Same Name?!--Raymond

If you're anything like me, you consider Raymond a "grandpa name" (and I'm not trying to be mean; it is literally my grandpa's name). But, like many Germanic names, it has spread far and wide across Europe, helped by several saints.

Original Germanic form: Raginmund ("RAH-gin-moont")
English form: Raymond (RAY-mund)

Other forms:

• Erramun (ehr-rah-moon)--Basque
• Ramón (rah-MOHN)--Spanish
• Raimo (RYE-moh)--Finnish
• Raimondas (rye-MAWN-das)--Lithuanian
• Raimondo (rye-MOHN-doh)--Italian
• Raimund (RYE-moont)--German. Also spelled Reimund.
• Raimundo (rye-MOON-doh)--Spanish, Portuguese. Also spelled Raymundo.
• Raymond (ray-MAWN)--French
• Raymond (RYE-mond)--Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish
• Réamann (RAY-man)--Irish
• Redmond (RED-mund)--[Anglicized] Irish
• Reima (RAY-mah)--Finnish

Feminine forms:

• Erramona (ehr-rah-moh-nah)--Basque
• Raimonda (rye-MOHN-dah)--Italian
• Raimunde (rye-MOON-deh)--German
• Ramona (rah-MOHN-ah)--English, Italian, Romanian, Spanish)
• Ramóna (raw-MOHN-ah)--Hungarian
• Raymonde (ray-MAWND)--French

Same Name?!?--Mini Grab Bag II (boys)

• Aubrey (AW-bree, English))
• Alberico (al-BEHR-ee-koh, Italian)
• Auberon (OH-behr-on, French)--Also spelled Oberon.
• Avery (AY-ver-ee, English)
• Isaac (EYE-zak, English)
• Isaak (EE-sahk, German, Scandinavian; ee-SAAHK, Russian)
• Izaak (ee-ZAHK, Polish)
• Izsák (EE-zhahk, Hungarian)
• Sahak (sah-HAHK, Armenian)
• Yitzhak (yeets-KHAHK, Hebrew)

• Noah (NOH-ah, English)
• Noach (noh-AHKH, Hebrew)
• Noak (NOH-ahk, Swedish)
• Noé (noh-AY, French, Spanish, Portuguese)
• Noe (NOH-ay, Italian)
• Nojus (NOY-us, Lithuanian)

• Xavier (ek-ZAYV-yer, ZAYV-yer, English)
• Javier (hah-vee-EHR, Spanish)
• Ksawery (ksah-VEH-rih, Polish)
• Saverio (sahv-EHR-ee-oh, Italian)

Same Name?!?--Mini Grab Bag II (girls)

• Clara/Klara (KLEHR-ah, KLAH-rah)
• Claire (KLEHR, French)
• Chiara (KYAH-rah, Italian)
• Clarisse (klah-REES, French)
• Emma (EM-mah)
• Erma (UR-mah, English)
• Irma (EER-mah, German, Italian, Portuguese, Scandinavian)
• Imke (IM-keh, Dutch, German)
• Gertrude (GER-trood, English, gehr-TROO-deh, German)
• Geltrude (jel-TROO-deh, Italian)
• Gertrudis (jehr-TROO-dees, Spanish)
• Kerttu (KEHRT-too, Finnish)
• Roxanne (roks-AN, English)
• Roshanak (roh-shan-AK, Persian)
• Rossana (rohs-SAN-nah, Italian)
• Ruxandra (rewks-AN-drah, Romanian)

Same Name?!?--Sarah

Sweet, classical Sarah. Thanks to the Biblical matriarch (and probably her meaning as well--"princess"), she's been common for generations. Her spike in the 80s means she's usually stereotyped as an "our generation" name, like Jessica or Heather, but surprisingly, she's still in the top 50.
Fairly simple in sound, Sarah/Sara is used throughout the world with very little alteration. Her diversity lies mainly in diminutives, many of which are now in use as given names.

