Giselher is an early Old High German masculine name formed from two classic Germanic elements, gisel (pledge) and hari (army).
The best-known figure is King Giselher of Burgundy, a 5th-century ruler who appears in both history and legend. He is immortalized as a character in the Nibelungenlied, the great Middle High German epic, alongside his brothers Gunther and Gernot.
It was also the name of an 11th-century Bishop of Madgeburg who succeeded St. Adalbert.
It is found in records as the name of Teutonic Knights in Estonia, Latvia and Poland. It experienced a minor revival in the early 20th-century but is quite rare in contemporary German-speaking countries.
Its Anglo-Saxon version of Gislhere was borne by an 8th-century Bishop of Selsey.
A more recent bearer was German composer, Giselher Klebe (1925-2009).
Its designated name-day in Austria is September 28th.
S.L. Uckelman. “Giselhar”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Giselhar.
The name appears in Greek mythology. It is connected to a woman who killed herself when her love for Demophon was not returned. She was transformed into an almond or hazelnut tree, depending on the legend. It comes directly from the Greek word, Φυλλίς, meaning, “leaves, foliage,” which shares a root with the words chlorophyll and phyllotaxis. Its Turkish form of Filiz comes from the same root but the meaning slightly changes to “sprout; root.”
It also appears as the name of a minor river god of Bithynia.
It came into widespread use in England in the 16th-century and later spread to the rest of the Anglosphere.
Early Puritan records occasionally include Phyllis/Phillis, reflecting classical learning even among settlers. Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784), the first published African-American female poet, is a striking historical bearer.
An 18th-century English short form was Lissie or Lissy.
It frequently appears in Elizabethan and Restoration poetry and drama. Poets such as Ben Jonson and Andrew Marvell used “Phyllis” as a stock name for a beloved in pastoral verse. Later modernists like Ezra Pound continued this tradition. This usage helped keep it familiar to English speakers for centuries.
It marked its presence in baroque operas (e.g., Handel’s Acis and Galatea includes a character named Phyllis) and in folk songs of the British Isles.
Victorian painters of the Pre-Raphaelite school sometimes chose the Phyllis and Demophon story for mythological canvases.
In the United States, it appeared in the Top 100 Female Names between 1915-1958, peaking at #24 in 1929. In the U.K., it came in at #14 in 1914, #4 in New Zealand in 1911, and #29 in 1922 in Canada.
Its Turkish offshoot of Filiz appeared in the Turkish Top 100 between 1980-1996, peaking at #11 between 1980-1982.
Today, the name is considered dated in the English-speaking world.
Phillyda, pronounced /ˈfɪl.ɪ.də/ in English is an alternate form.
The name is of uncertain origin or meaning, it is more than likely derived from the Latin, elitus (elite).
It has been used across Europe for centuries. It appears in records in France and Strasbourg during the 16th-century, and was not unheard of in 18th-century America. In the latter case, it may have been used among Calvinist families.
The name is also used in Latvia, likely introduced in the mid 18th-century and experienced popularity in the 1960s, peaking at #27 in 1965.
It was borne by American actress, Elita Proctor Otis (1861-1927); Latvian actress, Elita Kļaviņa (b. 1956); Latvian politician, Elita Krūmiņa (b. 1965) and Latvian journalist, Elita Veidemane (b. 1955).
Early French vernacular forms are Élita and Élite.
The name is from the classical Greek, related toApollo. It was borne by several early Christian saints. The most notable being St. Apollinaris of Ravenna, a Syrian Christian missionary to Ravenna who was martyred there and thereafter became the city’s patron saint.
The French form Apollinaire is linked to the Franco-Polish poet, Guillaume Apollinaire. He lived from 1880 to 1918. He was born Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki.
Apolinary was common in Poland during the late 19th-century and early 20th-centuries, it is now obsolete. Diminutives include: Apolinek, Apollinek, Apolin, Apollin, Polin, Polinary, Polinarek, Polinaruś, Poli, and Polik.
In Italy, Apollinare was mainly used in the Romagna region due to it being the name of their patrion saint, but it has since fallen out of use.
Apollinaire sporadically appeared in the French Top 1000 between 1900 and 1926 and peaked at #403 in 1923. In 2024, 5 babies were given this name.
Neither its masculine form nor its feminine form had much usage in the English-speaking world. It was mostly used in families of Greek or Eastern European background during the late 19th-century.
Designated name-days include July 20th, July 23rd, and September 12th
A traditional feminine diminutive form in Russian is Polina. Polish diminutives include: Apollinka, Apollina, Apolinka, Apolla, Apola, Pola, Polka, Polcia, Polina, and Polinka. Modern Greek diminutives include: Nαρία (Naría), Πόλλα (Pólla), or Λίνα (Lina). Potential English short forms would include: Apple, Pollie, Polly, and Narey, or Narie.
