Posted in Alternative Names, Baby Names, Druid Names, Heathen Names, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names, Magical Names, Names, New Age Names, Pagan Names, Pagan-friendly, Surnames as First Names, Unisex Names, Unusual Names, Wiccan Names, Witch Names, tagged Pacey, Packard, Packer, Padley, Paget, Pallis, Palliser, Palmer, Panner, Panton, Pardew, Parfay, Parlby, Parmafey, Parmeter, Parnell, Parrack, Parram, Parrell, Parren, Parrick, Parsloe, Parslow, Pascal, Pascall, Pascoe, Pashen, Pashler, Pashley, Paskell, Passa, Paston, Pasturel, Patchell, Pate, Patney, Paton, Patton, Paveley, Pavey, Pavia, Pavie, Pawley, Payle, Payler, Paynter, Pæcchild, Perram, Perre, Petchell, Petronilla on December 10, 2011 |
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Patchell
“P” is another letter with a lot of surnames, and a lot of surnames which have great first-name potential.
And so here’s the first batch of “p” surnames of Old English, Old Norse and Old/Anglo-French origin for your perusal:
- Pacey, Pacy — from Pacy-sur-Eure in Normandy, which derives from the Roman name Paccius, possibly ultimately from pax “peace” or
- Packard — a combination of “pack” with the suffix -ard, i.e. “a packer.”
- Packer — Middle English packere “a packer,” probably referring to a wool-packer.
- Padley — from one of the places of the name. Old English personal name Padda or *padde “toad” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture” and “meadow.”
- Paget — diminutive of Old French page “a page.”
- Pallis — Old French paille “straw” + Old English hūs “house”; used of someone who stacked hay into ricks. Sometimes, it is also from the Old French palis “palisade,” referring to someone who lived by a palisade or fence.
- Palliser — Old French palis “palisade”; used of someone who made fences.
- Palmer — a bit of an interloper, as was in modest use in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. Definitely ripe for a revival though, so I’m sneaking it through. Old French palmer “pilgrim,” from Latin palma “palm” — so named because pilgrims returning from Jerusalem carried palms.
- Panner — Old English panne “pan”; i.e. “one who makes pans.”
- Panton — from Panton, Lincolnshire: Old English panne “pan” (here probably referring to the shape) + tūn “enclosure,” “farmstead,” “estate,” “manor,” “village.”
- Pardew — Old French par Dieu “by god” or de par Dieu, ultimately from Latin de parte Dei “in God’s name” — a medieval oath; the original bearers probably used it a lot.
- Parfay — Old French par (ma) fei “by my faith” — another “oath name.” Parmafey is a medieval variant.
- Parham — from one of the places of the name. Old English peru “pears” + hām “homestead,” “village,” “estate,” “manor,” or hamm “enclosure,” “river-meadow.” Other variants include Parram and Perram.
- Parlby — Old French parle bien “speak well.” A nickname.
- Parmeter — Old French parmetier “tailor.”
- Parnell — from the medieval girl’s name Petronilla, a diminutive of the Roman family name Petronius. Hugely popular in medieval times, Parnell and other medieval variants did survive in genuine first-name use in some parts of the British Isles, especially Cornwall, as late as the nineteenth century.
- Parrack, Parrick — Old English pearroc “paddock” and “enclosure.”
- Parrell, Parren — pet-forms of Perre, a medieval Anglo-French form of Peter.
- Parsloe, Parslow — Old French passelewe “cross the water,” possibly used of someone who had to cross a stream or river to reach their home, thus lived “across the water,” or a sailor.
- Pascall, Paskell — Anglo-French pascal “relating to Easter.” Pascal was a popular medieval name; it died out in Britain after the Reformation, but continued in use in France.
- Pascoe — an old variant of PASCALL, which actually survived as a first-name in Cornwall, just about to modern times.
- Pashen — from Passenham in Northamptonshire. Old English personal name Passa + hamm “enclosure,” “river-meadow.”
- Pashler — variant of PARSLOE.
- Pashley — another variant of PARSLOE.
- Paston — from one of the places of the name, especially Paston, Norfolk, associated with the famous family of medieval letter writers. Old English personal name *Pæcci or *paes(c) “muddy pool” + tūn “enclosure,” “farmstead,” “estate,” “manor,” “village.”
