Posted in Alternative Names, Baby Names, Druid Names, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names, Pagan Names, Surnames as First Names, Unisex Names, Wiccan Names, Witch Names, tagged Alma, Anquetin, Ayala, Beale, Beaux, Bellocq, Blair, Brangwyn, Braque, Breton, Carriera, Cassatt, Cézanne, Chase, Chéret, Constable, Copley, Corot, Cosway, Dali, Delacroix, Delaroche, Donatello, Doré, Draper, Durer, Emin, Escher, Etty, Fantin, Gainsborough, Galizia, Gaudi, Godward, Gogh, Gower, Goya, Holman, Hunt, Klimt, Kneller, Lavery, Leighton, Lely, Leyster, Magritte, Manet, Matisse, Merian, Merritt, Millais, Millet, Miró, Monamy, Monet, Moreau, Morisot, Nash, O'Keeffe, Opie, Orpen, Ozenda, Pajou, Paxton, Picasso, Poynter, Quiller, Raffet, Ramsay, Raphael, Redon, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rethel, Rockwell, Rodin, Romney, Rossetti, Rousseau, Rubens, Sargent, Seurat, Singer, Sirani, Sisley, Staël, Steele, Tadema, Tanquy, Titian, Turner, Valadon, Vermeer, Veronese, Vigée, Villon, Watts, Whistler, Yeats, Zoffany on February 13, 2012 |
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Lely
I’ve been musing for a while now on the rich mine of names that are the surnames of artists, poets and writers.
Many of them have a great ring in themselves, as well as carrying strong artistic connotations.
With the most famous, it is as though their names “mean” their paintings.
Say Monet, for instance, and lovely, soft, impressionistc images float into the mind.
Here, then, is my pick of the artists:
- Alma — Sir Laurence Alma-Tadema, Anglo-Dutch (1836-1912)
- Anquetin – Louis Anquetin, French (1861-1932)
- Ayala – Josefa de Ayala Figueira, Spanish (1630-84)
- Beale – Mary Beale, English (1633-99)
- Beaux – Cecilia Beaux, American (1855-1942)
- Bellocq – Gabrielle Bellocq, French (1920-99)
- Blair — Edmund Blair Leighton, English (1852-1922)
- Brangwyn – Frank William Brangwyn, Welsh (1867-1956)
- Braque – Georges Braque, French (1882-1963)
- Breton – Jules Breton, French (1827-1906)
- Carriera – Rosalba Carriera, Italian (1675-1757)
- Cassatt – Mary Cassatt, American (1844-1926)
- Cézanne – Paul Cézanne, French (1839-1906)
- Chase — William Merritt Chase, American (1849-1916)
- Chéret – Jules Chéret, French (1836-1932)
- Constable – John Constable, English (1776-1837)
- Copley – John Singleton Copley, American (1737-1815)
- Corot – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French (1796-1875)
- Cosway – Richard Cosway, English (1742-1821), and his wife Maria Cosway, Italian (1760-1838)
- Dali – Salvador Domènec Felipe Jacinto Dalí I Domènech, Marquis de Púbol, Spanish (1904-89)
- Delacroix – Eugene Delacroix, French (1798-1863)
- Delaroche – Paul Delaroche, French (1797-1856)
- Donatello – Donatello di Nicolo Bardi, Italian (1386-1466)
- Doré – Gustave Doré, French (1832-83)
- Draper – Herbert James Draper, English (1863-1920)
- Durer – Albrecht Dürer, German (1471-1528)
- Emin – Tracey Emin, British (b.1963)
- Escher — Mauritz Cornelis Escher, Dutch (1898-1972)
- Etty – William Etty, English (1787-1489)
- Fantin – Henri Fantin-Latour, French (1836-1904)
- Galizia – Fede Galizia, Italian (1578-1630)
- Gainsborough – Thomas Gainsborough, English (1727-88)
- Gaudi – Antoni Gaudí I Cornet, Spanish (1852-1926)
- Godward – John William Godward, English (1861-1922)
- Gogh – Vincent van Gogh, Dutch (1853-90)
- Gower – George Gower, English (c.1540-96)
- Goya – Francisco de Goya, Spanish (1746-1828)
- Holman – William Holman Hunt, English (1827-1910)
- Hunt – see Holman
- Klimt – Gustave Klimt, Austrian (1862-1918)
- Kneller – Sir Godfrey Kneller, Anglo-Dutch (1646-1723)
- Lavery – Sir John Lavery, Irish (1856-1941)
- Leighton – Frederick, Lord Leighton, English (1830-96), also see Blair
- Lely – Sir Peter Lely, Anglo-Dutch (1618-80)
- Leyster – Judith Leyster, Dutch (1609-60)
- Magritte – René Magritte, French (1898-1967)
- Manet – Édouard Manet, French (1832-83)
- Matisse – Henri Matisse, French (1869-1954)
- Merian – Maria Sibylla Merian, German (1647-1717)
- Merritt – see Chase
- Millais — Sir John Everett Millais, English (1829-96)
- Millet – Jean-François Millet, French (1814-75)
- Miró — Joan Miró i Ferrà, Catalan (1893-1983)
- Monamy – Peter Monamy, English (1681-1749)