Original Hebrew form: Sarah [שָׂרָה] (sah-RAH)

Other forms:

• Kala (KAH-lah, Hawaiian)
• Sadie (SAY-dee, English)
• Saija (SYE-ah, Finnish)
• Sally (SAL-lee, English)
• Sari (SAH-ree, Finnish, Hungarian)
• Sarit (sah-REET, Hebrew)
• Sassa (SAHS-sah, Scandinavian) [also a form of Alexandra or Astrid]
• Suri (SOO-ree, Yiddish)
• Tzeitel (tZYE-tel, Yiddish)

Same Name?!--Bridget

Poor confused Bridget. To some, she's an underused classic; to others, inescapably 70s'; and to many, quintessential Irish. One of the many goddess-names that has made it into common use; she's also the name of two saints, and has thus spread throughout the Western World.

Original Irish form: Brighid (BREED. BREEJ)
English form: Bridget (BRIJ-et)

Other forms:

• Berit (BEHR-it)--Scandinavian
• Birgitta (beer-GEE-tah)--Scandinavian
• Bricia (BREE-see-ah)--Spanish [may also be from Bricius]
• Brighde (BREE-jeh)--Scottish
• Brigida (BREE-hee-dah)--Spanish
• Brígida (BREE-zhee-dah)--Portuguese
• Brigitte (bree-ZHEET)--French
• Brygida (bri-GEE-dah)--Polish
• Ffraid (FRIDE)--Welsh
• Piritta (PEER-eet-tah)--Finnish

Same Name?!--Mini Grab Bag (boys)

• Benedict (BEN-eh-dikt, English)
• Bengt (BENGT, Swedish)
• Benito (ben-EE-toh, Italian)
• Bennett (BEN-net, English)
• Benoit (ben-WAH, French)
• Laurence (LAW-rents, LOH-rents, English)
• Labhrás (LAHV-rahs, LOW-rahs, Irish)
• Lars (LAHRS, Scandinavian)
• Steven (STEE-ven, English)
• Esteban (es-TEH-bahn, Spanish)
• Étienne (ay-TYEN, French)
• István (EEST-vahn, Hungarian)
• Tapani (TAH-pah-nee, Finnish)
• Thomas (TOM-as, English)
• Tavish (TAH-vish, Scottish)--anglicized from Támhas
• Tommaso (toh-MAH-zoh, Italian)
• William (WIL-yam, English)
• Guillaume (gee-OHM, French)
• Guillermo (gee-EHR-moh, Spanish)
• Gwilym (GWIL-um, Welsh)
• Willis (WIL-lis, English)

Same Name?!?--Mini Grab Bag (Girls)

Quite frequently, I come across a name with a couple interesting variants, but not enough to dedicate an entire post to. I've been storing them away in the back of my mind, and I think I've collected enough for now. Girls' names today, and a little list of boys' names soon....and probably a few more grab-bag posts down the line (I love doing 'same name' posts--language is fun!).

• Amy (AY-mee, English)
• Aimee (eh-MAY, French)
• Amada (ah-MAH-dah, Spanish)
• Evelyn (EV-el-in, English)
• Avelina (av-eh-LEE-nah, Germanic)
• Eibhlín (EYE-leen, Irish)--anglicized to Eileen/Aileen
• Guinevere (GWIN-eh-veer, English)
• Gaynor (GAY-nor, English)
• Ginevra (jin-EV-rah, Italian)
• Jenifer (JEN-ih-fer, Cornish, English)
• Matilda (mah-TIL-dah, English)
• Mafalda (mah-FAHL-dah, Italian, Portuguese)
• Mahaut (mah-oh, French)
• Maud (MAWD, English)
• Sophia (soh-FEE-ah, English)
• Sonya (SOHN-yah, Russian)
• Zosia (ZAW-shah, Polish)

Same Name?!?--Agatha

Oh, that tricky 'th'. Agatha is mostly recognizable from language to language, but that last syllable sure is variable.
With only 51 girls named Agatha in 2011, it's probably not a name we can expect to see a lot of anytime soon. I can imagine it's still a bit too musty for most, but if the 100-year rule holds true, maybe Agatha will surprise us.

