Samson

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Sebastiane

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: “sun”

Of all the Sam names, Samson seems to be the least appreciated, ranking only as the 867th most popular male name in the United States (“Popular Baby Names.” Social Security Administration. 2011. Social Security Online. 1 Sept. 2011. http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/)

The name is found in the Old Testament as the name of one of the Israelite judges. He was given supernatural strength by God. However, when he admitted to Delilah that the secret to his power was in his hair, she had it shaven off while he was sleeping.

It is derived from the Hebrew שִׁמְשׁוֹן (Shimshon) meaning “sun.”

The name was first introduced in England after the Norman conquest due to the veneration of a Welsh bishop who founded monasteries in Brittany and Normandy.

In Basque folklore it is found as the name of a mighty giant who is attributed to creating the Pyrenees by throwing stones.

Other forms of the name include:

Shamshoun شمشون‎ (Arabic)
Sanson (Basque)
Samzun (Breton)
Samsó (Catalan)
Samson Самсо́н (Czech/English/French/Norwegian/Polish/Russian/Ukrainian/Welsh)
Simson (Dutch/Finnish/German/Swedish)
Sampson Σαμψών (Greek)
Shimshon שמשון (Hebrew)
Sámson (Hungarian)
Sansone (Italian)
Samsonas (Lithuanian)
Sansão (Portuguese)
Sansón (Spanish)

The designated name-days are: July 10 (Poland) and July 28 (Poland and France).

Common English short forms are Sam and Sammie. In Polish, the diminutive is Samsonik.

Source

http://www.behindthename.com/name/samson

Precious

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Sebastiane

Gender: Feminine
Origin: English

Yes! Precious is a legitimate name. Its usage goes all the way back to early Medieval England, and it was quite a common female name in its myriad forms across Western Europe.

It is first attested as a female given name in England in the year 1203, then again in 1279 and in 1327. It was common in Medieval Europe to give females names with nice attributes.

Preziosa appears in Medieval Italy and Preciosa is occassionally used among Spanish-speakers, sometime in reference to the Precious Blood of Christ.

Precious seems to have fallen out of usage by the 15th-century and was not revived until the late 20th-century. In the United States, it is more prevalent in the African-American community.

It is currently 958th most popular female name in the United States (2010).

Sources

Chaim

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Sebastiane

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Hebrew חַיִּים
Meaning: “life”

The name is derived from the Hebrew word for life and has been used by European Jews since at least the Middle Ages. The name was often given to sick neonates in the hopes that the child would become healthy by being given an auspicious name.

In Jewish tradition, L’Chaim (to life) is a toast.

Currently, the name is 952nd most popular male name in the United States, (2010).

Other forms of the name include the Yiddish Hyman and the feminine, Chaya חַיָה,

Source

http://www.behindthename.com/name/chaim

Hugh, Hugo

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Sebastiane

Gender: Masculine
Origin: German
Meaning: “heart; mind; spirit
(HYOO); (HYOO-go)

The name is derived from the Germanic element, hug, meaning “heart; mind; spirit” or even “memory.” The original meaning of the name seems to refer to abstract consciousness.

It appears in Norse mythology in the form of Hugin(n), (thought), the name of one of Odin’s messenger ravens who would fly around Midgård and bring Odin messages. The other raven’s name was Muninn (memory).

It was a very popular name among the Franks and was introduced into England after the Norman invasion. It was borne by an early British saint, Hugh of Lincoln. The name’s popularity spread across the British Isles, often being Gaelicized in Ireland as Aodh and in Scotland as Ùisdean.

It was borne by a 10th-century French monarch, Hugh Capet, founder of the Capetian dynasty.

