mothers of new parents) of the Four Generation Rule alongside Karen, Deborah and Diane.  From 1996 to 2007, Caroline was on a steady decline in England and Wales, falling from #182 to #716. Since then, it has more or less plateaued just into the top 1000.  In 2017, Caroline ranked #1063 with 33 births in England and Wales. Interestingly, this overall rank in England and Wales of #1063 is quite polarised regionally. In several regions, Caroline did not rank at all as it was given to fewer than three children in these regions in 2017. Indeed, Caroline only ranked in four regions, and was most common in the North West and London:  N. East N. West Yorkshire E. Midlands W. Midlands East London S. East S. West Wales --  #729 -- -- --  #887  #771  #1105  --  -- Scotland Caroline had much the same story in Scotland. It ranked #74 in 1900, #52 in 1950 and #21 in 1975. Click to enlarge From 1974 to 1986, Caroline ranked in the top 50 of Scotland. As with England and Wales, it fell out of the top 100 in 1994. In 2018, Caroline ranked 1571 with 1 birth in Scotland.

Famous Bearers:

Royalty: * Caroline of Ansbach (1683–1737), queen consort of George II of Great Britain. * Princess Caroline of Great Britain (1713–1757), third daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach. * Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (1751-1775), Queen consort of Christian VII of Denmark and Norway and daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales.  * Caroline of Brunswick (1768–1821), queen consort of George IV of the United Kingdom. * Caroline of Baden (1776-1841), Queen consort of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. * Caroline Bonaparte (1782–1839), queen consort of Joachim, King of Naples and sister of Napoleon I.  * Caroline Gibert (1793–1879), Princess Consort and regent de facto of Monaco. * Caroline Amalie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1796–1881), queen consort of Denmark. * Caroline, Princess of Hanover (born 1957), eldest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco and Grace Kelly. History: * Caroline Herschel (1750–1848), German astronomer. * Caroline Bardua (1781–1864), German painter. * Lady Caroline Lamb (1785–1828), Anglo-Irish aristocrat and novelist.  * Caroline Ridderstolpe (1793–1878), Swedish composer. * Caroline Howard Gilman (1794–1888), American writer. * Caroline Clive (1801–1873), English writer. * Caroline Chisholm (1808–1877), English social reformer in Australia. * Caroline Leigh Gascoigne (1813-1883), British poet, writer. * Caroline Chesebro' (1825–1873), American writer. * Caroline Shawk Brooks (1840–1913), American sculptor. * Caroline Brown Buell (1843-1927), American activist. Contemporary: * Caroline Graham (born 1931), English author and screenwriter. * Caroline Herzenberg (born 1932), American physicist. * Caroline Kennedy (born 1957), author, attorney and daughter of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. * Caroline Stoll (born 1960), American former tennis player. * Caroline Aherne (1963–2016), British comedian, actress and writer. * Caroline Rhea (born 1964), Canadian actor. * Caroline Byrne (1970-1995), Australian model. * Caroline Dhenin (born 1973), French tennis player. * Caroline Flack (born 1979), British television presenter. * Caroline Delas (born 1980), French rower. * Caroline Shaw (born 1982), American Pulitzer Prize-winning composer. * Caroline D'Amore (born 1984), American chef, model and actress. * Caroline Winberg (born 1985), Swedish model. * Caroline Burckle (born 1986), American swimmer. Literature and Other Media: * Caroline Bingley, a character from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813). * Caroline Forbes, one of the protagonists on the TV series The Vampire Diaries. * Caroline Ingalls, mother of Laura Ingalls in the Litte House books and Little House on the Prairie TV show.  * Caroline Mathers, a character in John Green's novel The Fault in Our Stars (2012).

Variants:

Carolina (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish), Karolina (Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian, Macedonian, Lithuanian, German), Karoline (German, Danish, Norwegian), Karoliina (Finnish)

Pronunciation:

CA-rə-līn (UK), ka-ro-LEE-nə (German), KA-rər-leen (French) [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Carrie, Cara, Caro, Callie, Caddy, Cora, Carol, Carly, Lina, Linny, Ro, Kaja

Sibling Names:

Josephine     Catherine     Alexandra     Henrietta      Philippa     Helena  Robert     Stephen     Frederick     Nicholas     Jonathan     Laurence

Name Lists:

Royal British Names   Royal European Names   Gorgeously Georgian  Jane Austen Names   Bronte Names   Dickensian Names   Tennyson Names

 

If you like Caroline you may also like:   Madeleine, Cassandra, Rosanna, Louisa, Cecilia, Susannah, Constance, Lavinia, Marianne, Georgiana

Thanks to Caroline 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: Victor

Origin:

Victor derives directly from the Latin agent noun victor, the nominative form of victorem meaning " a conqueror".

