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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
From the name of a city mentioned in the Bible which is now located in Palestine. The meaning of the name is debated, some sources claim the name is from a Caananite word reah meaning “fragant” or the Canaanite word for moon (yareah), as the city was once the centre of worship for the Caananite moon-god Yarikh. Yarikh’s name also appears as Jarah, Jerah and Jorah. In modern times, the name is referred to as ʼArīḥā, in Arabic, meaning “fragrant.”
Today I am going to provide a list of Medieval Polish names. You won’t see these anymore, but some of these are just lovely gems. What do you think?
Origin: Greek
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.