Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Rudolph’

Surnames as First Names: English Surnames — R

Posted in Alternative Names, Baby Names, Druid Names, Heathen Names, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names, Magical Names, New Age Names, Pagan Names, Pagan-friendly, Surnames as First Names, Unisex Names, Unusual Names, Wiccan Names, Witch Names, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2012 | 3 Comments »

Rimer

Today it’s R’s turn in the exploration of little used English surnames of Old English, Norse and Anglo-French origin. It’s a letter rich in promising, contemporary choices!

  • Radcliff — from one of the places of the name. Old English rēad “red” + clif “cliff.”
  • Raddon — from one of the places of the name. Old English rēad “red” + dūn “hill,” or denu “valley.”
  • Radford — from one of the places of the name. Old English rēad “red” + ford “ford.”
  • Radley — from one of the places of the name. Old English rēad “red” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture,” and “meadow.” Also Radleigh.
  • Raglan, Ragland — from Ragland, Wiltshire. Middle English ragge “stony” + land “land.”
  • Ragley — from Ragley Hall, Warwickshire. Middle English ragge “stony” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture,” and “meadow.”
  • Raimes — from Rames, France. Probably Old French rames “sticks,” “posts”; probably referring to a palisade.
  • Ramsden — from one of the places of the name. Old English ramsa “ramsons” + denu “valley.”
  • Rawley — a form of Raleigh, from Raleigh in Devon, or Rayleigh, Essex. Old English rǣge “roe-deer” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture,” and “meadow.”
  • Rawnsley — from a lost village in Yorkshire. Old English hræfn “raven” (probably used here as a personal name) + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture,” and “meadow.”
  • Rayden, Raydon — Rayden appeared for the first time ever in 2010, in 928th place, but that still counts as rare enough for a mention here. From Raydon, Suffolk. Old English ryge “rye” + dūn “hill.”
  • Rayer — from the Old German personal name Radhari “counsel-army”; medieval forms included Rathar and Rather.
  • Rayner, Reyner — from the Old German personal name Reginhari “counsel-army” (yes, again!). Introduced by the Normans in the Norman-French form Rainer.
  • Redd — a form of Read, from Old English rēad “counsel,” the source also of Reed, Red and Reid.
  • Reaney — often pronounced “rainy” in its home-town of Sheffield. From Ranah Stones, Yorkshire. Old Norse hrafn “raven” + haugr “hill.”
  • Redvers — from Reviers, Calvados. Old French: riviere “river.”
  • Redwin — from the Old English personal name Rædwine “counsel-friend.”
  • Remfrey — from the Old German personal name Raganfrid “might-peace.” Introduced by the Normans in the Norman-French form Rainfrid.
  • Renham — from the Rainham in Kent or Essex. Old English Roegingas (a tribal name) + hām “homestead,” “village,” “estate,” “manor.”
  • Renner — from Old English rennan “to run.”
  • Renter — Middle English renter “one who owns and lets land.”
  • Renton — from one of the places called Rainton. Old English personal name Rægen “might” + tūn “enclosure,” “farmstead,” “estate,” “manor,” “village.”
  • Revis — from Rievaulx, Yorkshire. River name Rye + Old French val(s) “valley.”
  • Rew — Middle English rew “row (of houses).”
  • Richmay — from the Old English female name Ricmæge “rule-maiden.” Occurs as Richemaya in medieval documents.
  • Rickerby — from Rickerby, Cumbria. Old Norse personal name Rikard (the Old Norse form of Richard) + bý “farmstead,” “village” and “settlement.”
  • Ridley, Redley — from one of the places called Ridley. Old English rēad “red” or hrēod “reed” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture,” and “meadow.”
  • Rimer, Rymer — Anglo-French rimour “rimer,” “poet.”
  • Risby — from one of the places called Risby. Old Norse hrís “brushwood” + bý “farmstead,” “village” and “settlement.”
  • Risden, Risdon — Old English hrís “brushwood” + denu “valley” or dūn “hill.”
  • Risley — from one of the places of the name. Old English hrīs + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture,” and “meadow.”
  • Rixon — Middle English atte rixen “among the rushes.”
  • Roaf, Rowe — A form of Rolf, and thus Rudolph.
  • Robey, Roby — partly from Robbie, partly from the places called Robey and Roby. Old Norse rá “boundary” + bý “farmstead,” “village” and “settlement.” Roby appeared a few times in the eight and nine hundreds in the late nineteenth century, but not enough to write home about.
  • Rocker — Middle English: rok, rocke “distaff,” used of someone who made them, or perhaps a spinner. Also Rokker.
  • Rockley — from Rockley, Wiltshire. Old English hrōc “rook” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture,” and “meadow.”
  • Rodley — Old English: hrēod “reed”+ lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture,” and “meadow.”
  • Roke — Middle English: atter oke  “(dweller) at the oak.”
  • Rokeby — from one of the places of the name. Old Norse hrókr “rook” + bý “farmstead,” “village” and “settlement.”
  • Romer — Middle English: romere “one who has made a pilgrimage to Rome.”
  • Romilly — in the top 1000 in the UK, but not in the US. From Remilly or Romilly in France, or Romiley, Cheshire. The French derive from the Latin Romulus, the English is Old English rūm “spacious” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture,” and “meadow.”
  • Romney — from Romney, Kent. The town takes its name from a river. Possibly Old English rūmen “broad” + ēa “river.”
  • Roper — Middle English ropere “a rope-maker.”
  • Rothwell — from one of the places of the name. Old English +roth “clearing” + wella “spring,” “stream.”
  • Routh — from Routh, Yorkshire. Old Norse: hrúthr “rough ground.”
  • Rowat, Rowet, Rowett — from the Old Norse name Hróaldr “fame-ruler,” or from Roet, a medieval pet-form Rolf, or from Old English *rūwet “rough ground.”
  • Rowden, Rowdon — from one of the places of the name. Old English hrēod “reed” + denu “valley” or dūn “hill.”
  • Rowell – from ROTHWELL, or Old English rūh “rough” + hyll “hill.”
  • Rower, Royer — Old French: roier “wheel-wright.”
  • Rowley — from one of the places of the name. Old English: rūh “rough” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture,” and “meadow.”
  • Rowney — Old English: rūh “rough” + (ge)hæg “enclosure.”
  • Rowton — Old English: rūh “rough”  + + tūn “enclosure,” “farmstead,” “estate,” “manor,” “village.”
  • Roxby — From Roxby, Lincolnshire. Old Norse personal name Hrókr (meaning “rook”) + bý “farmstead,” “village” and “settlement.”
  • Royden, Roydon — from one of the places of the name. Old English: ryge “rye” + dūn “hill.”
  • Rudd — Old English: *rud- “ruddy.”
  • Rugeley — from Rugeley, Staffordshire. Old English: hrycg “ridge” + lēah “wood,” “woodland clearing,” “glade,” “pasture,” and “meadow.”
  • Rusher — Old English rysc used of someone who cut or sold rushes.
  • Ryton — from one of the places of the name. Old English ryge “rye” + tūn “enclosure,” “farmstead,” “estate,” “manor,” “village.”