Original Greek form: Agathe [Αγαθη] (ah-GAH-thee)
English form: Agatha (AG-ah-thah)

Other forms:

• Agafya (ah-GAH-fyah)--Russian
• Agata (ah-GAH-tah)--Czech, Italian, Polish, Scandinavian, Spanish
• Agathe (ah-GAHT)--French
• Agathe (ah-GAH-teh)--German
• Agda (AHG-dah)--Swedish
• Ågot (AW-goht)--Norwegian
• Ágota (AG-oh-tah)--Hungarian
• Águeda (AH-geh-dah)--Portuguese, Spanish

Same Name?!--Henry

Oh, Henry; handsome Henry. His usage may have waned for a few decades, but he's never fallen out of the top 150. With dozens of namesakes, including several royals from a few different nations, it's no surprise that he's spread throughout the Western world, and is always in style.

Original Germanic form: Heimirich (HYE-mih-rikh)
Latinized form: Henricus (HEN-rih-kus)
English form: Henry (HEN-ree)

Other forms:

• Anraí (AHN-ree)--Irish
• Arrigo (ahr-REE-goh)--Italian
• Eanrig (EN-rik)--Scottish
• Endika (en-dee-kah)--Basque
• Enric (en-REEK)--Catalan
• Enrico (en-REE-koh)--Italian
• Enrique (en-REE-kay)--Spanish
• Harris (HEHR-ris)--English (via Harry)
• Harry (HEHR-ree)--Medieval English
• Heikki (HAYK-kee)--Finnish
• Heinrich (HINE-rikh)--German
• Hendrik (HEN-drik)--Dutch
• Henri (awn-REE)--French

Now to make things a bit tricker, there's the Germanic name Emmerich. It could be derived from Heimirich/Henry, but it could also come from Ermenrich or Amalrich. Most likely, the three similar names all got muddled into one, much like Guy/Vitus in ancient times, or Amelia/Emilia in modern English.

So, because the derivation is less clear, I've listed Emmerich's variants separately. Some linguists hold them equivalent to Henry; some don't.  

• Amaury (ah-moh-REE)--French
• Américo (ah-MEH-ree-koh)--Spanish, Portuguese
• Amerigo (ah-MEHR-ih-goh)--Italian
• Émeric (aym-REEK)--French
• Emery (EM-er-ee)--English
• Imre (EEM-reh)--Hungarian
• Imrich (IM-rikh)--Slovak

Same Name?!--Guy

Guy is a bit odd. Most people today consider it a slang term rather than a name, and that's not completely unreasonable, since it's probably one of the oldest bits of slang in use today--coined in the mid 1800s! Guy was a name long before that, most famously borne by Guy Fawkes, who tried to blow up Parliament in 1605. It's also thanks to him that guy is now a term for "man"--his tale was romanticized in a popular book, and guy entered general terminology meaning "shabby man", later expanded to any male.
Despite this, Guy remained in common use for quite some time, only dropping off the US charts 5 years ago.

And for such a short name, it has a surprising amount of variation from language to language. This is partially because its original form sounded almost identical to a Latin name, Vitus, and where the two languages overlapped, they were treated as the same name. Consequently, it's difficult to separate which modern form evolved from Vitus, and which from Wido.

Original Germanic form: Wido (VEE-doh)
Modern French form: Guy (GEE)

Other forms:

• Guido (GEE-doh)--German
• Guido (GWEE-doh)--Italian
• Gvidas (GVEE-dahs)--Lithuanian
• Veit (FITE)--German
• Vid (VEED)--Croatian, Slovene. Feminine is Vida.
• Wide (WEE-deh)--Frisian
• Wit (VEET)--Polish

Same Name?!--Peter

Peter is an interesting case. While some names have only a few forms and are spelled the same in several languages (Andrew, Matthew, and Anna come to mind), Peter takes a slightly different form in just about every language. And thanks to the apostle, and several saints, Peter has spread throughout the world. Impressive, since the apostle's name wasn't even Peter!
When the Bible was translated into Greek, instead of Hellenizing his name, like the translators did with most others (Channah --> Anna; Yitschaq --> Isaak; Miryam --> Maria), they swapped it out entirely for a Greek name with the same meaning: Peter was actually named Cephas.
Makes me wonder what the list below would have looked like if they'd left his name alone.