Usage:

Victor was borne by an early pope and saint, Pope Victor I (d.199) who served as Bishop of Rome. Saint Victor of Marseilles (d.c.290), Saint Victor Maurus (d.303) and Saint Viktor of Xanten (d. 4th-century) are were also early saints to bear the name and all three were said to have been Roman soldiers before they were martyred for renouncing the worship of pagan idols. The name was also borne by two other popes later in the 11th century, as well as two antipopes in the 12th century. The term "Victorids" was coined for the powerful family in the Frankish province of Rhaetia who controlled the diocese of Chur in the 7th and 8th centuries, many of whom were named Victor, including its founder, Victor I, bishop of Chur. Despite this use by popes and saints, Victor was not especially common in Europe up until the 16th century. There are a handful of early examples (pre-1000) in France, and later 14th-century examples crop up in France and Germany.  In England, Victor can be found in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1200 and 1203 and there are then only a small number of records from the 16th century.  Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (1587-1637) brought the name into royal use, and three more dukes of Savoy named Victor Amadeus followed.  Victor became more common in France in the 18th century, but didn't gain favour in Britain until the late 19th century during Queen Victoria's reign.  In 1860, Victoria ranked at #153 in England and Wales, while Victor was marginally behind at #194. By 1870, however, Victoria has declined slightly to #168 while Victor had trebled in use, ranking at #111. From then on, Victor continued to rise and consistently eclipsed Victoria in use. Perhaps one of the key reasons for Victor's rise in the 1870s (clearly nothing to do with the feminine form Victoria, as that remained uncommon) was the birth of Prince Albert Victor in January 1864, the eldest child of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Queen Victoria named this new heir to the throne after her beloved husband Albert and herself, announcing his name as "Albert Victor" publicly before even consulting his parents. The Prince and Princess of Wales added Christian and Edward to the baby's names, but it was the double name "Albert Victor" by which he was officially known until his untimely death in 1892. Perhaps in some form of protest at being denied choosing their eldest son's names, his parents always called him"Eddy" throughout his life.  In 1863, five boys in total were registered with the name "Albert Victor". In 1864, following the birth of the prince, a huge figure of 146 boys were given the combo. Even by 1880, 130 boys were named "Albert Victor" as it continued to be a highly popular pairing.  This rising use as a middle name undoubtedly gave rise to Victor being used more as a first name, as registration records for Victor (as a first name) in the England and Wales Birth Index shows: 1840: 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900: 1904: 1914: 1924: 1934: 1944: 1954: 1964:  <#300 <#250 #194 #111 #80 #66 #39 #47 #49 #50 #62 #56 #88 *out of the top 100* Victor remained in good use during the first half of the 20th century until it eventually fell below the top 100 in 1964.  It had a spurt of use at the end of World War I (formally ending on 11 November 1918), thanks to the name's meaning, which we can see clearly from the quarterly birth records in 1918: Oct-Dec 1917: 428 records Jan-Mar 1918: 412 records Apr-Jun 1918: 493 records Jul-Sep 1918: 463 records Oct-Dec 1918: 1491 records - Armistice signed  Jan-Mar 1919: 820 records Apr-Jun 1919: 638 records Jul-Sep 1919: 2017 records - Treaty of Versaille (28 June 1919) Oct-Dec 1919: 904 records A similar situation occurred following the end of World War II in Europe in May 1945: Jul-Sep 1944: 600 records Oct-Dec 1944: 512 records  Jan-Mar 1945: 491 records  Apr-Jun 1945: 1893 records - End of the War in Europe Jul-Sep 1945: 1159 records  Oct-Dec 1945: 469 records British born Hollywood actor Victor McLagen (1886-1959) was a prolific actor who won an Oscar for Best Actor in 1935 for his role in The Informer. He was frequently mentioned in British newspapers, especially in the late 1930s/early 1940s, which may have prolonged the name's use in the inter-war period—it looked to be on the decline by 1934 but picked up a bit by 1944.  Since 1996, Victor has been steadily rising, seeing more of a marked rise from 2006 onwards.  In 2017, Victor ranked #227 with 236 births in England and Wales.  Regionally, it was most common in London, where it ranked #135, followed by #201 in the South East, #215 in the East and #220 in the South West.  In Scotland, Victor ranked #361 with 9 births in 2018.

Famous Bearers:

Royalty: * Victor Amadeus I (1587–1637), Duke of Savoy. * Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia (1666–1732), Duke of Savoy.  * Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia (1726–1796), Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia. * Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia (1759–1824), Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia. * Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (1820–1878), King of Sardinia. * Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (1869–1947), King of Italy. History: * Pope Victor I (died 199), Bishop of Rome. * Victor of Marseilles (died c. 290), Christian martyr and saint. * Victor Maurus (died c. 303), Christian martyr and saint. * Viktor of Xanten (died 4th century), Christian martyr and saint. * Victor I (fl. 7th century), bishop of Chur. * Victor II (fl. 8th century), bishop of Chur. * Victor III (died c.836), bishop of Chur. * Pope Victor II (c. 1018–1057). * Pope Victor III (c. 1026–1087). * Antipope Victor IV (1138). * Antipope Victor IV (1159–1164). * Victor Honoré Janssens (1658–1736), Flemish painter. * Victor-François, 2nd duc de Broglie (1718–1804), Marshal of France. * Victor de Broglie (1756–1794), French soldier and politician. * Victor de Broglie (1785–1870), 3rd duc de Broglie, French statesman and diplomat. * Victor Hugo (1802–1885), French writer. * Victor Meirelles (1832–1903), Brazilian painter. * Victor Babeş (1854–1926), Romanian biologist. * Victor Fonfreide (1872-1934), French painter. * Victor Borge (1909–2000), Danish-born American musician and comedian. * Victor Mature (1913–1999), American actor. Contemporary: * Victor French (1934-1989), American actor. * Victor Garber (born 1949), Canadian actor. * Victor Martinez (1954–2011), Mexican American poet and author. * Victor Davis (1964–1989), Canadian Olympic champion swimmer. Literature and Other Media: * Victor Frankenstein, the main character in the 1818 novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. * Viktor Krum, a character in the Harry Potter series. * Victor Creed "Sabretooth", a character from the X-Men series. * Victor Meldrew, the main character in the television series One Foot in the Grave. * Victor Stone, DC Comics superhero better known as Cyborg.