Read Full Post »

The Story of an English Manor

Posted in Baby Names, Historical Names, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names, Medieval Names, Names, Popularity, Fashion and Style, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 19, 2012 | 4 Comments »

On our holiday last week we stayed at historic Gurney Manor — sometimes called Gurney Street Manor — in Cannington, Somerset.

It is a very special place.

Rescued by the Landmark Trust in the 1980s, much of the fabric dates to before 1400, with substantial additions in the mid-to-late fifteenth century.

Because it largely came down in the world after the seventeenth century, many of its ancient features, including the fifteenth century covered passage across the inner courtyard linking the old kitchen to the hall, have survived.

Unsurprisingly, it proved quite a good hunting ground for names, which are almost text-book examples of the typical names through the centuries, demonstrating fluctuations in fashion both generally, and across the social spectrum.

The original owners — and the family who gave their name to the manor — were a branch of the baronial family of Gurney, the founder of which came to England with William the Conqueror. Only a few names are known from this earliest period, emerging from the fog of remote history; a RICHARD de Gurney, flourished in 1243, when he put in a claim on the mill, then in possession of his “kinsman” WILLIAM, son of PHILIP.

Richard had a son called ROBERT.

By the end of the thirteenth century, the property appears to have been owned by JOHN de Gurney, who was alive in 1327.

The last of the line at Gurney Manor, and probably the one responsible for much of the parts of the hall dating to the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century, was HUGH, who succeeded to the estate in 1358. Either he, or a son of the same name, was there in 1401, with a wife called BEATRICE.

