Gender: Masculine
Origin: Welsh
Meaning: “kind.”
(EL-lis; EL-ih-SETH)
Ellis is an anglicized form of the Welsh male name, Elisedd which is derived from the Welsh element, elus meaning “kind.” The name was borne by at least two Welsh kings.
Currently, Ellis is the 732nd most popular male name in the United States, (2010).
Source
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Scottish
Meaning: “brown warrior.”
(DUN-ken)
Duncan is an anglicized form of the Scots-Gaelic Donnchadh which is composed of the elements, donn (brown) and cath (warrior). The name was borne by Duncan I of Scotland, the inspiration behind Shakespeare’s play Macbeth (1606).
Currently, Duncan is the 705th most popular male name in the United States, (2010) and the 259th most popular in the Netherlands (2010).
Other forms of the name include:
Donagh (Irish)
Donnchad (Irish/Scottish)
Donnchadh (Irish/Scottish)
Source
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “wood; forest.”
(SIL-vee-ah)
The name is a feminine form of Silvius, which is derived from the Latin silva meaning, “wood; forest.”
In Roman legend it was borne by the mother of Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome), Rhea Silvia. It has been suggested that at one time she have been worshipped as a minor forest diety.
It was also borne by a 6th-century Italian saint credited as being the mother of St. Gregory the Great.
Before the 16th-century, Silvia’s usage was relegated to continental Europe, it gained notoriety in England after being used by Shakespeare in his 1594 play, The Two Gentleman of Verona.
The spelling of Sylvia has been the standard in the English-speaking world since the 19th-century.
Currently, it is the 554th most popular female name in the United States, (2010). Her rankings in other countries are as follows:
# 61 (Spain, 2010)
# 282 (the Netherlands, 2010)
Other forms of the name include:
Sylviya Сыльвія (Belarusian)
Silviya Силвия (Bulgarian)
Sílvia (Catalan/Portuguese)
Silvija (Croatian/Lithuanian/Slovene)
Lesana (literally meaning “woods; forest” it is sometimes used as a Czech and Slovakian equivalent of Sylvia)
Silvie (Czech)
Silvia (Estonian/Italian/Romanian/Slovak/Spanish)
Sylvia (Finnish/English/German/Scandinavian)
Sylphide (French)
Sylvaine (French)
Sylviane (French)
Sylvie (French)
Szilvia (Hungarian)
Sylvía (Icelandic)
Silva (Italian/Slovene)
Silvestra (Italian)
Silvana (Italian/Hungarian/Slovene)
Silvania (Italian)
Silviana (Italian)
Silvina (Italian)
Silvietta (Italian)
Sylvi (Norwegian)
Sylwia (Polish)
Sil’vija Сильвия(Russian)
Silvena (Slovene)
Silvenka (Slovene)
Silverija (Slovene)
Silvica (Slovene)
Zülfiye (Turkish)
Síl”viya Сі́львія(Ukrainian)
Common diminutives include:
Silva/Silvinka (Czech)
Sylvette (French)
Silviuccia (Italian)
Lyya or Lyka (Russian)
Syl”va or Sylya (Russian)
Ylya (Russian)
Sylvia is also the name of a species of warbler.
In recent years the name has been borne by American poet, Sylvia Plath (1932-1963), Queen Silvia of Sweden (b.1943)
Masculine forms include:
Silvije (Croatian)
Silvijo (Croatian/Slovene)
Silvio (Croatian/Italian/Portuguese/Spanish)
Sylvain (French)
Silvius (Latin)
Sylwiusz (Polish)
Silviu (Romanian)
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Originally this post was entitled Christmas names, but I decided to change the topic to Holiday season names in general. Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Devali, Hanukkah, Yuletide, Kwanzaa or even Yalda, below are a list of names that have a seasonal feel. Enjoy!
Have a Happy Holiday and a Merry Christmas!
Female
Rosemary seems to have been coined in the 19th-century, either being taken from the name of the herb or used as a combination of both Rose and Mary.
In the case of the herb, it is derived from the Latin ros marinus which literally means “dew from the sea.”