Original Aramaic form: Cephas (SEE-fas)
Greek translation: Petros [Πέτρος] (PEH-trohs)
Modern English form: Peter (PEE-ter)

Other forms:

• Boutros (BOO-tros)--Arabic
• Peadar (PYAH-dar)--Irish
• Peder (PEE-dehr)--Scandinavian
• Pedr (PAY-dr)--Welsh
• Pedro (PEH-droh)--Portuguese, Spanish
• Pehr (PEHR)--Swedish
• Peio (pay-oh)--Basque
• Petrus (PEH-tros)--Dutch, German
• Pier (PEER)--Dutch
• Pierce (PEERS)--English [via Pier]
• Pierre (pee-EHR)--French
• Pierrick (PYEHR-ick)--Breton
• Pietari (pee-EH-tah-ree)--Finnish
• Pietro (PYEHT-roh)--Italian

Same Name?!--Derek

Derek has had an interesting journey. A staple 80s boy-name, it's got a surprising amount of history--and undergone some interesting changes over the centuries.

Original Germanic (Gothic) form: Thiudareiks
Latinized form: Theodoric (thee-oh-DOH-rik)
Modern English form: Derek (DEH-rek)

Other forms:

• Dederick (DED-er-ik)--archaic English
• Diederick (DEE-der-ik)--Dutch
• Dietrich (DEET-rik)--German
• Dirk (DEERK or DERK)--German, English
• Thierry (tye-REE)--French
• Tjodrek (TYOH-drek)--Norwegian
• Tudor (TOO-dor)--Welsh

Same Name?!--Christian

Christian is an interesting case. Originally used for both males and females, in the last 100 years or so, it's become almost completely masculine--probably due in part to several Danish King Christians. Consequently, there are several more female variants than male.

Original Latin form: Christianus (kris-tee-ahn-oos)
English form: Christian (KRIST-yen, KRIS-chen)

Modern masculine forms:

• Carsten (KAHR-sten)--German. Also spelled Karsten. 
• Christer (KRIS-tehr)--Danish, Swedish. Also spelled Krister.
• Cristian (kris-TYAHN)--Romanian, Spanish
• Kristen (KRIS-ten)--Danish, Norwegian. Also spelled Christen.

Modern feminine forms:

• Cairistìona (kah-ris-TEEN-ah)--Scottish
• Christiane (kris-tee-AHN)--French
• Christine (kris-TEEN)--French
• Cristiana (krees-TYAHN-ah)--Italian, Portuguese
• Kerstin (KER-sten)--German
• Kilikina (kee-lee-kee-nah)--Hawaiian
• Kirsten (KEER-sten)--Scandinavian
• Kistiñe (kees-tee-nyeh)--Basque
• Kristin (KRIS-ten)--German, Scandinavian
• Krysia (KRISH-yah)--Polish

Same Name?!--Madeline

Madeline is an interesting case. Most girls' names are either relatively stable (ex: Elizabeth), out-of-style after reigning for decades (ex: Mary), on-the-comeback/back-in-style (ex: Ava), or new (ex: Kaylee).
Madeline, however, was pretty darned popular through the turn of the century and several decades after, only to take an odd tanking in the 70s & 80s.. It shot right back up less than a decade later, and landed back on top, bringing variants Madeleine & Madelyn along with it.
So, chances are you know a few Madelines. Probably not your own age, but aunts, grandmas, even great-grandmas, as well as some little ones, too.

Original Greek form: Magdalene [Μαγδαληνή] (mag-dah-len-eh)
Latin form: Magdalena (mahg-dah-LEN-ah)
French form: Madeleine (mah-deh-LEHN)


Modern forms:

• Madaléin (MAH-da-layn)--Irish
• Magali (mah-gah-LEE)--Provençal. Also spelled Magalie and Magaly.
• Magdolna (MAHG-dohl-nah)--Hungarian
• Mahulena (mah-hul-EHN-ah)--Czech
• Maialen (mye-ah-len)--Basque
• Malena (mah-LEHN-ah)--Swedish, Spanish
• Malin (MAH-lin)--Scandinavian, Finnish
• Matleena (MAHT-leh-nah)--Finnish

Same Name?!--Mary

I admit, I've been putting this one off for a while--Mary is easily one of the most widespread & translated names of all time!
Often held up as the prime example of a "boring" name, it's still surprisingly common for new babes. Spin-offs Mariah, Maria, Maia, Mia, & Malia are more popular in the U.S., but there's still even more versions ready for use!