- Pasturel — Old French pastorel “little shepherd.”
- Patchell, Petchell — from the early Middle English girl’s name Pæcchild “peace-child.”
- Pate — Middle English pate “head” and “skull” — a nickname — or a pet-form of Patrick. Did make the US top 1000 once in 1901, when it was ranked 924th…
- Patney — from Patney, Wiltshire. Old English personal name *Peatta + ēg “island.”
- Paton, Patton — medieval pet-forms of Patrick.
- Patten — either Middle English paten “dog” or from patoner “a pattern-maker.”
- Paveley, Pawley — from Pavilly in Normandy. Probably from the Latin surname Pavillus “little peacock.”
- Paver, Pavyer — Old French paveur “layer of pavements.”
- Pavey — from the medieval girl’s name Pavia/Pavie, possibly from the Old French pavie “peach,” or Pavie “woman of Pavia” — the Italian city.
- Payle — Middle English payle “pail”; used of someone who made pails.
- Payler — from Middle English payle “pail”; i.e. a pail-maker.
- Paynter — Anglo-French peintour “painter.”
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Posted in Alternative Names, Baby Names, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names, Names, Pagan-friendly, Provencal Names, Unusual Names, World Names, tagged Adelaide, Agatha, Alaïs, Alice, Anaïs, Baptist, Bartholomew, Berenger, Bridget, Calendai, Chantal, Charles, Clare, Claude, Claudia, Clotilda, Cyprian, David, Delphine, Edward, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Elodie, Emile, Eulalia, Fanfan, Fleur, Flora, Frederick, Gabriel, Geoffrey, George, Hugh, Isabella, James, Jane, Josephine, Luke, Madeline, Magali, Margaret, Marie, Mary, Max, Mirèio, Natalie, Oliver, Pascal, Peter, Raphael, Robin, Rosalie, Rose, Silvanus, Solange, Sophia, Stephanie, Stephen, Theodore, Thomas, Titus, Victor, Vincent, Xavier, Yolande, Zoe on October 10, 2011 |
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For the last month, I have been in France — for much of that time, in Provence.
It is a region with a much deserved reputation for spectacular scenery and picturesque villages. In the region where we stayed, these clung as though by magic to impossibly steep hillsides gazing idly down dramatic gorges, draped in pines, evergreen oaks, olives and vines.
It is also an exceedingly historic region, always set a bit apart from the rest of France. Once, the people didn’t even spoke French, but Provençal, a dialect of Occitan — a language closer to Catalan than to French — although Provençal is sometimes used to refer to Occitan in general, and the langue d’Oc of medieval troubadours.
Unsurprisingly, it has a whole collection of names and variants of names unique to the region.
And it was in Provence that names like Isabella and Eleanor first arose.
During our stay, I kept my ears open, but was disappointed that, by and large, the names I encountered — particularly among the children — were little different to the rest of France. The fashion in France at present is for names of foreign origin, and the favored region for more unusual native monikers is Brittany.
But we did encounter some, especially among my own generation.
I love the fact so many Provençal girls names end in -o; it makes a refreshing change, and is very contemporary.
Here is a selection of my personal favorites. Some, like Zouè, are relatively recent — others, like Azalaïs, are medieval.
GIRLS:
- Agato — Agatha
- Aïs — diminutive of ANAÏS and/or ALAÏS
- Alaïs — Alice (features in Kate Mosse’s 2005 novel Labyrinth); ultimately from Adelaide
- Alienor — Eleanor
- Anaïs — in Provence, used as a form of Anne or Agnes — not actually found prior to the nineteenth century
- Anetoun — a double diminutive form of Ano (Anne)
- Azalaïs — Adelaide (Alice)
- Babeleto — diminutive of Eisabèu/Isabèu (Elizabeth/Isabella)
- Bergido — Birgitte
- Bielo — diminutive of Gabrielo (Gabrielle)
- Bregido — Bridget
- Celino — Celine
- Chantaloun — diminutive of French Chantal
- Clareto, Claroun — diminutives of Claro
- Claro — Clare/Claire
- Cloutildou — Clotilda
- Delaïdo — diminutive of Adelaïdo (Adelaide)
- Eliso — diminutive of French Élisabeth (Elizabeth)
- Estefano — Stephanie
- Fanfan — probably a diminutive of ESTEFANO. Made fairly well-known (at least in France) by the 1952 film Fanfan la tulipe (remade in 2003) — in which Fanfan is a man — and Alexandre Jardin’s 1985 novel Fanfan, filmed in 1993.