Variants:

Viktor (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian), Vittore (Italian), Wiktor (Polish), Gwythyr (Welsh), Bittor (Basque)

Pronunciation:

VIK-tə [key]

Possible diminutives:

Vic, Vito

Sibling Names:

Sylvie     Josephine     Olive     Pearl     Audrey     Lillian Maxim     Chester     Xavier     Wilbur     Sidney     Otto

Name Lists:

Resonant Roman   Royal European Names   Victorian Darling   Roaring Twenties   Upright Elegance   Vintage Names   Disney Names

 

If you like Victor you may also like:   Hector, Crispin, Marcel, Monty, Remy, Julian, Vincent, Emmanuel, Fabian, Tristan

Thanks to Bridget for requesting this name.  

 

Name of the Week: Francesca

Origin:

Francesca is the feminine form of Francesco, the Italian form of Francis. Both Francesco and Francis ultimately derive from the Latin Franciscus, a term which originally meant "Frankish, of the Franks" but later came to mean "a Frenchman." The Franks—the Germanic tribe that conquered Celtic Gaul from the Romans in the 5th century A.D.—almost certainly derived their name from the old Germanic word *frankon "javelin, lance." By the 14th-century, however, frank had come to mean "free, liberal, generous, sincere, forthright, worthy." This meaning developed from an association with the Franks because it was the conquering Franks that held the status of freemen. A.Harding argues that the Franks actually helped develop the concept, and vocabulary, of freedom. "Chieftains and vassals within the warrior aristocracy of Franks all possessed a quality of freedom, a franchisia, which the conquered population lacked. A military vassal was necessarily a liber homo [free man] because he was a franc homme [Frank], and he expected to hold the land given him by his lord on conditions which were worthy of a freeman."* Francesco/Francis itself was originally used as a byname, or nickname, meaning "Frenchman," and swiftly became a surname. It only really came into use as a given name, however, until the hugely popular cult of St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) spread across Europe. Born while his father (a wealthy merchant) was away on business in France, his mother had baptised him with the name Giovanni. On his return, however, his father preferred to call him Francesco "Frenchman," either because of his travels and admiration for France or possibly because his wife was from Provence.

Usage:

Francesca has been used in Italy since the 13th-century* but was rare before the 14th-century.* One of the earliest famous bearers of the name was Francesca da Rimini (1255-1285), daughter of the lord of Ravenna. Married off by her father to Giovanni Malatesta, Francesca ended up falling in love with his younger brother Paolo. They began an affair that lasted for ten years until they were both caught—and killed—by Giovanni. Francesca was contemporary of Dante Alighieri, and her story was well known enough in its time for him to include Francesca and Paolo as characters in the Divine Comedy. Her tragic romance inspired numerous operas and symphonies in the 19th century.  By the 15th-century, feminine variations of Francis became more widespread on the Continent. A survey of the Catasto of Florence in 1427 puts Francesca at #10. Around this period, Santa Francesca Romana (1384–1440), known as Saint Frances of Rome in English, spent much of her life helping the poor and sick in Rome.  Britain was comparatively late to the table with feminine forms of Francis, as Frances did not come into regular use until the 15th-century and only became common in the 16th-century. By the early 17th-century, however, Frances was a top 20 staple, where it remained until the mid-19th century and was still in the top 50 until the 1950s.  In England, Francesca was used as the Latin form of Frances in parish records, though these women would have been known exclusively as "Frances" in their everyday lives.  During the 19th-century, Francesca was uncommon in a name in its own right but at least used regularly—perhaps inspired by the many 19th century operas about Francesca da Rimini. By the end of the century, its numbers were bolstered slightly by Italian immigration.  Births records in England and Wales: 1840s: 1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: 22 births 18 births 13 births 21 births 34 births 49 births 78 births 61 births 46 births 43 births 304 births 830 births 1587 births 2161 births The large leap in use in the 1940s can be directly attributed to 1945 British melodrama The Seventh Veil starring James Mason and Ann Todd as the main character, Francesca Cunningham. We can see the impact of the film on names almost straight away: between 1940 and 1945 there were 53 registrations for the name Francesca altogether. In 1946, following the film's release, 59 girls received the name in just that one year alone.  One of the Francesca's to be born in this 1945 wave was British actress Francesca Annis. She became more widely known when she played Estella in a 1967 television adaptation of Great Expectations, and she gained praise for her performance as Lady Macbeth in Roman Polanski's film version of Macbeth (1971). Annis may have helped keep the name Francesca in mind, and explain why it continued to rise from the 1940s onwards.  The ONS do not have any data for the years between 1985-1993, but we can assume that Francesca first entered the top 100 in either the late 1980s or 1990s as it ranked at #59 by 1994.  It rose to a peak of #53 with 1052 births in 1998 and saw a moderate decline immediately after up until 2002. The name has since plateaued, sitting comfortably around the #85 mark for the last two decades.  Having been in the top 100 for so long, Francesca now has the feel of a modern classic, akin to Georgia and Imogen.  In 2017, Francesca ranked #89 with 600 births in England and Wales, however, it is far more common in England than any other region in the UK. In England alone it ranked #89 (581 births), while in Wales it was #145 (19 births).  In the same year, Francesca ranked #191 (23 births) in Scotland and #239 (7 births) in Northern Ireland.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Francesca da Rimini (1255-1285), daughter of the lord of Ravenna.  * Santa Francesca Romana/Saint Frances of Rome (1384–1440), Italian saint.  * Francesca Caccini (1587–1641), Italian composer, singer, lutenist and poet. * Francesca Cuzzoni (1696–1778), Italian operatic soprano of the Baroque era. Contemporary: * Francesca Annis (b.1945), British actress. * Francesca Simon (b.1955), American author. * Francesca Gagnon (b.1957), Canadian singer and theatre actress. * Francesca Lubiani (b.1977), Italian tennis player. * Francesca Martinez (b.1978), British comedian and actress.  Literature and Other Media: * Francesca Cunningham, main character in The Seventh Veil (1945).