Original Hebrew form: Miryam [מִרְיָם] (meer-YAHM)
Latin transliteration: Maria (mah-REE-ah)

Modern forms:

• Maia (MY-ah)--Basque
• Maike (MY-keh)--Frisian
• Mair (MIRE)--Welsh
• Maire (MOI-rah)--Irish. Anglicized as Moira or Maura.
• Majken (MY-kyen)--Swedish
• Malia (mah-lee-ah)--Hawaiian
• Mareike (mah-RYE-keh)--German, Dutch
• Mariam (MAIR-ee-am)--Greek
• Marian (MAIR-ee-an)--English
• Mariel (MAIR-ee-el)--English
• Marietta (mahr-ee-ET-tah)--Italian
• Marika (MAH-ree-kah)--Estonian, Greek, Hungarian, Polish
• Marike (MAH-ree-keh)--Dutch
• Mariska (mah-REESH-kah)--Hungarian
• Maritta (mah-REET-tah)--Finnish
• Marjatta (mahr-YAHT-tah)--Finnish
• Maryla (mahr-IL-lah)--Polish
• Maryse (mah-REESE)--French
• Maureen (maw-REEN)--Irish. Anglicized from Maírín.
• Meike (MYE-keh)--German
• Meryem (MEHR-ee-em)--Turkish
• Mirele (MEE-reh-leh)--Yiddish
• Miren (MEER-en)--Basque
• Moirrey (MUR-ra or MOHR-reh)--Manx
• Molly (MOL-lee)--English

Same Name?!--Helen

Helen probably brings up conflicting images--first there's Helen of Troy, so beautiful a war was fought over her. And then there's likely your next-door neighbor, your aunt, or the PTA president.

Helen (and medieval variant Ellen) were high on the charts for quite some time; only dropping off a couple generations ago. Other versions seem to be on everyone's lists, though, from the Latinate Helena to the "how-many-ways-can-we-spell-it?" Elena.

• Alyona (ahl-YOH-nah)--Russian
• Eilidh (AY-lee)--Scottish
• Elaine (ee-LAYN)--English
• Eleni (el-EH-nee)--Greek
• Elina (EL-ee-nah)--Finnish
• Ileana (ee-lay-AW-nah)--Romanian
• Ilona (ee-LOH-nah, EE-lon-ah)--German, Hungarian
• Léana (LAY-an-ah)--Irish
• Lenka (LEN-kah)--Czech
• Lenuta (len-OO-tsah)--Romanian
• Nell (NEL)--English
• Yelena (ye-LEH-nah, EE-leh-nah)--Russian

Same Name?!--Elijah

Elijah is a name I looked up on a whim, and was amazed by the diversity of its variants. It's another Biblical name, but unlike most classic names from the Bible (with the notable exception of Elizabeth), Elijah has several familiar and popular forms.

Original Hebrew form: Eliyyahu [ אֱלִיָּהוּ] (el-lee-YAH-hoo)
Greek & Latin transliteration: Elias (el-EE-as)


Modern forms:

• Elia (AY-lee-ah)--Dutch & Italian
• Elias (EL-ee-as, el-EYE-as)--German, English, Scandinavian, Spanish
• Elie (EL-ee)--French
• Elliott (EL-ee-ot)--English
• Elis (EL-lis)--Medieval English. Gave rise to the surname Ellis.
• Illés (il-YESH)--Hungarian
• Iliya (eel-EE-yah)--Bulgarian. Feminine is Ilina.
• Ilya (eel-YAH)--Russian
• Ilyas (eel-YAS)--Arabic

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Same Name?!--Louis

Well, I did my favorite girl-name family not too long ago, so now I'm going to do my favorite set of boy-name variants. Louis probably brings to mind one thing--royalty. There have been no less than 18 King Louis of France, and several German/HRE kings as well. It's out-of-style here in North America, but unsurprisingly, still quite popular in Europe.