The name seems to have been especially common among Irish-Catholic families as the rose is a symbol for the Virgin Mary.
Its popularity peaked in 1946 when it was the 75th most popular female name in the United States. As of 2010, it was 720th most popular female name.
Its Germanic form of Rosemarie has spawned the diminutive of Romy, now commonly used as an independent given name in the Netherlands. As of 2010, Romy was the 55th most popular female name in the Netherlands and the 202nd most popular in France (2008).
Source
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Hebrew חִזְקִיָהוּ
Meaning: “Yahweh strengthens”
Eng (hez-eh-KYE-ah)
The name is a transliteration of the Hebrew masculine name Chizqiyahu which is found in the Old Testament as the name of one of the kings of Judah.
The name was in usage among the Puritans and is currently the 930th most popular name in the United States (2010).
Other forms of the name include:
Ezequies (Catalan)
Ezekija (Croatian)
Hizkia (Dutch)
Hiskia (Finnish/Norwegian/Swedish)
Ézéchias (French)
Eze’kia ეზეკია (Georgian)
Ezekias Εζεκίας (Greek)
Hiskija (German)
Chizqiyahu (Hebrew)
Ezékiás (Hungarian)
Hiszkija (Hungarian)
Ezechia (Italian/Romanian)
Ezechiasz (Polish)
Ezequias (Portuguese)
Ezekíja Езеки́я (Russian)
Jezekija (Serbian)
Ezequías (Spanish)
Source
It sounds like it could be the name of a law firm, but all of the above are derivatives of the Germanic name Conrad.
Conrad is composed of the Germanic elements, kuoni (brave) and rad (counsel). It was borne by a 10th-century Bavarian saint, and his name has left its mark on Catholic Germany since. In fact, it was a very popular name in Medieval Germany and Konrad has seemed to have been so common that the proverb Hinz und Kunz (the equivalent of the English, Every Tom, Dick & Harry) was created.
It was also borne by several illustrious German kings and dukes.
Conrad is still a fairly common name modern Germany and is currently rising in popularity in the United States. As of 2010, it was the 772nd most popular male name. Its Dutch diminutive form of Koen has recently appeared in the U.S. top 1000, coming in as the 940th most popular male name (2010). In the Netherlands, Koen ranks significantly higher, he is the 39th most popular male name (2010). In English, it is pronounced (KOH-en) like the common Jewish surname, while in Dutch it is pronounced (KOON).
In 2009, Konrad was the 44th most popular male name in Poland.
The once popular Kurt and the newly introduced Cord are also Germanic contractions.
Other forms of the name include the following:
Conráu (Asturian)
Korrada (Basque)
Konrad Конрад (Belarusian/Bulgarian/Estonian/Finnish/Polish/Scandinavian/Slovene/Ukrainian/Russian)
Conradí (Catalan)
Conradu (Corsican)
Konrád (Czech/Hungarian/Slovak)
Coenraad (Dutch)
Kiefer (Dutch)
Koenraad (Dutch)
Konradijn/Conradijn (Dutch)
Kuber (Dutch)
Conrad (English/French/German/Swedish)
Konradin (German: archaic)
Kunó (Hungarian)
Konráður (Icelandic)
Corrado (Italian)
Corradino (Italian: archaic)
Konrads (Latvian)
Konradas (Lithuanian)
Kondrat (Polish: archaic)
Conrado (Portuguese/Spanish)
Corràdu (Sardinian)
Currado (Sicilian)
Curradino (Sicilian)
In German, Conrad/Konrad has a plethora of diminutives such as: Cohen, Conni, Conz, Curd, Keno, Koni, Konni, Konz, Kord, Kuno and Kuntz.
Feminine forms include:
Conradine/Konradine (German/Norwegian)
Corrada (Italian)
Corradina (Italian)
Konradyna (Polish)
The designated name-days are: February 14 (Poland), February 19 (Poland), April 21 (Hungary & Poland), June 1 (Poland), August 1 (Poland), October 4 (Poland), November 12 (Estonia & Poland), November 21 (Poland) and November 26 (Poland & Germany).