Variants:

Frances (English), Francisca (Spanish, Portuguese), Françoise (French), Franziska (German), Franciszka (Polish)

Pronunciation:

fran-CHES-kə [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Fran, Frannie, Franca, Frankie, Chessie, Cheska

Sibling Names:

Imogen     Sienna     Emilia     Isabella     Georgia     Scarlett  Roman     Samuel     Adam     Benjamin     Toby     Joshua

Name Lists:

N/A

 

If you like Francesca you may also like:   Alexandra, Madeleine, Freya, Harriet, Arabella, Lydia, Jasmine, Victoria, Helena, Gabriella

Thanks to Francesca for requesting this name.

Name of the Week: Cyrus

Origin:

Cyrus is a Latinised form of the Greek Κῦρος (Kỹros). This was, itself, a Hellenised form of the Old Persian name Kūruš (Kourosh) and the form Κῦρος was almost certainly created to match the Greek word κῦρος (kûros) "supreme power" from which the Greek κυριος (kyrios) "lord, master, ruler" is derived.  The original meaning of Kūruš is uncertain—like many ancient names, substantial evidence is lost to us—but there are several credible theories including "like the sun," "young," "hero," "he who bestows care" and "humiliator of enemies."

Usage:

One of the earliest mentions of the name is attributed to Cyrus I, King of Anshan, who ruled in the 7th century BC. Not much is known about him, but he is most famous for his namesake grandson, Cyrus II—or more commonly, Cyrus the Great, the founder of the first Persian Empire. Cyrus the Great's empire stretched throughout much of Western Asia and Central Asia and was the largest empire the world has ever known. An astute politician and military strategist, he is known for respecting the religion and culture of the lands he conquered and for creating a highly effective system of centralised administration. Furthermore, Cyrus left a lasting legacy on the Jewish nation and is mentioned many times in the Old Testament as the patron and deliverer of the Jews who ended Babylonian captivity. Because he issued a decree of liberation to the Jews, Cyrus is considered to have been anointed God for this task. The Bible even refers to him as a messiah, and he is the only non-Jewish figure in the Bible to be called so.  Nearly two centuries later, Xenophon wrote his masterpiece, The Cyropaedia, describing the education of Cyrus the Great as an ideal leader. It was very widely respected and studied in classical antiquity, and it was later rediscovered during the Renaissance in which Cyrus was used as an example of virtue and a model for princely behaviour. The Cyropaedia remained popular during the Enlightenment and heavily influenced Machiavelli's 16th-century political treatise, The Prince.  As a given name, Cyrus was adopted as a Greek name in Antiquity. We find it recorded in the Jewish Roman catacombs and there was a notable 1st-century Greek architect by the name who worked in Rome. Later, we find it in the Byzantine Empire (where Greek was the official language). Notable bearers include 5th-century writer Cyrus of Panopolis and Cyrus of Alexandria, the last Byzantine patriarch of Egypt. There is a Saint Cyrus: a 4th-century Alexandrian martyr.  In the Western world, Cyrus came into use as a given name in the 16th century, likely because it was a biblical name, but also perhaps influenced in some small part by the esteem for Cyrus the Great promoted in the Cyropaedia. It was rare at first but picked up by the 18th-century as small but regular use.  By 1840, Cyrus ranked at#189 with 21 births in England and Wales. It fell out of the top 200 thereafter.  Registration records for Cyrus as a first name in England & Wales show how consistent it was in use during the 19th-century but that it rapidly declined in use at the beginning of the 20th century: 1840s: 1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: 225 births 226 births 242 births 247 births 230 births 220 births 174 births 127 births 63 births 20 births 15 births 8 births 81 births 99 births Cyrus picked up usage in the 1960s and 1970s, and it is interesting to note that many of these registrations had Indian surnames. This not only indicates that Cyrus was used among the Indian community but also reflects the rising migration during this period. Since 1996, Cyrus has, for the most part, remained between #500 and #1000 in England and Wales. It peaked at #462 with 69 births in 2006. In 2017, Cyrus ranked #613 with 59 births.  In Scotland, Cyrus is less common. Since 1990, it has ranked in 20 years out of 29 years. For most of that time (70%), it was only registered once in any given year. However, it did see an unusual peak of #444 with 6 births in 2009.  In 2018, Cyrus ranked #704 with 3 births in Scotland.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Cyrus I (d.c. 580 BC), King of Anshan. * Cyrus the Great (576 BC–530 BC), the grandson of Cyrus I and founder of the Great Persian Empire. * Cyrus the Younger (died 401 BC), brother to the Persian King Artaxerxes. * Cyrus, 1st-century Greek architect who worked in Rome. * Saint Cyrus, 4th-century Coptic saint. * Cyrus of Panopolis, 5th-century Byzantine writer and official. * Cyrus of Alexandria (d.642), Melkite Patriarch and co-founder of Monothelism. * Cyrus Peirce (1790-1860), founder of first public normal school (teachers' college) in the United States. * Cyrus McCormick (1809-1884), American inventor who developed the modern mechanical reaper. * Cyrus West Field (1819-1892), American businessman who successfully laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable. * Cyrus Hamlin (1839-1867), Union general during American Civil War, son of Vice President Hannibal Hamlin. * Cyrus B. Lower (1843-1924), American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient. * Cyrus Edwin Dallin (1861-1944), American sculptor. * Cyrus Townsend Brady (1861-1920), American journalist, historian and adventure writer. * Cyrus Leroy Baldridge (1889-1977), American artist, illustrator, author and adventurer. * Cyrus "Cy" Kendall (1898–1953), American actor. * Cyrus Vance (1917-2002), U.S. Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter. Contemporary: * Cyrus Mistry (born 1956), Indian author and playwright. * Cyrus Frisch (born 1969), Dutch film director. * Cyrus Christie (born 1992), British professional footballer. * Cyrus Ramone Pattinson (born 1994), British boxer for Team GB. * Cyrus Dancy (b.2012), son of actors Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy.  Literature and Other Media: * Cyrus Smith, the leading character in Jules Verne's novel Mysterious Island (1874). * Cyrus Trask, a character from John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden (1952).  * Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, a character from the film Con Air (1997). * Cyrus Lupo, a detective from Law & Order. * Cyrus, a Redguard pirate and hero in the video game The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard.