The name is Hebrew, either derived from צל (tsel) (shadow) or צלל (tsalal) (to ring like a bell). In Genesis 4:19, it is the name of one of the two wives of Lamech.
Though it never became a widespread Jewish name until recently, it had usage in the Protestant Anglo world since the 16th-century and experienced mild popularity in the mid to late 19th-century. It appeared in the U.S. Top 100 between 1881 and 1886, peaking at #679. It was borne by Zillah Oakes (circ. 1870s), the namesake of the city of Zillah, Washington. It was also borne by New Zealand Politician, Zillah Smith Gill (1859-1937).
In English literature, Lord Byron used it as the name of the wife of Abel in his 1821 play, Cain. It is the name of a servant in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847), and the name of the titular heroin in the 1865 operetta by Australian composer, William Wilkins Russell. In recent years, it is the name of a character in Madeleine L’Engle’s, A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978).
It may have occasionally been used as a form or short form of Cecilia.
The name is derived from the Latin perpetuus, meaning “continous; perpetual.” It was borne by a 3rd-century Christian matyr and saint, the companion of St. Felicity and it was also the name of the sister of St. Augustine of Hippo.
Perpetua and its various forms have been in sporadic use throughout the Catholic world. In Italy, it became synonymous with a priest’s housekeeper. This is due to the eponymous character in Alessandro Manzoni’s 19th-century novel, “The Betrothed.“
It experienced sporadic use in England in the 1920s after the release of the now lost 1922 film, Perpetua also known as Love’s Boomerang.
It has recently appeared in English literature as the name of minor characters in Bridget Jones’s Diary (Helen Fielding), and in the Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling).
It was borne by Scottish landscape painter, Perpetua Pope (1916-2013).
It is the name of Cape Perpetua Oregon which was named for St. Perpetua as well as a typeface.
It’s designated name-day is February 1, March 6th and March 7th.
The name is composed of the Germanic elements al (all) and rikr (ruler). It was most notably borne by two Gothic kings, Alaric I and Alaric II. Alaric I was known for leading a rebellion against Rome and sacking it. His Gothic name was 𐌰𐌻𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (Alareiks).
An historical curiosity, Alaric has never experienced much usage, however, it has been in the U.S. Top 1000 since 2017, and currently ranks in as 915th most popular male name.
Other forms include:
Alaric (Catalan, French, English, Occitanian)
Alarich (Czech, German, Slovak)
Alareiks (Gothic)
Alarico (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
Alaricus (Latin)
Alariks (Latvian)
Alarikas (Lithuanian)
Alaryk (Polish)
Alarih Аларих (Russian, Ukrainian)
Alarik (Scandivanian, Slovene)
Obscure feminine forms include Alarica, Alarika and Alarice.
Nectar is the English form of the Greek NektariosΝεκτάριος, which is derived from νέκταρ (nektar), meaning “nectar, the drink of the gods. Nectar is not a name that has ever been in common use in the English-speaking world, but since it is the name of several Eastern and Western Christian saints, the proper English male translation of the name would be Nectar; or it would have appeared thus in the calendar.
It was borne by St. Nectaire of Auvergne, a 4th-century Christian missionary to the Gauls in what is now the Massif Central region of France. According to Gregory of Tours, he was sent by Pope Fabian, along with his brothers, where he transformed a temple that was dedicated to Apollo on Mont Cornadore into a cathedral that still stands, and was subsequently beheaded by the local Gaulic chieftain. The commune of Saint-Nectaire in the Puy-de-Dôme department of France gets its name from him, as does the cheese of the same name; or the latter technically comes from the Marshal of Senneterre, which is a linguistic corruption of Saint-Nectaire.
Liba can have a few meanings, it is firstly a polonized form of the Yiddish ליבאַ Lieba (love), which is identical to the German word. It may have also been influenced by the Czech word libý (nice; pleasant). It was popular among Eastern-European Jews as it also coincided with the Czech-Slovak nameLíba, which is a contracted form of names like Libuše& Liběna.
Also sometimes spelled Liebe.
It was sometimes anglicized by Jewish immigrants to Leeba.
A Yiddish masculine form is Liber or Lieber.
In Latvia, the designated name-day is April 19, though in this case, it is probably a borrowing from the Czech & Slovak use.
DaeiraΔαιρα is Greek and is derived from the Greek δαο (dao), meaning “the knowing one; the teacher.” It was the name of an Oceanid nymph who was said to be the mother of Eleusis. She may have originally been a fertility goddess who was associated with the Eleusian mysteries. The name was also sometimes used as an epithet for Persephone, Aphrodite and Hera. Daira is the Latin translation and it has come into recent popular use in Latin America. It is also used in Latvia, but in this case it is not known if it is of Latvian origins or a borrowing from the same above Greek Source.