Source
The name has several origins, meanings and derivatives depending on where in the world you find the bearer of the name. In the Western world, it is a female name, a contracted form of Wilhelmina and Hermina. It was always common in Germanic and Scandinavian countries, but was first introduced into the English-speaking world through Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897).
It is also an Indian name, derived from the Sanskrit word for fish मीना , it is sometimes transliterated as Meena. In Hinduism, it is the name of the daughter of the Goddess Usha and the God Kubera.
It is also a common Persian female name, being derived from the Farsi word for “blue glass; enamel; lapis lazuli.” It also coincides with the name of a valley near Mecca, and is therefore found as feminine given name in the Arabic-speaking world. In Arabic it means “port; harbor.”
Among Coptic Christians, it is a very popular male name. It is borne by a renowned early Christian Egyptian martyr and saint, known in the Western world as St. Menas. Mīna مينا is its original Coptic version and according to legend, the saint’s mother heard a voice saying “amen” while praying for a pregnancy.
Currently, Mina is 41st most popular female name in Norway (2010), the 314th most popular in France (2009) and the 961st most popular in the United States (2010).
The designated name-days are: November 24 (Poland) and December 23 (Lithuania/Poland).
Other forms its masculine Egyptian counterpart include:
Menna (Catalan)
Ménas (French)
Menas (Greek)
Mena (Italian: RARE)
Source
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Gaelic
Meaning: debated
Eng (NEEL)
An anglicized form of the Gaelic Niall, the name is of debated meaning, it could either mean “cloud”, “champion” or “passion.”
It was borne by Niall of the Nine Hostages, a 6th-century Irish king and eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill clan who ruled Ireland from the 6th-century to the 10th-century.
The name caught on among Viking settlers in the form of Njal and it was brought back to Iceland and became popular in other areas of Europe with large viking settlements. It was through the Normans, (descendants of Viking settlers), that the name was first introduced to England and it came to be Latinized as Nigellus later evolving into the common British name, Nigel.
Nigellus is actually derived from the Latin word niger (black) but was only ever used as a form of Niel. It was incorrectly believed by the early Norman clerics that the Norman form of Néel was from the Norman word for black. The common Middle English spelling was Neal.
Currently Neil is the 683rd most popular male name in the United States, (2010). Its original Gaelic form of Niall (NIE-all) is the 91st most popular male name in Ireland (2010) and the 95th most popular in Northern Ireland (2010). Meanwhile, its late Latin equivalent of Nigel is the 932nd most popular male name in the United States and the 239th most popular in the Netherlands (2010).
A feminine offshoot is the floral, Nigella, borne by British TV chef, Nigella Lawson. It is also the scientific name for the plant known as Love-in-the-Mist.
Other feminine forms include the Scottish Neilina, the Icelandic Njála and the continental Scandinavian Nilsine.
Other masculine forms include:
Nils (Danish/Swedish)
Nigel (English)
Njáll (Icelandic)
Néel (Norman)
Njål (Norwegian)
Source
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Spanish/Portuguese
Meaning: “mercies”
mer-THE-dhes (Spanish), mer-SE-dhes (Latin American Spanish); mer-SAY-deez (English)
The name is derived from the Spanish word, mercedes, (mercies), and was originally used in honour of the Virgin Mary, María de las Mercedes, (Mary, Full of Grace or Our Lady of Mercies).
The name was popularized outside of the Spanish speaking world via the car make, Mercedes-Benz, which was named in honour of the Austrian creator’s daughter, Mercedes Jellinek (1889-1928). Mercedes was not her true given name, it was given to her as a nickname since childhood and her real name was Adriana Manuela Ramona.
Currently, Mercedes is the 666th most popular female name in the United States, (2010). Its magyarized form of Mercédesz is the 98th most popular female name in Hungary, (2009).
Other forms of the name include:
Eskarne (Basque)
Mercè (Catalan)
Mèrsed (Creole)
Mercédès (French)
Mercede (Italian)
Merceda (Polish: obscure)
Mercédesz (Hungarian)
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