Variants:

Kyros (Greek), Kourosh, Kurosh (Persian), Kir (Russian), Ciro (Italian, Spanish)

Pronunciation:

SĪ-rəs [key]

Possible diminutives:

Cy, Cris

Sibling Names:

Rhoda     Selah     Minerva     Lilith     Dinah     Persis Dante     Atticus     Judah     Abel     Moses     Saul

Name Lists:

Quirky Biblical

 

If you like Cyrus you may also like:   Emrys, Silas, Darius, Amos, Caius, Sirius, Remus, Gideon, Matthias, Ephraim

Thanks to Leah for requesting this name.  

 

Name of the Week: Joanna

Origin:

Joanna is the feminine form the Hebrew name Yochanan (Latinised as Johannes) derived from the Hebrew Yhvh "Yahweh; the God of Israel" and chanan "to show favor, be gracious". The feminine name was found in New Testament in the Greek form Ιωαννα (Ioanna) which then became Latinised as Johanna. Joan is the English vernacular form which was in use from at least the 13th century.   The variant Joanne existed as Johanne/Johane in the Middle Ages, however, it's modern use may have been influenced by the rise of other -anne names such as Diane, Suzanne and Leanne, and Anne itself, in the mid-19th century.

Usage:

According to the New Testament, Joanna, mentioned in the gospels, was the wife of Chuza who managed the household of Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee. Joanna was healed by Jesus and later supported and accompanied Jesus and his disciples.  Like most women in the Bible, Joanna only gets brief mention. However, in Jesus’ Female Disciples: The New Evidence, Bible experts Helen Bond and Joan Taylor argued that these brief mentions contain clues that Joanna was actually quite an influential woman, and a crucial part of Jesus' following. She is described as being perhaps "one of the most important disciples in the whole movement": As a witness to Jesus' resurrection, Joanna was regarded as a saint in the Christian church, which is why forms of her name became widespread across Europe. Johanna (later Joanna) was used in the Latin records but the vernacular form Joan (Johan, Johane) was used in English, Jehanne in French, Giovanna in Italian and Joana/Juana in Spanish. It was not very common before the 13th century, but quickly grew in popularity.  This rise in the 13th century coincides with the popular legend of Pope Joan, an apocryphal early medieval female pope. The legend was first written down in the 13th century and quickly spread across Europe where it was believed to be true for centuries. In most versions of the story, Joan is an intelligent and able English woman who disguises herself as a man so that she can have access to education afforded to clergy. She rises through the ranks of the church and is eventually elected as pope under the name Pope John VIII. Her identity was finally revealed when, on a procession through Rome, she went in to labour and died in child-birth. The name came into royal use when Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine named their third daughter Joan(na) in 1165. Joan of England / Joanna Plantagenet, as she is now referred, went on to become queen consort of Sicily. Her brother, King John I, also had a legitimate daughter named Joan of England (1210–1238) who became Queen consort of Scotland as well as an illegitimate daughter named Joan who became "Lady of Wales" when she married Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Wales and Gwynedd.  Many many more royal Joan(na)s followed across Europe over the following centuries: several of these royal Joan(na)'s actually wielded power in their own right, acting as regents or ruling independently.  Then, of course, there was Joan of Arc (c. 1412–1431), the famous French heroine who led French forces against the English in the Hundred Years' War and was later canonised as a saint. In George Redmonds analysis of 1000 names from 10 English counties in 1377-81, Joan ranks at #3, just behind Alice and Agnes.  Joan remained common up until the 18th century however, it began to decline slightly in the mid-1600s. This coincides with the rise of Joanna itself, which Smith Bannister points out was a more common choice of name during the latter decades of the period, most particularly after 1640, alongside Mercy, Lydia and Dinah. We can see this usage in Smith Bannister's rank of top 50 names from 1538 to 1700 in England:   1538-49 1550-9 1560-9 1570-9 1580-9 1590-9 1600-9 1610-9 Joan #1 #2 #2 #2 #6 #6 #7 #6 Joanna   #43.5     #48     #24   1620-9 1630-9 1640-9 1650-9 1660-9 1670-9 1680-9 1690-1700 Joan #7 #8 #9 #9 #13 #11 #14 #10 Joanna #26   #39.5 #43.5 #29 #27.5 #36 #24 According to Leslie Dunkling's rankings, Joan was #18 and Joanna was #27 in 1700. By 1800, Joan declined to #45 and Joanna to #46. Over the course of the 19th century, both Joan and Joanna saw a decline, however Joan became much less popular than Joanna. Joanne was rare in use but was consistently registered for a handful of births each decades.  