- Fino — diminutive of Delfino (Delphine) and/or JÒUSEFINO
- Flour — Flora/Fleur
- Glaudio — Claudia
- Ioulando — Yolande
- Janetoun — double diminutive of Jano (Jane/Jeanne)
- Jòusefino — Josephine (the name of our villa’s housekeeper!)
- Jóuselet — variant/diminutive of JÒUSEFINO
- Laïdo — diminutive of DELAÏDO
- Lali, Lalìo — diminutives of Eulalìo (Eulalia/Eulalie)
- Laloun — diminutive of LALI
- Lìo — diminutive of names ending in -lìo, such as Eulalìo (Eulalia/Eulalie), Natalìo (Natalie), Rosalìo (Rosalie)
- Lisoun — diminutive of ELISO
- Lodi, Loudi — diminutive of Eloudìo (Elodie)
- Madaloun — diminutive of Madaleno (Madeline)
- Magali, Magari — probably Magaret, but possibly a variant of Madaleno (Madeline — from the original Magdalene)
- Maïoun — diminutive of Marìo (Mary/Marie)
- Marioun — diminutive of Marìo (Mary/Marie)
- Melio — Emilia
- Mirèio — coined by the poet Frederic Mistral for his poem Mirèio (1859). From the Occitan mirar “to admire.”
- Naïs — diminutive of ANAÏS
- Ninoun — pet-form of Catarino (Katherine)
- Rieto — pet-form of Enrieto (Henrietta)
- Roso – Rose
- Soufio – Sophia/Sophie
- Soulanjo – Solange
- Talìo — diminutive of Natalìo (Natalie)
- Teldou, Tildeto — diminutives of names containing -tild- or -teld-, like CLOUTILDOU
- Vitòri – Victoria
- Valorì — Valeria/Valerie
- Zeto, Zetou — diminutives of JÒUSEFINO
- Zouè – Zoe
BOYS:
- Amiel – said to be the Provençal form of French Emile
- Audouard – Edward
- Bartoumiéu – Bartholomew
- Berenguié — Berenger
- Calendau — from the Latin kalends, used of the first day of a month and, in Provence, for Christmas Day. The hero of Mistral’s poem Calendau (1867)
- Charle — Charles
- Charloun — diminutive of CHARLE
- Ciprianet — diminutive of Ciprian (Cyprian)
- Dàvi — David
- Deri — diminutive of Frederi/Federi (Frederick)
- Dovi — dimunituve of Ludovi (Ludovick/Louis)
- Estève, Estiène – Stephen
- Gabrieù – Gabriel
- Glaude, Glàudi — Claude, Claudius
- Jaufret — Geoffrey
- Jaume – James
- Jòrgi — George
- Lu — Luke
- Luquet — pet-form of LU
- Maïus — curious name of uncertain origin. In use in Provence since at least the late nineteenth century. Possibly conceived as a masculine form of MAÏOUN.
- Mas — Max
- Miquèu – Michael
- Oulivié — Oliver
- Pascau – Pascal
- Pèire — Peter/Pierre
- Pierroun — diminutive of French Pierre
- Rafèu – Raphael
- Roubin — Robin (yes, the English Robin — one of the foreign names embraced by the French in the twentieth century)
- Savié — probably Xavier, but possibly Savior (best known as a name in the Spanish form Salvador)
- Silvan — Silvanus
- Simoun — Simon
- Teoudor – Theodore
- Titoù – Either Titus or a diminutive of Batit (Baptist)
- Titoun — diminutive of TITOÙ
- Toumas — Thomas
- Ugue, Ugues — Hugh
- Vincèn – Vincent
- Vitour – Victor
- Zavié — variant of SAVIÉ
- Zé — diminutive of Joùseù (Joseph)
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Nook of Names
