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- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “nectar.”
Nectar is the English form of the Greek Nektarios Νεκτάριος, 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.
Male forms include:
- Nektarij, Nektary Нектарий (Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian)
- Nectari (Catalan)
- Nektarious (Coptic)
- Nectarije (Croatian-Serbian)
- Nectar (English)
- Nectaire (French)
- Nektari ნეკტარი (Georgian)
- Nektarios Νεκτάριος (Greek)
- Nettario (Italian)
- Nectareus, Nectarius (Late Latin)
- Nektārijs (Latvian)
- Nektariusz (Polish)
- Nectário (Portuguese)
- Nectarie (Romanian)
- Nectario (Spanish)
Feminine forms include
- Nektaria, Nektarija Νεκταρία Nექთარიჯა Нектария (Coptic, Bulgarian, Georgian, Greek, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Ukrainian)
- Nectarie (French)
- Nettaria (Italian)
- Nectaria (Latin, Romanian, Spanish)
- Nectária (Portuguese)
A modern male Greek diminutive form is Nektary and the Russian diminutive form for both the male and female form is Nechka.
Sources
- Nectaire d’Auvergne — Wikipédia (wikipedia.org)
- Meaning, origin and history of the name Nektarios – Behind the Name
- Saint Nectaire (cef.fr)
- Prénom Nectaire (cef.fr)
- Nectarius of Auvergne – Wikipedia
- Nectarios – Wikipedia
- Нектарий — Википедия (wikipedia.org)
- Trismegistos Home
- Nettario (nome) – Wikipedia
- Meaning, origin and history of the name Nektaria – Behind the Name
Origin: French
Here are names that appear in the Top 1000 Most Popular Names in France between 1920-1930. This is not an exhaustive list or even popular names used during the time. I handpicked names that personally jumped out at me. During this time, France experienced a lot of immigration of Spain, Italy and Poland, that is why you will see odd spellings of various Italian, Spanish and Polish names. Wdyt?
Here are names that appear in the French Top 1000 between 1910-1920. Wdyt? This is not exhaustive, I handpicked names I found interesting
Below is a compilation of names that used to be popular in France, but are now very obsolete. Many of these are quite lovely. What do you think?
Here is my second list of Polish and French nature names. Please keep in mind that many of these are hypothetical. I would be honored if someone actually found inspirations and used these on their children. What do you think? Hypothetical names will have an asterisk. Names with no asterisk actually have a history of use. Also be advised that names whose meanings are obvious will not have their meaning in parenthesis.