The name is derived from the Breton an oan (the lamb). Its Gallicized form of Nohan currently appears in the French Top 500 Most Popular Male Names, coming in at #400 (2018).
Noan itself has been in and out of the French Top 500 since 2006.
Noan currently comes in as the 356th Most Popular Male Name in the Netherlands (2018).
Feminine forms are Noann (Breton spelling), Noane, Noanne & Nohane.
Sources
Pronunciation: (Tay-lo; Tay-lee-o)
The name is most likely a diminutive form of the Welsh name Eliudd.
It was borne by a 6th-century Welsh Catholic Saint who founded the first Church in Llandreff. He is considered the patron saint of Cardiff, Wales.
Several places in Wales and France, especially Brittany, bear his name.
Its modern French offshoot of Thélio recently appeared in the French top 500 in 2018, coming in as the 496th most popular male name.
Other forms include
Sources
Origin: Welsh
Meaning: uncertain
Gender: Feminine
(WIN-e-fred; WIN-nee; gwen-VROO-wee)
Winifred is an anglicized from of the Welsh female name, Gwenfrewi, the first element, gwen meaning “white; holy,” while the second element is uncertain but is suggested to mean “reconciliation” or “peace.” Many sources have confused this with the Anglo-Saxon male name, Winfred which actually means “friend of peace” or “peaceful friend,” but the names are actually unrelated.
In Medieval England, the name was popularized by the cult of a 7th-century Welsh saint. According to legend, Winifred wanted to be a nun, which enraged a jealous suitor by the name of Caradog who decapitated her. Her uncle, St. Beuno, was able to place her head back on her shoulders and she was miraculously restored back to life. St. Winifred was able to live the rest of her life in holiness and died at a ripe old age, while her brother killed Caradog in revenge for her decapitation. A spring miraculously rose up from the site of her decapitation and for centuries, this was a site of pilgrimage for healing. While her story of being decapitated and brought back to life cannot be verified, historians do believe St. Winifred was a real person and that something definitely happened to her neck at some point in her life, as old Latin records always refer to a strange scar. Who knows….
To this day, Winifred’s Well in Holywell in Shrewsbury, England remains a popular site of pilgrimage, despite Henry VIII’s destruction of the shrine in the 16th-century, it seems to have been rebuilt.
St. Winifred has been referenced in English literature throughout the centuries. Her well is mentioned in the Medieval poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Her life story was dramatized as a play by William Rowley in A Shoemaker a Gentleman (1637), which was based on an earlier work by Thomas Deloney, The Gentle Craft (1584). In the 19th-century, St Winifred’s Well was written by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
Winifred was in the U.S. Top 1000 Female names between 1900 and 1965. The name was never too popular however, the highest Winifred ever ranked was at #141 in 1917.
Its diminutive offshoot of Winnie established itself as an independent given name by the 16th-century. There are a few records of “just Winnies” going as far back as the 1500s. Other interesting variations that appear in old English records include Wenefrett, Wenneffred, Winefrute, and Winnifruite.
Winnie appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 between 1900 and 1957 and peaked at #190 between 1900 and 1901.
Its original Welsh form doesn’t seem to have ever been in popular use outside of Wales, and while other Welsh names have established themselves in regular use across the anglosphere, Gwenffrewi was never one of them.
Other forms of the name include:
Sources
Origin: French, Breton
Meaning: a diminutive form of Yann (Breton form of John)
Gender: masculine, sometimes used as a unisex name outside Brittany
(yah-NEEK)
Yannick is a franconisation of the Breton male Yanig, which is a diminutive form of Yann (John).
Due to the –ick, ique suffix which is traditionally found in French unisex names, it was sometimes bestowed on females. In Bretagne (Brittany) however, the name was always strictly masculine. There is an almost identical Breton female name, Janig (Jeannette) which is sometimes franconized to Jeannick/Jeannique, and this is where the confusion among French-speakers lie, as Janig was also sometimes franconized to Yannick.
The name first entered the Francophone mainstream in the 1920s, and by the 1970s, became an extremely popular male name in France and outside the Hexagone. He was the Jason of France and is now considered a name dated to the 1970s-90s. Thereafter, the name trickled into use in Dutch-speaking, German-speaking, and Portuguese-speaking countries
Yannick was in the French top 100 between 1946-1991. It peaked in popularity 3 years in a row between 1972-1974, coming in as the 31st most popular male name. In 2008, Yannick had burned himself out and disappeared from the popularity charts altogether, and has yet to be seen.