- Monet – Claude Monet, French (1840-1926)
- Moreau – Gustave Moreau, French (1826-98)
- Morisot – Berthe Morisot, French (1841-95)
- Nash – Paul Nash, English (1889-1946)
- O’Keeffe – Georgia O’Keeffe, American (1887-1986)
- Opie — John Opie, Cornish (1761-1807) — his wife Amelia was a novelist; Julian Opie, British (b. 1958)
- Orpen – Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, Irish (1878-1931)
- Ozenda — Ozenda, Francçois (1923-76)
- Pajou – Jacques-Augustin Pajou, French (1730-1809)
- Paxton – William McGregor Paxton, American (1869-1941)
- Picasso – Pablo Picasso, Spanish (1881-1973)
- Poynter – Edward John Poynter, English (1836-1919)
- Quiller – William Quiller Orchardson, Scottish (1832-1910)
- Ramsay – Allan Ramsay, Scottish (1713-84)
- Raffet – Denis Auguste Marie Raffet, French (1804-60)
- Raphael – Raffaello Sanzio de Urbino, Italian (1483-1520)
- Redon – Odilon Redon, French (1840-1916)
- Rembrandt – Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch (1606-69)
- Renoir – Pierre Auguste Renoir, French (1841-1919)
- Rethel – Alfred Rethel, German (1816-59)
- Rodin – Auguste Rodin, French (1840-1917)
- Rockwell – Norman Rockwell, American (1894-1978)
- Romney – George Romney, English (1734-1802)
- Rousseau – Henry Julien Félix Rousseau, French (1844-1910)
- Rossetti – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English (1828-82)
- Rubens – Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish (1577-1640)
- Sargent – Sir John Singer Sargent, American (1856-1925)
- Seurat – Georges Pierre Seurat, French (1859-91)
- Singer – see Sargent
- Sirani – Elisabetta Sirani, Italian (1638-65), and her father Giovanni Andrea Sirani (1610-70
- Sisley – Alfred Sisley, Anglo-French (1839-99)
- Staël – Nicolas de Staël, Russo-French (1914-55)
- Steele – Theodore Clement, American (1847-1926)
- Tadema – see Alma
- Tanguy – Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy, French (1900-55)
- Titian — Tiziano Vecellio, Italian (c.1488-1576)
- Turner – Joseph Mallord William Turner, English (1775-1851)
- Yeats – John “Jack” Butler Yeats, Irish (1871-1957)
- Valadon – Suzanne Valadon, French (1865-1938)
- Vermeer — Jan Vermeer, Dutch (1632-75)
- Veronese – Paolo Veronese, Italian (1528-88)
- Vigée – Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun, French (1755-1842)
- Villon – Jacques Villon, French (1875-1963)
- Watts – George Frederick Watts, English (1817-1904)
- Whistler – James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American (1834-1903)
- Zoffany – Johann Zoffany, German (1733-1810)
Footnote: Zeffy at Baby Names From Yesteryear’s recent post — The Peale Family — about the family of American artist and naturalist Charles Wilson Peale (1741-1827) demonstrates nicely that naming children after your favorite artists has a long tradition!
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Posted in Alternative Names, Baby Names, Druid Names, Heathen Names, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names, Magical Names, Name Rankings, New Age Names, Pagan Names, Pagan-friendly, Surnames as First Names, Unusual Names, Wiccan Names, Witch Names, tagged Plaistow, Planter, Plash, Plater, Playden, Pledger, Plessis, Plumley, Poe, Polden, Polder, Polton, Pomeroy, Ponter, Ponton, Popham, Popley, Popple, Porcher, Porteous, Portner, Portno, Portnoy, Possell, Postle, Pothecary, Potter, Potterell, Potticary, Potton, Pougher, Poulter, Powell, Poyle, Poyner, Poynter, Poynton, Poyntz, Prater, Prentice, Prescott, Pressney, Prester, Prestney, Proust, Pryer, Pryke, Prynne, Pulham, Pullan, Purcifer, Purden, Purdey, Purefoy, Purley, Pyrah on January 21, 2012 |
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Pyrah
Here are the last of the “p” English surnames of Old English, Old Norse and Anglo-French origin, which have great first name potential but have so far seen little use:
- Plaistow — from one of the places of the name. Old English: pleg-stōw “place for play or sport.”
- Planter — from Old French plant “a plant”; used of a gardener
- Plash — from Plash, Somerset, or Plaish, Shropshire. Old English: plæsc “muddy pool.”
- Plater — Middle English plate “armor,” used of someone who made armor.
- Playden — from Playden, Sussex. Old English: pleg “play” + denn “woodland pasture.”