Hugh is currently the 963rd most popular male name in the United States, while it’s Latin cognate of Hugo ranks significantly higher at # 441. Hugo is currently a very trendy name across Europe. Its rankings in other countries are as follows:

#4 (Spain, 2010)
#6 (Sweden, 2010)
#8 (France, 2008)
# 12 (Catalonia, Spain, 2009)
#13 (Belgium, 2008)
#50 (the Netherlands, 2o1o)
#86 (Australia, NSW, 2010)

Other forms of the name include:

Hugo (Catalan/Czech/Dutch/English/Estonian/Finnish/French/German/Hungarian/Icelandic/Latvian/Polish/Portuguese/Romanian/Scandinavian/Slovak/Slovene/Spanish)
Hugh (English)
Hugues (French)
Hauke (Frisian)
Huguo (German)
Ughetto (Italian)
Ughino (Italian)
Ugo (Italian)
Ugolino (Italian)
Ugone (Italian)
Uguccione (Italian)
Hugas (Lithuanian)
Hudde/Hud (Middle English)
Huginn (Old Norse/Icelandic)
Hugon (Polish)
Ugu (Sardinian)
Shug (Scottish)
Hugolín (Slovak)
Huw (Welsh)

Common English diminutives are: Hewie and Hughie.

Feminine forms include, Huguette (French), Uga (Italian), Ughetta (Italian), Ugolina (Italian).

The designated name-days are: Febuary 3 (Estonia), April 1 (Estonia/Hungary/Poland/Slovakia), April 29 (Germany/Poland), November 3 (Sweden), November 17 (Latvia/Poland).

The rest of its bearers are too numerous to list.

Sources

http://www.behindthename.com/name/hugo
Ernst Förstemann, Altdeutsches namenbuch (1900), page 923

Ralph

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Sebastiane

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Old Norse
Meaning: wolf counselor
British English (RAFE); American English (RELF)

The name is derived from the Norse male name, Raðulfr, which is composed of the elements, rað (counsel) and ulfr (wolf). The name has been in usage in England since Anglo-Saxon times, due to viking settlers and remained common even after the Norman conquest. Throughout the centuries, the name has gone through an evolution. In Medieval times it was often rendered as Ralf, then by the 17th-century it was commonly spelled Rafe to reflect the proper pronunciation and by the turn of the century Ralph became a household name (pronounced RELF) in the United States. Within the United States, it was also commonly used as a diminutive form of Raphael or at least as an English equivalent by various immigrants.

The highest the name has ever ranked in U.S. naming history was between 1914 and 1917, consecutively ranking in at # 21. As of 2010, it was the 968th most popular male name. It is currently the 447th most popular male name in the Netherlands (2010).

Its Latin equivalent of Raul ranked in significantly higher, it was the 336th most popular male name in the United States (2010), the 48th most popular in Catalonia (2009) and the 32nd most popular in Spain (2010)

Other forms of the name include:

Raül (Catalan)
Rafe (English)
Ralf (English/German/Scandinavian)
Raul (Estonian/Italian/Portuguese)
Raoul (French)
Radulf (German)
Raulo (Italian)
Rault (Old French)
Raoult (Old French)
Roul (Old French)
Raðulfr (Old Norse)
Raou (Occitanian)

Raúl (Spanish)

Ralphie is a common diminutive form in the English-speaking world.

The name was borne by a 12th-century male saint. It is also borne by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Designated name-days are: March 7 (Estonia), March 27 (Sweden) July 7 (France), August 27 (Sweden)

Raul is also the name of a volcanic island in the Kermadec archipelago.

Sources

Ernst Förstemann, Altdeutsches namenbuch (1900), page 1219
http://www.behindthename.com/name/ralph

Reina

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Sebastiane

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Spanish or Yiddish רֵײנָא
Meaning: “queen” or “pure”
(RAY-nah)

The name can either be from the Spanish word for queen or comes from the Yiddish word, rein, meaning “clean; pure.”

In the Spanish-speaking world, the name has been around since Medieval times and was often used as a Regina equivalent.

Among European Jews, the name was used as a Yiddish form of Katherine, sometimes transliterated as Rayna (English), Reina/Raina (German) or Rejna (Polish).

Rayna is coincidentally a Bulgarian female form of Rayno, believed to be derived from Radko, which itself is derived from the Slavic element, rad (care).

It can also likewise be the Latvian word for the Rhine river, and is the name of two different places, one in Estonia and the other in Spain. It is the name of a type of grape used to make red wine.

Another form is the Medieval French, Reine.

Currently, Reina is the 977th most popular female name in the United States (2010), while Rayna ranked in at 899 (2010).

The designated name-day in Estonia is September 7.

Source

Daniel, Danielle

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Sebastiane

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Biblical Hebrew
Meaning: “God is my Judge.”