In Belgium, Yannick was in the Top 100 between 2000 and 2001 and peaked at #73 in 2000. In French-speaking Switzerland, he peaked at #34 between 1995-1996. He has made his appearance in Austria, coming and going from the Top 100 between 2005 and 2010 and peaked at #57 in 2006 and 2010. In the Netherlands, he remains in the Top 1000, though not popular, he comes in at a meagre #369.
In Germany, the name appears in the form of Jannik and became wildly popular starting in the mid-80s. In this case, however, the name may be used in reference to a Dutch or Frisian diminutive form of Jan (john), but German parents have occasionally opted for the Yannick spelling if they wanted to be a bit different, and have sometimes even confused the Polish diminutive form Janek as a nice alternative, though in Poland, Janek is never used as an independent given name. An interesting side note, in France and Quebec, Yannick did become slightly popular among Polish immigrant parents due to its similarity to Janek. A notable Franco-Polish bearer is football player, Yannick Stopyra (b. 1961).
Through the years, the name has been borne by several notable personalities, some of the most notable being French tennis player, Yannick Noah (b. 1960), Canadian actor, Yannich Bisson (b.1969), Portuguese football player, Yannick dos Santos Djaló (b. 1986); French olympic Swimmer, Yannick Aignel (b. 1992), and Belgian football player, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco (b. 1993).
Other spellings include: Yannig, Yanik, Yanick, Yannik and the particular favorite among Quebecois, Yanic.
Sources
Origin: Biblical
Meaning: debated
Gender: Masculine
The name is of debated origin and meaning. It is found in the Book of Esther as the name of the adopted father of Esther, the son of Jair of the tribe of Benjamin. Mordecai was a Persian subject of Jewish extraction who refused to bow down before Haman, who as a result, proclaimed an edict to kill all Jews. Through the successful plotting of Mordecai and his adopted daughter Esther, they were both able to entrust themselves to the Persian king who upon marrying Esther, foiled Haman’s plot to annihilate the Jews.
The meaning and origin of the name itself seems to be debated. A popular theory is that it is from a Persian name, Marduku, which simply means “servant of Marduk” or “belonging to Marduk.” Marduk was the name of the supreme Sumerian creator diety who had been worshipped in Ancient Persia and Babylon. According to scholars, it would not have been unlikely for Jews to bear the name of a pagan diety as many exiled Jews took the names of their captors; among ancient Persian Jews, Marduk would have just been a general translation of “God.”
Other theories propound that it comes from various Hebrew root words, such as
According to rabbinic literature, a Midrashic interpretation of Mordecai is that the name is from the Hebrew words, mara dochi, meaning “pure myrrh.” It is also suggested that Mordecai’s name was actually Mordecai Bilshan, based on Ezra 2:2 and Nehemiah 7:7, and thus the name has also been interpreted as meaning “master of many languages” due to the latter element, reminding readers that Mordecai was highly learned.
In the English-speaking world, Mordecai has been in use since at least the 16th-century, and seems to come into popular use after the Protestant Reformation.
Other forms of the name include:
Mordecai has not appeared in the U.S. top 1000, but Mordechai has. The latter entered the U.S. top 1000 in 2003 when it came in as the 963rd most popular male name. Mordechai disappeared and reentered in 2016 as the 998th most popular male name.
Nicknames include:
Sources
I thought at the beginning of each month, I would post a list of names associated with the that particular month. Below is a list of names I have previously written about associated with January
Agnes: January 21st is the feast of St. Agnes and according to folklore, on January 20th, which John Keats’ was inspired to write a poem about, unmarried girls are supposed to see a future glimpse of their husband in their dreams the night before, provided they do not eat that day.
Frost: January is often associated with cold temperatures and frosty weather. Here are some name associated with frost
Sarma, Sarmite: These 2 Latvian lovelies come directly from the Latvian word for hoarfrost. The latter is pronounced sar-MEE-teh.
Kirsi: This Finnish female name is associated with the cherry fruit but also means “frost” in Finnish.
Other names that mean “frost” or words for frost from other languages include:
Male
Female
Snow: Also one of the snowiest months of the year, some names that mean “snow.”
Other names meaning snow that I have yet to write about include
Male
Female
Ice, the following are names that mean “ice”
Male
Female
Epiphany: January 6th officially marks the end of the Christmas season, when the Magi finally were able to locate the Christ child and bestow gifts upon him.
