The name is composed of the Germanic elements naudiz (need, necessity) and burg (fortress, protection).
It was borne by a medieval Austrian saint. She was known for her devotion to the poor and performance of miracles. Legend has it that her master demanded she stay and scythe the wheat instead of attending mass. She threw the scythe in the air, and it remained suspended. This is the reason why she is depicted with a scythe.
The name is mainly used in Austria and Southern German but is now unusual.
Another spelling is Nothburga. An obscure French form is Notburge.
German diminutives include: Burgi, Burgel, Nota and Notti.
The designated name-days are January 26th and September 13th.
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 composed of the German elements, ger (spear), and frid (peace).
It was the name of a 9th-century saint and bishop of Münster.
The designated name-day in Austria is September 12.
Another form is Gerfrid.
Sources
S.L. Uckelman. “Gerfrid”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Gerfrid.
Bonaventure is the French and English form of the Medieval Italian male name, Bonaventura. It is ultimately made up of the Latin words, bonus “good” and venturas “the things that will come, the future.” A 13th-century Catholic Saint bore this name. He is considered a Doctor of the Church and known for authoring the biography of St. Francis of Assisi.
The name experienced widespread use throughout Catholic Europe until it fell out of use by the early 20th-century. It was the middle name of actor, Spencer Tracy (1900-1967).
The designated name-day is July 15th and September 11 in Croatia.
In recent years, it was the name of one of the ill-fated Lisbon sisters. This character appeared in Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel, The Virgin Suicides (1993). She is referred to as “Bonnie,” for short.
J. Uckelman, S.L. Uckelman. “Bonaventure”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Bonaventure
Zenobia is composed of the Greek elements, Zeus (Zeus) and bios (life). It was notably borne by a 1st-century Armenian queen of Georgian descent and later a 3rd-Century Queen of Palmyra who tried to expand into Roman territory but was defeated by Emperor Aurelian.
Zenobia of Palmyra’s name might have been a Hellenized form of her birth name, Bat-Zabbai, which is from the Aramaic meaning “daughter of Zabbai.” Zabbai itself is an Aramaic male name. It seems to be a theophoric name, meaning “gift of–.” The latter part refers to an unknown deity. It may have actually been an Aramaic form of the Hebrew female name, Bathsheba.
Speculation has also linked it with the Arabic female name Zaynab, which can either mean “father’s beauty” or be from the name of a type of flowering tree.
It was borne by the 3rd-century martyrs, Ss. Zenobia and Zenobius, two early Christians who were siblings and beheaded under Emperor Diocletian. Their feast and name-day is October 30.
In the English-speaking world, it is first recorded in Cornwall and Devon, England in the 16th-century. Early English forms of Synibie, Sinobie, Senobie, Cenobie, and Cenoby (Sen-e-bee; SIN-e-bee), would make interesting revivals in the spirit of Sydney and Willoughby. A common English diminutive was Nobby.
Zenobia appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 Most Popular Female names between 1881-1925, peaking at #669 in 1909.
Zenobia is no stranger to English literature, it is the name of a character in Nathaniel Hawthorn’s The Blithedale Romance (1852); Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (1911); and is even used by Anne Rice in her the eighth book of her vampire series, Blood and Gold (2001).
Zenobia “Nobby” Hawthorne appears as a character in the P.G. Wodehouse series, Jeeves.
Tina Fey used this as the middle name of daughter, Alice Zenobia.
S.L. Uckelman. “Zenobia”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Zenobia.
S.L. Uckelman. “Zenobius”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Zenobius.
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.
Both names are derived from the Old Saxon bodo (lord). It has alternately been argued to be linked with the Old German, boto (messenger). It may have also been a hypochoristic form of any older Medieval Germanic name which had the bod- element.
It was borne by a 7th-century Frankish saint, who was bishop of Toul, he founded what is now known as the Monastery of Bonmoutier.
Bodo reentered popular use in Germany in the 19th-century. In recent years, its low German form of Bode has entered the U.S. top 1000. It currently ranks in as the 960th most popular male name (2022).
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.
Both come from the Greek, θεός (theos) meaning “god” and δόσις (dosis) meaning “giving.” Both the male and female form were borne by several Christian saints and Medieval rulers. In the English-speaking world, a notable bearer was Theodosia Alston Burr (1783-1813), the daughter of Aaron Burr and an American socialite who mysteriously disappeared in a ship-wreck. Her fate has been a source of speculation for two centuries, but she most likely died in the wreck. She is also the subject of the Broadway opera song from Hamilton, My Theodosia.
It’s female version has experienced usage in the English-speaking world since the 15th-century. It has spun off several diminutive off-shoots, which later became independent names, such as Docie/Dosey, Doshie, Dosha, Docia and Theda.
Theodosia appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 Most Popular Female Names between 1880-1895, it peaked at number #547 in 1880. It’s offshoot of Doshie appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 between 1880-1905 and peaked at #640 in 1884 whereas Doshia peaked at #582 in 1881 and Docia at #317 in 1880.
Theda (THEE-dah) was the name of silent film actress, Theda Bara (born Theodosia Burr Goodman, 1885-1955). Theda appeared in the U.S. Top 1000 between 1880-1948 and peaked at #350 in 1916. Theda Bara may have helped sustain the usage of the name in the United States, but it seems to have been common enough long before she graced the silver screen.
In the 1988 movie For Keeps, starring Molly Ringwald, a teen couple are faced with an unexpected pregnancy, in which they name their daughter Theodosia, short form Thea, it is a last minute decision decided by the father who gets the name from his deceased grandmother of the same name.
It is the name of the main character of the R. L. LaFevers 2007 children’s novel, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, which spun off a tv series.
Its pronunciation in the English-speaking world fluctuates depending on the region and personal preference, from THEE-oh-DOH-see-uh, to THEE-oh-DOH-shuh and THEE-oh-DOH-zhuh, the sky’s the limits.
Its masculine form has always been prevalent in eastern Christian countries but did not pick up the same momentum in the English-speaking world as its feminine counterpart did.
Female forms
Tayodosiya ታዮዶሲዮስ (Amharic)
Thudusya ثيودوسيا (Arabic, used by Arab Christians)