He had no son, and so the manor passed to his daughter JANE — an unusual name at the time, when the usually feminine form of John was Joan. She married ROGER Dodesham.

Responsible for most of the fifteenth century additions was their son, another WILLIAM, who was a lawyer as well as a landowner.

William had sisters called JOAN and ELEANOR, and on his death in 1480, the Gurney Street Manor passed in trust to Joan’s daughter, AGNES, wife of WALTER Michell, who died in 1487. Agnes and Walter had three sons, who each succeeded in turn, WILLIAM, JOHN, and THOMAS.

Thomas, whose wife was called MARGARET, died in 1503, when the manor passed to his son, another THOMAS. He also had a daughter called ISABEL.

Thomas made a number of improvements and refinements to the house, adding fine windows and new chimneys — but it all came to an abrupt end on December 13, 1539, when he murdered his wife JOAN and sister-in-law ELEANOR, seemingly at Gurney Manor, before killing himself.

He had two known children, another JANE, and another RICHARD.

Richard, who married an ELIZABETH, died in 1563, leaving the manor to his son, TRISTRAM.

Tristram, meanwhile, died in 1574, when the manor passed to his brother, Sir BARTHOLOMEW.

On Bartholomew’s death in 1616, his lands were split between his daughters, JANE and FRANCES. Gurney passed to Jane, wife of WILLIAM Hockmore.

William had considerable property elsewhere, and Gurney’s owners no longer lived there; the house and its acres was let to tenants, so that by the late nineteenth century, it was regarded as just a (large) farmhouse.

The names of most of these tenants is lost, but we still know the names of the house’s owners, and their families.

Jane and William Hockmore, for instance, had six children, SUSANNAH, GREGORY, CHARLES, WILLIAM, FRANCES and RICHARD, not all of whom lived to adulthood.

Gregory, married to MARY, inherited in 1626, dying in 1653, when the estate passed to his son, also called GREGORY (he also had a daughter called JANE).

Gregory II, married to HONOR, also had two children, a son WILLIAM, and, quelle surprise, yet another JANE.

William, who inherted sometime between 1676 and 1680, married another MARY, and had three daughters, MARY, JANE and HONORA; only Honora survived to adulthood, becoming William’s heiress on his death in 1707-08.

She married DAVIDGE Gould (his mother’s maiden name was Davidge) around 1713, and had five children who survived to adulthood: Sir HENRY (d.1794), RICHARD (d.1793), HONORA (d.1802), WILLIAM (d.1799) and THOMAS (d.1808).

Henry, married ELIZABETH, and had two daughters, another ELIZABETH, and HONORA MARGARETTA. Elizabeth married TEMPLE Luttrell; Honora Margaretta, who died in 1813, married General RICHARD Lambart, 7th Earl of Cavan.

And Gurney passed through her to the Earls of Cavan.

(Temple Luttrell was an interesting character; an MP, he was reputedly also a smuggler, and built a folly, called Luttrell’s Tower, at Eaglehurst near Southampton. On his death in Paris in 1803, Luttrell’s Tower passed to the Earl of Cavan too. By pure coincidence, Luttrell’s Tower is also now owned by the Landmark Trust.)

Richard and Honora Margaretta had five children:

  • RICHARD HENRY ROBERT GILBERT (1783-85)
  • HONORA ELIZABETH HESTER (1784-1856)
  • ALICIA MARGARETTA HOCKMORE (1785-1818)
  • SOPHIA AUGUSTA (1787-98)
  • RICHARD HENRY (b. and d. 1788)
  • GEORGE FREDERICK AUGUSTUS (1789-1828)
  • EDWARD HENRY WENTWORTH VILLIERS (1791-1812)

George, who died before his father, married the simply named SARAH, and had five children:

  • HENRIETTA AUGUSTA (d. 1874)
  • ALICIA (d.1913)
  • JULIA (d.1897)
  • FREDERICK JOHN WILLIAM (1815-87)
  • OLIVER GEORGE (1822-98)

Frederick John William’s wife was CAROLINE AUGUSTA, and they also had five children:

  • MARY HYACINTHE (d.1933)
  • SARAH SOPHIA (d.1914)
  • FREDERICK EDWARD GOULD (1839-1900)
  • OCTAVIUS HENRY (1855-1919)
  • ARTHUR (1858-1937)

Frederick Edward Gould’s wife was MARY SNEADE (Sneade was her middle name — her surname was Olive), and their children:

  • FREDERICK RUDOLPH (1865-1946)
  • ELLEN OLIVE (1867-1945)
  • MAUD EDITH GUNDREDA (1869-1940)
  • LIONEL JOHN OLIVE (1873-1940)
  • HORACE EDWARD SAMUEL SNEADE (1878-1950).