Joan saw a massive rise in the early 20th century, reaching the top 100 once again by 1904. I cannot pin point any one thing that explains this rapid rise, though there are several works pertaining to Joan of Arc during this period, including a 1900 French silent which was distributed in England.  In every decade in the 20th century, some form of Joanna ranked in the top 100 in England and Wales as records from the Birth Index show:   Joanna Joan Joanne 1840: 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900: 1904: 1914: 1924: 1934: 1944: 1954: 1964: 1974: 1984: 1994: #89 #95 #118 #155 #205 #250 >#250 __ __ __ __ __ __ #90 #39 #34 #97 #170 #200 #192 #243 #235 #195 #161 #90 #29  #3 #4 #16 #45 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ #22 #6 #23 __ From 1996 to 2004, both Joanna and Joanne saw a decline in use in England and Wales while Joan remained consistently uncommon. Since then, Joanna and Joan have remained in consistent use, while Joanne has seen a decline.  In 2017, Joanna ranked #439 with 100 births, Joanne ranked #1817 with 16 births and Joan ranked #2502 with 10 births in England and Wales.  In 1900 in Scotland, Joan ranked #42, Johan ranked #84 and Johanna ranked #91. By 1950, only Joan remained, ranking #23 and by 1975 it had been replaced by Joanne at #28 and Joanna at #72.  In 2018, Joanna ranked #502 (6 births), and Joanne and Joan both ranked at #1571 (1 births) in Scotland.

Famous Bearers:

Royalty: * Joan of England, Queen of Sicily (1165–1199), daughter of Henry II of England, married William II of Sicily. * Joan I, Countess of Burgundy / Joanna of Hohenstaufen (1191–1205), ruling Countess of Burgundy. * Joan of England, Queen Consort of Scotland (1210–1238), daughter of King John of England, married Alexander II of Scotland. * Joan, Lady of Wales (died 1236), wife of Llywelyn the Great, the Prince of Wales, and daughter of King John. * Joan I of Navarre (1271–1305), queen regnant of Navarre and queen consort of France. * Joan of England, Countess of Gloucester (1272-1307), daughter of Edward I of England. * Joan II of Navarre (1312–1349), Queen of Navarre from 1328 until her death. * Joan of The Tower (1321–1362), daughter of Edward II of England, married David II of Scotland. * Joan I, Countess of Auvergne (1326–1360), ruling Countess of Auvergne and Boulogne and queen consort of France. * Joan "The Fair Maid of Kent" (1328-1385), granddaughter of Edward I and mother of Richard II. * Joanna I of Naples (1328–1382), Queen of Naples, Princess of Achaea and Countess of Provence and Forcalquier. * Joan of England (1335–1348), daughter of Edward III of England. * Joan of England (born 1351), youngest daughter of Edward III. * Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland (c. 1404–1445), wife of King James I of Scotland and regent for her son James II.  * Joanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples (1454–1517), wife of Ferdinand I of Naples. * Joanna of Naples (1478-1518), queen consort of Ferdinand II of Naples. * Joanna of Castile (1479–1555), Queen of Castile from 1504, and of Aragon from 1516. * Joanna of Austria (1535–1573), Princess of Portugal. * Joanna of Austria (1547–1578), Grand Duchess of Tuscany. History: * Joan of Arc (c. 1412–1431), French saint and martyr. * Joanna Baillie (1762-1851), Scottish poet and playwright. * Joan Bennett (1910–1990), American stage, film and television actress. * Joan Crawford (1904-1977), American actress. * Joan Fontaine (1917−2013), British-American actress. Contemporary: * Joanne Herring (born 1929), American political activist. * Dame Joan Collins (b.1933), English television and film actress and author. * Joanna Lumley (b.1946), English actress and former model. * Joan Cusack (b. 1961), American actress. * Joanne Whalley (born 1961), British actress. * Joanne "J.K." Rowling (born 1965), British author. * Joanna Page (b.1978), Welsh actress. Literature and Other Media: * Joan Watson, a character from the TV series Elementary, played by Lucy Liu. * Joanna McCoy, daughter of Leonard McCoy of Star Trek. * Joanna Dark, the main character in the Perfect Dark video series.