Garnet is the birthstone of January. Below is a list of words from other languages that mean “garnet” and would make awesome names
Likewise, Carnation is the birthflower, its Latin name is Dianthus, which was a name before it was a flower. Below is a list of words from other languages that mean “carnation” and would make awesome names. Also mixed in are some names with the meaning of “carnation” or just have carnation associations
And for boys, other than Dianthus, there is the Italian Garafano
The Chinese plum is the flower emblam for Spring, in Chinese it is called Meihua and its Japanese name is Ume. In Korean it is called Maesil and Vietnamese it is called Mai.
In Japan, the flower emblem for January is the Camellia.
Another January birthflower is the snowdrop
The Zodiac signs associated with January are Capricorn and Aquarius. Capricorn means goat and Aquarius waterbearer. Some names that mean both
The ruling planet of Capricorn and Aquarius is Saturn, so Saturnina or Saturnin/Saturnino are also names to consider.
Finally, here are names that mean “January,” some come directly from words, others are a translation of the Latin male name Januarius.
Male
Female
Origin: Greek
Meaning: “lyre.”
Gender: Feminine
Pronunciation: LIE-rah
The name comes from the Greek meaning “lyre.” It is the name of a constellation which was named for the lyre of Orpheus, which was said to quell the voices of sirens.
Lyra is also the name of a type of ancient Musical instrument.
The name first came into use in the English-speaking world in the 19th-century. It first appeared in the U.S. Top 1000’s Most Popular Female names in 2015. As of 2016, it was the 932nd most popular female name. It’s recent appearance may be influenced by Philip Pullman’s popular trilogy, His Dark Materials (1995), in which it is the name of one of the main characters, Lyra Belacqua.
The lovely Breton, Lourenn (loo-RENN) would also make a wonderful alternative.
Other forms include:
Lourenn (Breton)
Lira (Catalan/Italian/Latvian/Occitanian/Romanian/Polish/Slovenian)
Lüüra (Estonian)
Lyra (English/Portuguese/Spanish)
Lyyra (Finnish)
Lyre (French)
Sources
https://www.behindthename.com/name/lyra
https://www.ssa.gov
https://www.familysearch.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyra
The last few years I have been studying French naming trends. There have apparently been French and Québécois parents using such American favorites as Aftone, Camérone, Madisson, Béverly etc on their baby girls. I decided to go down the U.S. Top 1000 from 2016 and Franconize some names. Do you recognize any? Do you think any are usable? If you are a French or Québécois parent looking for an original name, please feel free to use these. Any names missing is because they already have a French equivalent or have a long-established use in Francophone countries
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Breton
Meaning: “honour.”
The name is derived from the Breton word, enor, meaning, “honour.”
It was borne by an early Breton saint, the former fiancée of Saint Efflamm, both of whom gave up the married life to live a life of poverty and chastity.
As of 2010, Enora was the 117th most popular female name in France.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Greek
Meaning: “of man, belonging to man.”
The name is derived from the Greek Ανδρεασ (Andreas), which is derived from the Greek word, ανδροσ (andros), a genitive form of the word, ανηρ (aner), meaning, “man.” Hence, it would rougly translate to mean “belonging to man” or “of man.”
It was popularized by one of the twelve Apostles, who is now considered a popular Christian saint. It is suggested that Andreas was a nickname given to him, or possibly just a direct Greek translation of a Hebrew name that had a similar meaning, now lost to history.
Saint Andrew is considered the patron saint of Scotland, Russia, Greece and Romania. According to legend, he was martyred around the Black sea on an X shaped cross. His designated name-day is November 30.
The name has remained a staple in the U.S. top 100. As of 2011, he was the 16th most popular male name. His rankings and his various incarnations in other countries are as follows:
Other forms are as follows (listed alphabetically by linguistic origin).
Belorusian diminutives are: Andros, Andruk and Andrus. Czech masculine diminutive forms are Andy, Ondra, Ondrášek, Ondrejko, Ondrík, Ondřejek and Ondříček. French diminutive forms are: Dédé, Ti-Dré, Andi, Déa & Andy. A German diminutive form is Andy/Andi and English are Andi, Andie, Andy, Dre and Drew. A Hungarian diminutive is Bandi and Polish diminutive forms are Andrzejek, Jędrek and Jędruś. Scotch diminutive form is Dand.
Note: Andrea is a common feminine form in most European countries outside of Italy and Albania, particularly in Germany and the Anglo-phone world. Whether this is a borrowing from the Italian and was changed, or a coincidental evolution, is unknown. What is known is that Andrea has been used in England as a feminine form since the 17th-century.
Feminine forms are (listed alphabetically by linguistic origin)
Czech diminutive forms are: Adrejka, Andruška, Andra, Rea. English diminutive forms are Andi, Andy, Annie and Drea.