Frederick Rudolph had no children by his first wife CAROLINE INEZ; by his second wife, HESTER JOAN, he had two daughters; the first, ELIZABETH MARY was born in 1924.

The following year, Gurney was sold to its tenants of more than thirty years, the Bucknells, and with it an unbroken line of descent, if not of inhabitation, of at least eight hundred years, was finally severed.

The Bucknells were a thoroughly English Victorian middle class family; the father, a classic “gentleman farmer” was a solid and respectable JAMES, his wife an equally establishment MARY ANN. One daughter was ELIZA HARRIS, the other, OLIVE MARY (possibly named in honor of the Countess of Cavan), and they also had a son, BENJAMIN JOHN.

In 1901, there were also three servants living with them at the manor: FRANK, EMILY and MABEL.

Gurney’s time once more owned by its inhabitants was short-lived; the Bucknells sold in 1934, and by the 1940s it had been subdivided into flats. By the 1980s, it was in a sorry, neglected state, with most of the flats empty, but then the Landmark Trust bought it, and the rest is (more!) history…

No-one lives there for more than three weeks at a time anymore, but it has been fully restored to its medieval glory and I think the place rather likes the variety of ever changing faces coming and going, and basks in their rapt admiration.

Read Full Post »

Nook of Names Pick of the Week — Rudolph

Posted in Baby Names, Germanic Names, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Names, Norse Names, Pagan-friendly, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 7, 2011 | 3 Comments »

Can Rudolph ever be rescued from the reindeer?

Possibly.

After all, Clementine is finally becoming detached from “Oh My Darling.”

And Nellie is showing signs of breaking free of the elephant.

While, in Britain, Rupert is no longer the exclusive preserve of the bear.

And, let’s face it, they don’t come more positive and uplifting than “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer”; Rudolph triumphs in the face of adversity, the classic tale of the underdog (or should that be underdeer?) coming out on top.

Unlike “Oh my Darling, Clementine,” where the heroine ends up drowned!

Rudolph has never been especially popular, peaking in America in 1926 and 1927 in 111th place.

Its use then was largely down to the ultimate heart-throb of the silver-screen, Rudolph Valentino, who died aged just 31 in 1926, from complications arising from appendicitis.

Valentino’s birth name was actually Rodolfo — the Italian form of Rudolph.

Rudolph derives from the  Old German Hrodolf, a combination of hrōði “fame” (the same first element as Robert, Roderick, Roger and Roland, etc.) + wolf “wolf. ”

The Modern German form is Rudolf, and is found alongside Rudolph in the English-speaking world.

Russian Rudolf Nureyev is one of the best-known bearers of this spelling. He also died too young, of AIDS, aged 54 in 1993.

I am also personally very attached to the esoteric Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), founder of Anthroposophy and Steiner-Waldorf education.

Other forms of Rudolph include the French Rodolphe and the rather fetching Dutch Roel (actually a short-form of Roelof), not to mention its Latin form, Rodolphus.

Rodolphus is now best known now as the name of Bellatrix Lestrange’s husband in the Harry Potter universe, but has been used as a genuine name in the English-speaking world since the eighteenth century, along with other Latinized forms of Germanic names, most notably the related Adolphus.

Another variant is Rolf, which descends from the Old Norse Cognate Hrólfr. This is Latinized as Rollo, as used of a ninth-/tenth-century Duke of Normandy, and ancestor of William the Conqueror.

Then there’s its rather charming traditional nickname Rudy, as well as the more contemporary Ru.

There are also feminine forms, Rodolphine and Rudolphine. The latter is most associated with the Rudolphine Tablets, a set of astronomical data compiled by Kepler in 1627.

Surely such a wonderfully rich name deserves to start to gather new associations now, rather than being stuck forever more in a children’s song?

Read Full Post »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 80 other followers