- Pledger — Middle English plegere “some-one who stands bail in a law-suit.”
- Plessis — from Pleshey, Essex and Plessey, Northumberland. Old French: plaisseis “enclosure made with interlaced fencing.”
- Plumley — from one of the places of the name. Old English: plūme “plum-tree” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture” and “meadow.”
- Poe — Old Norse pá and Middle English po “peacock.”
- Polden — from Polden Hill, Somerset. Celtic place-name Bouelt “cow-pasture” + Old English dūn “hill.”
- Polder — from one of the places of the name. Old English *polra “marshy-land.”
- Polton — from one of the places called Poulton. Old English: pōl “pool” + tūn “enclosure,” “farmstead,” “estate,” “manor,” “village.”
- Pomeroy — from La Pommeraye, Calvados. Old French: pommeraie “apple-orchard.”
- Ponter — Middle English pont, through French from Latin pons “bridge.” Used of someone who lived by a bridge.
- Ponton — from one of the Pontons in Lincolnshire. Old English *pamp “hill” + tūn “enclosure,” “farmstead,” “estate,” “manor,” “village.”
- Popham — from Popham, Hampshire. Possibly Old English *pop(p) “pebble” + hām ‘homestead,’ ‘village,’ ‘estate,’ ‘manor or hamm “enclosure.”
- Popley — Old English popel “stony” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture” and “meadow.”
- Popple — from the lost village of Pophall, Sussex, or Pophills, Warwickshire. Old English *pop(p) “pebble” + hall or hill.
- Porcher — Old French porcher “swine-herd.”
- Porteous — Anglo-French: porte-hors, literally “carry-hours”, a porte-hors was a small, “portable” prayer book. The surname arose as a name for someone who wrote them.
- Portno, Portnoy, Portner — Anglo-French: port-nuit, literally “carry-night.” Perhaps used of a night-watchman, or a night-owl.
- Possell, Postle — Old French apostle “apostle.” As well as arising as a pageant name, there is some evidence Apostle was used as a first name in the Middle Ages.
- Pothecary, Potticary — Middle English: apotecarie, ultimately from Latin apothecarius “store-keeper” (specifically of spices and drugs — only later came to mean some-one who prepared drugs, an apothecary).
- Potter — Old English: potere “a potter.” Intriguingly has never been in the top 1000…
- Potterell — Old French: poutrel “colt.”
- Potton — from Potton, Bedfordshire. Old English pott “pot” + tūn “enclosure,” “farmstead,” “estate,” “manor,” “village.”
- Pougher — Old English: pohha “bag”; used of someone who made bags.
- Poulter — Old French: poultier “poultry-dealer.”
- Powell — appeared once in the ranks in 1891. Sometimes from Paul, sometimes from Old English pōl “pool” — and sometimes from the Welsh ap Howel “son of Howel.”
- Poyle — sometimes from Apulia, Italy; othertimes from Pulley, Shropshire. Old English pōl “pool” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture” and “meadow.”
- Poyner — Old French: poigner “fighter.”
- Poynter — Middle English: poynte “a tagged lace/cord,” used of someone who made them.
- Poynton — from Pointon, Lincolnshire and Poynton, Cheshire. Pointon is from the personal name *Pohha, Poynton from *Pofa + tūn “enclosure,” “farmstead,” “estate,” “manor,” “village.”
- Poyntz — from the Old French personal name Ponz, from the Latin Pontius (ultimately from pons “bridge.”).
- Prater — ultimately from Latin praetor, which was used in the Middle Ages to mean “reeve.”
- Prentice — Old French: aprentis “apprentice.”
- Prescott — Old English: prēost “priest” + cot “cottage.” Used of someone who worked at the priest’s cottage.
- Pressney, Prestney — from Prestney’s Farm, Essex. Old English prēost “priest” + haga “enclosure.”
- Prester — Old French: prestre “priest.”
- Proust – Middle English: provost “a provost.”
- Pryer — Old French: priour “a prior.”
- Pryke — Middle English: prike “point (of a weapon)”, also a type of weapon; probably used of someone who made them.
- Prynne — Old French: prin “first,” “superior.”
- Pulham — from one of the places called Pulham. Old English: pōl “pool” + hām ‘homestead,’ ‘village,’ ‘estate,’ ‘manor or hamm “enclosure.”
- Pullan — Old French: poulan “colt.”
- Purcifer — a variant of Percival.
- Purdey — Old French: pour Dieu “for God!” — an “oath” name.
- Purden — Old French: prudhomme “honest man.”
- Purefoy — Anglo-French: par fei “by faith!” — another “oath” name.
- Purley — From one of the places called Purley or Purleigh. Old English: pūr “snipe” or pirige “pear-tree” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture” and “meadow.”
- Pyrah — probably a variant of the surname Perry, from pirige “pear-tree.”
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Nook of Names