Variants:

Siwan (Welsh), Jowanet (Cornish), Siobhán (Irish), Johanna (German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian), Jeanne (French), Juana (Spanish), Joana (Portuguese, Catalan), Giovanna (Italian), Ioana (Greek), Gianna (Italian, Greek), Ivana (Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian), Jone (Basque), Ghjuvanna (Corsican)

Pronunciation:

jō-AN-ə [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Jo, Joey, Jan, Janna

Sibling Names:

Sarah     Louisa     Ellen     Rachel     Philippa     Katherine  Martin     Andrew     Stephen     Mark     Peter     Timothy

Name Lists:

British Royal Names    Royal Names of Europe   Medieval Favourites    Terrifically Tudor    Gorgeously Georgian

 

If you like Joanna you may also like:   Susanna, Martha, Dinah, Hannah, Samantha, Lauren, Ruth, Georgina, Rebecca, Julia

Thanks to Chamali  for requesting this name.

Name of the Week: Percy

Origin:

Percy is an English surname derived from Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. The surname came to Britain with William de Percy (d.1096) who came to England just after the Conquest. He was the ancestor of a powerful feudal family who later became the Earls of Northumberland and then Dukes of Northumberland.  The surname Percy may also have been reinforced by the surname Pearcey, Piercey, Piercy which derives from the Old French percher "to pierce" and haie "hedge," possibly used to refer to a hedge protecting a forest or military work. The surname may perhaps have been given to a poacher, or perhaps a 'warrior renowned for forcing his way through fortifications'.* Percy has also long been used as a short form of Percival, a name thought to have been invented by Chretien de Troyes for the hero of his 12th century Grail Romance Percevale. This, he derived from the Old French perce "pierce" and val "the valley."  George Redmonds* also points out that, as a given name, Percy has a much-overlooked separate origin to the surname: that of diminutive of Piers (Pers, Peris) itself the English vernacular form of Peter (see below for examples).

Usage:

The Percy family were one of the most powerful and wealthiest aristocratic families in Britain from the time of the Norman conquest. Alnwick Castle in Northumberland has been the family's seat since 1309.  The 4th Baron Percy, Henry Percy (1341-1408) was a of Henry III on his mother's side. He was made Warden of the Marches by Edward III and later went on to support Richard II who made him the first Earl of Northumberland. However, when Richard elevated his rival Ralph Neville to Earl of Westmorland in 1397, Henry Percy supported the rebellion of Henry Bolingbroke, who later became King as Henry IV. Henry IV later appointed him Constable of England and granted him the lordship of the Isle of Man. Both Sir Henry Percy and his son, Sir Henry/Harry "Hotspur" Percy were immortalised as major characters in Shakespeare's Richard II, Henry IV, part 1, and Henry IV, part 2. Thomas Percy (1560-1605) was a member of the group behind the famous Gunpowder Plot. He was a distant relation of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland who appointed him constable of Alnwick Castle and made him responsible for the Percy family's northern estates. It is generally agreed that Percy was first adopted by families connected to the Percy family. One of the earliest example often cited is Lord Percy Seymour (1696-1721) son of the 6th Duke of Somerset and Lady Elizabeth Percy, the sole Percy heiress. His sister, Lady Catherine Seymour also used the name for her second son, Percy Wyndham-O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond (c. 1713–1774). However, an even earlier example is that of Percy Herbert, 2nd Baron Powis (1598–1667) whose maternal grandfather was Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland. One of the most famous bearers is English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1882). E.G.Withycombe points out that the "connection between the Shelley and Percy families was very remote: the poet's grandfather married (as his second wife) the heiress of the Sidneys, Earls of Leicester, and the 2nd Earl had in 1615 married Dorothy Percy, daughter of the 9th Earl of Northumberland. She was mother of Algernon Sidney, 'the patron saint of the Whigs', and it may have been Sir Timothy's Whiggism rather than his snobbishness which made him call his son Percy."* However, despite this clear use of Percy in the 17th century as a direct adoption of the surname Percy, George Redmonds has found even earlier examples of Percy in use as a given name which is unconnected to the surname, but rather a variant of Peter: "There is no doubt that Percy sometimes derives from the surname but it has a quite separate origin which never seems to be mentioned, and that is as a diminutive of Peter or Piers. The direct evidence for the diminutive goes back to the year 1600 when 'Percy alias Peter' Stanley of Womersley died: a later example is 'Percy or Pearce' Tempest of Tong in 1653. In other cases the evidence is not explicit. For example Percy Watson of Newholme in Lythe (1657) was almost certainly the Peter Watson baptised in 1635. A much later example is the baptism in 1730 of Parcy, the son of Thomas Beadel of Drypool.[...] A will for John Percy of Scarborough, a rich merchant who died in 1500, is worth quoting in this context. His family had a long connection with the town, at least back to the reign of Edward III when Peter Percy was the Scarborough MP. A footnote to the will traces several generations of Percys, ending with another Peter Percy of Scarborough who was buried in 1517. The references to these individuals are interesting. For example, in his will John Percy referred to his brother Peter three times, once as 'Peyrs Peyrse', once as 'Perse Percy' and finally as 'the whiche Peyrse': his own son and grandson were both named as 'Petyr Percy'. It is difficult to know what to say about this except that it identifies Petyr and Peyrs as alternative forms of the first name, but it seems also to confirm that Peter and the surname Percy were connected in the mind of the testator. If that were true it would suggest that the use of Percy as a diminutive of Peter may go back earlier than the examples I have quoted."* Redmonds has even noted early examples of Percy in use as a girl's name, pointing out the baptism in 1598 of Percye, the daughter of Henry Farrer of Beverley—which he attests to "a branch of the Percy family [having] lived in the town from 1597"—and also the Hampsthwaite parish burial register contains the names of Piercie Holm, widow (1728) and Percival Holm, spinster (1743). This last entry, he thinks, suggests that Percy as a girls' name may also have been a familiar form of Percival, especially as it was in this part of Lower Wharfedale that Percival as a boys' name was quite popular in the sixteenth century. Despite it's earlier use, Percy only really became established as a given name in the 19th century. At this time, other aristocratic surnames such as Stanley, Sidney, Neville and Clifford became fashionable, and perhaps Percy's connection to the medieval world—especially thanks to Shakespeare's Harry "Hotspur" Percy—may have been fuelled by the Victorian's love of medievalism.  Percy grew significantly in use in the mid-19th century, reaching the top 100 by the late 1850s in England and Wales. Data from the 1881 census (see image, right) shows that it was most common in the South East of England, with little use in Wales and Scotland. It is unsurprising, then, that Percy did not rank at all in the top 100 in Scotland in 1900 while in England it was in the top 25 from 1880 to 1904.  Birth rankings for Percy in the England and Wales Birth Index: 1840: 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900: 1904: 1914: 1924: 1934:  #180 #132 #76 #32 #25 #22 #23 #29 #44 #67 *out of the top 100* Like most late Victorian favourites, Percy fell out of favour by the mid-20th century.  In recent years though, Percy has been showing signs of a revival. From barely ranking at all in the late 1990s, Percy saw a modest rise over the beginning of the 21st century, reaching the top 1000 again in 2011.  Since then it has continued to rise, reaching #439 with 96 births in 2017.  Regional data from 2017, however, shows that Percy (which ranked #439 overall) actually varies wildly in usage across the country. It is most common in the south of England and least popular in London and the North East: N. East N. West Yorkshire E. Midlands W. Midlands East London S. East S. West Wales --  #453  #602  #631  #555  #296  #996  #307  #227  #568 In Scotland, the name is much rarer. Since 1974, it has been registered for one boy in the years 1986, 1989, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2015 and 2016 only and for 2 boys in both 2017 and 2018.  In 2018, Percy ranked #897 in Scotland.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Percy Herbert, 2nd Baron Powis (1598–1667), English writer and politician. * Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), English poet. * Percy William Justyne (1812-1883), English artist. * Lieutenant-General Sir Percy Egerton Herbert (1822–1876), British army officer and politician. * Percy Gardner (1846-1937), English classical archaeologist. * Percy French (1854-1920), Irish songwriter, entertainer and painter. * Major-General Sir Percy Cox (1864-1937), British administrator and diplomat. * Percy Addleshaw (1866-1916), English barrister and writer. * Percy Grant (1867-1952), Royal Navy admiral and Chief of Navy of the Royal Australian Navy. * Percy Fawcett (1867-?), British soldier, archaeologist and South American explorer. * Percy Noble (1880-1955), British Second World War admiral. * Percy Williams Bridgman (1882-1961), Nobel Prize winner in physics. * Percy Grainger (1882-1961), Australian-born composer and pianist. * Percy Abercrombie (1884-1964), Australian rules football player. * Percy Helton (1894-1971), American actor. * Percy Faith (1908-1976), Canadian-born bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor. Contemporary: * Percy Heath (1923-2005), American jazz bassist. * Percy Adlon (born 1935), German film and television director, writer, and producer. * Percy Sledge (1940-2015), American R&B and soul singer. * Percy Montgomery (born 1974), retired South African rugby union footballer. Literature and Other Media: * Sir Percy Blakeney, the Scarlet Pimpernel in Baroness Orczy's 1905 novel of the same name and various related works. * Perseus "Percy" Jackson, the main character in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians book series. * Percy Weasley, a character in the Harry Potter series. * Percy Sugden, a character in the British soap opera Coronation Street from 1983-1997. * Lord Percy Percy, two related characters in the popular British sitcom Blackadder. * Percy the Small Engine, a character in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. * Sir Percy "Black Knight", a Marvel Comics character.

Variants:

Persie

Pronunciation:

PURS-ee [key]

Possible longer forms:

Percival, Perseus

Sibling Names:

Olive      Jemima      Flora      Lois      Agnes      Etta Barney      Casper      Hugh      Bertie      Walter      Sidney

Name Lists:

Funky-Clunky Names

 

If you like Percy you may also like:   Dougie, Remy, Lenny, Rudy, Vincent, Ernest, Cedric, Lionel, Wilbur, Clifford

Thanks to Rose for requesting this name.