Sunday, November 27, 2011

Names for Every Palette

With autumn vanishing, and the world turning brown and white, it seems an appropriate time to distract myself with thoughts of color.

Boys:
  • Alban (AHL-ban)--German, English; from Latin, "white"
  • Arun (ah-roon)--Indian [Hindi], "reddish brown"
  • Blaine (BLAYN)--English, from Gaelic, "yellow"
  • Blake (BLAYK)--from English blæc "black" or blac "pale"
  • Bruno (BROO-noh)--German, French, Polish, Spanish; from Latin, "brown"
  • Ciar (KEER)--Irish, "black, dark"
  • Donovan (DON-o-van)--Irish, "dark brown". Anglicized from Donndubhán.
  • Fionn (FIN or FYUN)--Irish, "white". Anglicized as Finn.
  • Flynn (FLIN)--Irish, "red". Anglicized from Floinn.
  • Fulvio (FUL-vee-oh)--Italian, from Latin, "yellow"
  • Gláucio (GLOUS-yoh)--Portuguese; from Latin, "bluish grey"
  • Lloyd (LOID)--Welsh, "grey". Another variant is Floyd.
  • Gray, Grey (GRAY)--English
  • Reed, Reid (REED)--English, "red"
  • Roy (ROY)--English, Scottish; from Gaelic Ruadh, "red"

Girls:
  • Ai (ah-ee)--Japanese, "indigo" [can also mean "love"]
  • Amber (AM-ber)--English--"yellow-orange". Other forms include Ambre (French) & Ambra (Italian)
  • Baila (BYE-lah or BAY-lah)--Yiddish, "white"
  • Blanche (BLANCH or BLAWNSH)--English; from French, "white". Other forms include Blanca (Spanish) & Bianca (Italian).
  • Ciara (KEER-ah)--Irish, "black, dark"
  • Azzurra (ah-DZOO-rah)--Italian, "sky-blue". English form is Azure.
  • Emerald (EM-er-ald or EM-rald)--English; from Greek, "green"
  • Garnet (GAR-net)--English, "dark red"
  • Glesni (GLES-nee)--Welsh, "blueness"
  • Gwen (GWEN)--Welsh, "white, pure"
  • Iole (YO-lay)--Greek, "violet". English form is Iola.
  • Kamala (KAH-mah-lah)--Indian [Hindi], "pale red"
  • Lavender (LAV-en-der)--English, "pale purple"
  • Livna (leev-nah)--Hebrew, "white"
  • Melanie (MEL-an-ee)--English; from Greek, "black, dark"
  • Midori (mih-doh-ree)--Japanese, "green"
  • Nila (nee-lah)--Indian [Hindi], "dark blue". Sometimes transliterated as Neela.
  • Ruby (ROO-bee)--English; from Latin, "red"
  • Saffron (SAF-fron)--English, "yellow-orange"
  • Scarlet (SKAR-let)--English
  • Sienna (see-EN-nah)--English, "orange-red"
  • Sigal (see-GAHL)--Hebrew, "violet"
  • Sini (SEE-nee)--Finnish, "blue"
  • Uaine (WAN-yeh or OO-in-yeh)--Irish, "green"
  • Violet (VYE-oh-let)--English; from Latin Viola.
  • Xanthe (ZAN-theh or ZAN-thee)--Greek, "yellow"
  • Zuriñe (soo-REEN-yeh)--Basque, "white"

Unisex:
  • Ailbhe (ALV-yeh)--Irish, "white". Anglicizations include Alva, Elva, Alby & Alvy.
  • Cyan (sye-AN)--English, from Greek, "green-blue"
  • Phoenix (FEE-niks)--English; from Greek, "dark red"
  • Sable (SAY-bl)--English, "black"
  • Shani (shah-nee)--Hebrew, "scarlet red"

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Pilgrim Baby Names

Happy American Thanksgiving!
The Puritans & other first colonists seem to have quite the reputation for crazy word-names. In honor of Thanksgiving, I decided to see how true that was. So, here are the children of the Pilgrims--some travelled on the Mayflower; most were born in the New World (and one was born on the voyage...take a guess which! :p).

Boys:
  • Alexander
  • Bartholomew
  • Benjamin (x2)
  • Caleb (x2)
  • Charles
  • David 
  • Edward (x2)
  • Francis
  • George
  • Giles
  • Isaac (x3)
  • Jabez
  • Jacob
  • James
  • Jasper
  • John (x11)
  • Jonathan
  • Joseph (x6)
  • Josiah
  • Josias
  • Love
  • Myles
  • Nathaniel (x3)
  • Oceanus 
  • Peregrine
  • Resolved
  • Richard
  • Samuel (x3)
  • Stephen
  • Thomas
  • William (x2)
  • Wrestling
  • Zachariah

Girls:
  • Abigail
  • Ann
  • Constance 
  • Damaris
  • Deborah
  • Desire (x2)
  • Dorcas
  • Elizabeth (x11)
  • Ellen
  • Hannah (x2)
  • Hester
  • Hope
  • Jane
  • Lora
  • Lydia 
  • Mary (x10)
  • Mercy (x2)
  • Patience
  • Priscilla (x3)
  • Rachel
  • Rebecca (x2)
  • Remember
  • Ruth (x3)
  • Sarah (x4)
  • Susanna

Sunday, November 20, 2011

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