If you are like me, you probably think Daniel is dull and overused. Then there is the other camp who might think this is a wonderful classic. It has the youthful nickname options of Dan and Danny and its used in just about every European country with such variants as the Italian Daniele and the Czech and Polish diminutive forms of Danek. Another plus is that, while the name has religious connotations, its doesn’t adhere to a specific denomination. It is fair game for both Jewish and Christian parents alike, Catholic and Protestant. It is even used among Muslims.

The name Daniel is found in the Old Testament, (it has its own book), composed of the Hebrew elements dan meaning “judge” and the 1st person possessive singular suffix of i plus El which was a reference to God.

As for the Biblical Daniel himself, according to the Bible, he was a Jewish boy who was captured by the Babylonians and employed as a sort of dream-reader, (sounds like a pretty cool job). Daniel was so good at his job that he eventually became famous, even among his Persian and Babylonian captives. Due to his prestige and influence, Daniel was also able to persuade his captors to release the Jews back to their homeland. There is far more to the Biblical Daniel’s story than I will write here, but he is probably most noted for his steadfast loyalty to his faith and people as well as his miraculous survival after being thrown in a den of lions.

In the United States, Daniel has been steadfast in its popularity. He currently comes in at # 5. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, he comes in at # 7. In Scotland at # 3. In Ireland # 4. While in Spain he comes in at a whopping # 2.

This forms is also used in the Czech Republic, Finland, French-speaking countries, German-speaking countries, Poland, Portuguese-speaking countries, Romania, Scandinavia, Slovakia and Spanish-speaking countries

Other forms include :

Dana (Afrikaans)
Danieli (Albanian)
Danyal دانيال (Arabic)
Taniel (Armenian)
Danel (Basque)
Danilo (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian)
Deniel (Breton)
Danail Данаил (Bulgarian)
Danelu (Corsican/Sardinian/Sicilian)
Daan (Dutch/Limburgish)
Daniël (Dutch)
Daaniel/Taaniel (Estonian)
Tanel/Tani (Estonian)
Taano/Tanno (Estonian)
Taneli/Tatu (Finnish)
Dāniyyêl דָּנִיֵּאל (Hebrew: Modern)
Dániel (Hungarian)
Daniló (Hungarian)
Dános (Hungarian)
Daniele (Italian: dahn-YAY-lay)
Daniello (Italian: an archaic version which died out in the 17th-century)
Danilo/Danilio (Italian: obscure)
Danielius (Lithuanian)
Daniilu Данїилъ (Old Church Slavonic)
Dani داني (Persian)
Daniyal دانيال (Persian)
Danil/Dănuṭ (Romanian: duh-NOOTS)
Daniil Даниил (Russian)
Daniele/Danijel (Slovene)
Dani/Däne/Dänu/Danü (Swiss-German: Bern dialect)
Danyal/Danyel(Turkish)
Deiniol (Welsh)

Czech diminutives are: Dan, Daník, Daneček, Danoušek, Danny, Dandýsek, Dady, Danda, Dáda, Danda, Dannys, Danušík and Dandýsek, Italian diminutive forms are: Nilo, Danio, Danino and Nilio.

Danya Даня is a common Russian and Ukrainian diminutive form.

Let us not forget its feminine versions of Daniella, Daniela and Danielle. As of 2010, its Spanish and Slavic diminutive form of Dania reached the top 1000, coming in as the 999th most popular female name in the United States.

The French Danielle, does not have the same staying power as its masculine counterpart. Though always more common as a middle name, Danielle is one of the quintessential names of the 1980s. In 1987, she came close to reaching the top 10 by hitting # 14. In the last popularity census, Danielle still comes in rather high at # 144. Its Latinate counterpart of Daniela comes in a tad bit higher at # 121, while the Italian Daniella is all the way down at # 303.

Other forms are:

Danijela (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian/Slovene)
Danaila (Bulgarian)
Daniela (Czech/German/Polish/Portuguese/Romanian/Scandinavian/Slovene/Spanish)
Danielle (English)
Danièle (French)
Danelia (Italian: obscure)
Daniella (Italian)
Danila/Danilla (Italian: obscure)

Italian feminine diminutives are : Dana, Dania and Nila.

Designated name-days are: July 21 (Germany/Hungary/Slovakia), December 10 (Poland/Lithuanian), December 11 (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden), December 17 (Greec/Czech Republic)