Original Germanic form: Chlodovech (no idea how to pronounce; not even going to try)
Latinized form: Ludovicus (loo-dov-EE-kus)

Modern forms:

• Alaois (AH-leesh)--Irish
• Aloysius (ah-loh-EE-see-us)--Dutch
• Aloysius (ah-loh-IH-shus)--English
• Aloysius (ah-LOY-zee-oos)--German
• Alvise (ahl-VEE-zeh)--Italian
• Clovis (KLO-vis)--Germanic
• Koldo (KOL-doh)--Basque
• Lajos (LAH-yosh)--Hungarian
• Lewis (LOO-is)--English
• Loïc (loh-EEK)--Breton
• Lowe (LOO-veh)--Swedish. Also spelled Love.
• Ludwig (LOOD-vik)--German
• Luigi (LOOEE-jee)--Italian
• Luis (loo-EES)--Spanish

Feminine forms:

• Aloisia (ah-loh-EE-zee-ah)--German
• Lovisa (lov-EE-sah)--Swedish
• Louise (loo-EEZ)--French
• Ludwika (lood-VEE-kah)--Polish
• Luisa (LOOEE-sah or LOOEE-zah)--Spanish, Italian

Same Name?!--Alice

This is one of my favorite name families! Like Elizabeth, Alice has some pretty surprising variants--or should I say, is, a surprising variant. The original form was the Germanic Adelheidis, and over time various syllables were cropped out in a plethora of ways.

Original Germanic form: Adelheidis (ah-del-hye-dis)
Modern English form: Alice (AL-is)

• Adelaide (AD-el-ayd)--English
• Adélaïde (ad-el-ah-EED)--French
• Adelaide (ad-el-IDE-eh)--Italian
• Adelais (AH-del-ay-ees)--Germanic
• Aileas (AH-les or EH-les)--Scottish 
• Ailís (AY-leesh)--Irish 
• Aleida (AH-lye-dah)--Dutch, German
• Alica (ah-LEE-tsah)--Slavic
• Alicia (ah-LEE-sha or ah-LEE-syah)--English, Spanish 
• Alida (ah-LEE-dah)--German
• Alisa (ah-LEE-sah)--Russian 
• Alison (AL-ih-son)--English, French
• Alix (ah-LEEKS)--Medieval French
• Aliz (AH-leez)--Hungarian
• Alys (AL-is)--Welsh
• Elke (EL-keh)--Frisian
• Heidi (HYE-dee)--German, Scandinavian

Same Name?!--George

George. It's one of those names where the consensus is split pretty evenly--some think it's purely boring, stodgy old-man, and some think it's stately & timeless. George caught on pretty early because of a dragon-slaying saint, first primarily in Eastern Christianity, and then spreading to the western world during the crusades. It even became moderately used for women for a while in the 1930s & 40s. 

Original Greek form: Georgios [Γεωργιος] (gee-OR-gee-ohs)

Modern forms:

• Deorsa (JOR-sa)--Scottish
• Đurađ (JOOR-ahj)--Croatian, Serbian. Also spelled Djuradj or Juraj.
• Gevorg (gev-org or kev-ork)--Armenian. Also transliterated to Kevork.
• Giorgio (JOR-joh)--Italian
• Gorka (GOR-kah)--Basque
• György (DYOOR-dyeh)--Hungarian
• Jerzy (YEHR-zheh)--Polish
• Jordi (JOR-dee)--Catalan
• Jorgen (YOR-gen)--Scandinavian
• Jorge (ZHOR-zheh)--Portuguese
• Jorge (HOR-heh)--Spanish
• Joris (YOR-is)--Dutch
• Jory (JOH-ree)--Cornish
• Seoirse (SHOR-sheh)--Irish
• Seoras (SHOR-as)--Scottish
• Siôr (SHOR)--Welsh
• Xurxo (SHOOR-shah)--Galician
• Yorick (YOR-ik)--English (via Jorgen)
• Yuriy (YOO-ree)--Russian. Also spelled Yuri.

Feminine Forms:

• Đurđica (joor-JEE-tsah)--Croatian
• Georgeta (jor-JET-ah)--Romanian
• Georgette (zhor-ZHET)--French
• Georgia (JOR-jah)--English
• Gergana (gehr-GAHN-ah)--Bulgarian
• Jirina (YEE-ree-nah)--Czech