----- Original Message ----- From: bertschs@gwtc.net To: LADD-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 10:39 PM Subject: How Our Names Originated How Our Names Originated By Dr. George W. Crane Hilda G. aged 16, is a high school junior. "How did we get our names?" she began. "And I mean both our first names as well as our surnames?" The surnames didn't arrive till about 1500 in Europe, for population was not so great that last names were greatly needed. Moses and Aristotle and Galileo and other great figures of the past had no surnames. But when too many boys in an English village held the name "John," something else had to be added. Thus, surnames arose. John, the carpenter, soon became John Carpenter. John, the gold smith, was shortened to John Goldsmith. If he lived by the meadows, he was called John Meadows. Just look through your city telephone directory and you will find all sorts of trades now used as surnames. John Stout; John Short; John Longfellow; John Farmer; John Castle, etc., show that surnames came from personal traits, as well as trades and locations. But our first names likewise developed from basic root meanings in Latin, Greek or Hebrew, as shown for the girls'names below: Abigail (my father is joy); Adelaide (of noble rank); Agatha (kind); Agnes (pure); Alice (truth); Alma (cherishing); Amanda (worthy to be loved); Amelia (industrious); Amy (beloved); Ann (grace); Avis (bird). Barbara (foreign); Beatrice (she makes happy); Belle (beautiful); Bertha (bright); Beulah (married); Bridget (lofty). Camilla (freeborn girl); Caroline (strong); Celeste (heavenly); Charlotte (strong); Clara (bright); Constance (firmness); Cora (Maiden). Deborah (a bee); Diana (goddess); Dinah (judged); Dolores (sorrows); Dorcas (a gazelle); Dorothy (gift of God); Edna (rejuvenation); Elizabeth (consecrated); Estella (from a star); Ethel (noble); Eunice (happy victory); Evelyn (youth). Felicia (happiness); Flora (flowers); Florence (prosperity); Frances (a free woman); Frieda (peace). Gertrude (spear maiden); Gloria (glory); Grace (favor); Hilda (battle maid); Honora (honorable); Huldah (a weasel). Irene (Peace); Iris (rainbow); Janet, Jane and Joan (God is gracious); Judith (praised); Laura (laurel); Leila (dark as night); Letitia (happiness); Lilian (lily); Lola (sorrows). Margaret (a pearl); Martha (lady); Matilda (heroine); Minnie (love); Naomi (my sweetness); Patricia (noble); Phoebe (shining); Phyllis (a green bough); Prudence (discretion). Rachel (a ewe); Regina (queen); Rhoda and Rosa (a rose); Rosalind (a pretty rose). Sarah (a princess); Stella (a star); Susan (a lily); Victoria (victory); Viola (a violet); Zoa (life). Many femail first names are taken from similar masculine names, as Caroline and Charlotte, which stem from Charles.