2771: Names Ending -eigh and Feminizing Masculine Names Jul 22, 2024
In recent decades, there has been a trend to give children distinctive names, balancing the perceived need for uniqueness with the desire to avoid raising too many eyebrows. This balance is increasingly achieved through creative spelling. As the trend for distinctiveness grows, it often results in variations around a limited set of tools.
Common names like Ashley and Riley have begun to be spelled with an -eigh ending, resulting in names like Ashleigh and Rileigh. The latter has other variations, with Ryleigh being the most common -eigh ending name of 2017 among a couple hundred now. This trend first emerged in earnest in the 1960s with a handful of names, predominantly Irish and British surnames that were long ago turned into male names and then feminized, such as the two examples above. The spelling could in part be a visual cue of their femininity.
The trend now not only includes classic names with the [i] or [eɪ] sounds at the end, altering their spelling, but also invents new ones. This spelling evolution overlaps with the feminizing of many traditionally masculine names—like how Charlie (and indeed Charleigh) is now more common for girls than boys—especially those ending in [i] or [eɪ] like Kelsey, Lesley, Sydney and Lindsey, seen as is, though Syndeigh and Lindseigh etc. are exclusively for girls. While this trend of giving girls traditionally boys' names, or as a result, neutral names, has seen explosive popularity in recent decades, there is not even one serious contender in the reverse.
2761: Español is not Normal Jul 12, 2024
‘Spanish’, in Spanish, is ‘Español’ but by people-group or language standards, this is a pretty new word. In Old Spanish it was ‘espanyol’ or ‘espanno’, but this really only took place at the time of the reconquista and eventually the Spanish Inquisition. Up until this time, under Moorish, Muslim rule it was called Al-Andalus, and there was not a uniquely Iberian identity per se. Before the total success of the reconquista, one might identify with a local kingdom or more likely as a ‘cristiano’ (christian), after which point, the Latin ‘Hispania’ was revived, itself taken from a Semitic word from the days of the Carthaginian empire, from the Canaanite/Phoenician ‘yšpn, related to the Hebrew שָׁפָן (shafan), probably in reference to hyraxes along the coast in ancient times.
All of this is to say that the word ‘Español’ is rather strange looking, because normally one would expect to see *españuelo according to what one would expect to see in the transition from the expected Vulgar Latin *Hispaniolus into Old Spanish through to Modern Spanish. Since this is not a normal Latin word, nor was this in common use while the transition from Latin → Vulgar Latin → Old Spanish was underway, it has its modern form.
2601: Patric(k) Jan 28, 2022
Patric(k) is a tradition Celtic & English name, associated especially in Ireland. It is not Celtic in fact but from 'Patricius' from Latin. This is was popularized by the saint, Saint Patrick though leading to its popularity in the British Isles, as opposed to elsewhere. This also led to the word 'patrician', which is true to the original meaning, denoting a noble family.
2597: Denny's Jan 24, 2022
While company names don't always have any particular source in reality, the story of Denny's is more specific. This was previously "Denny's Coffee Shop", that too being a name change as a way to distinguish from "Dan's Coffee Shop" located nearby before it was an international chain. Beforehand it was "Danny's Coffee Shop" but this too wasn't original. The original name was Danny's Donuts, but founded by no one named Danny: rather a Harold Butler & Richard Jezak who just thought the name was catchy.
2533: brian Nov 19, 2021
The name 'Brian' is of somewhat disputed origin but generally thought to come from a Celtic root 'bre' meaning 'hill'. The word took on the sense of 'nobility' or just 'exalted' from the sense of physical height. Another connection is to Celtic mythology supposedly, but the mythical figure of Brian actually had his name changed from Uar. 'Brian' started out exclusively as a title, but eventually became one of the most popular names in the anglosphere, especially in Britain and Ireland in the 20th century.
2523: Mysterious Origins of Diego Nov 9, 2021
The Spanish name Santiago is from an earlier Sant Yago, but in English this is the name of Saint James. The discrepancy in the name goes even further, since in Hebrew the name is יעקב (Yaaqov). That said, it is not certain by any means that what was once thought to be the successor to 'Yago', namely 'Diego' is in fact descended from יעקב (Yaaqov) even though this would definitely not be the most radical shift over the years. Instead, the current theory is that this is from 'Didacus', itself from the Greek Διάδοχος (Diadochos) meaning 'heir; successor', though the shift in vowels from that to 'Diego' is not explained. What is certain is that 'Díaz' and its variations are just the patronymic form of 'Diego'.
2522: mesmerism Nov 8, 2021
The word 'mesmerize' now just generally refers to something that's dazzling and captivating, but 'mesmerism' was once a description of a medical procedure and (erroneous) scientific theory. Franz Anton Mesmer believed in something called 'animal magnetism'—an invisible force with physical effects—using magnets along with psychological tricks to supposedly cure people of ailments. This did actually work, but rather than being from magnetism, it was hypnosis. The salvageable procedures influenced many fields including modern talk-therapy, but the colloquial term 'mesmerize' is named from someone who may not have really known what he was doing.
2517: mentor Nov 3, 2021
Although the word 'mentor' is from Ancient Greek, it only started to be used as a word in the 18th century. Instead, this word comes from the name of a character Μέντωρ (Mentor) in Homer's Odyssey, namely the adviser of Telemachus. That said, the root of this word is connected to the idea itself, and related to the English 'mind', Latin 'monitor', and Sanskrit मन्तृ (mantṛ). So, while it is technically from a name, the name was given presumably due to who the character was.
2507: Candace: Mistaken for a Biblical Name Oct 23, 2021
Candace is ostensibly a (New Testament) biblical name, but it was not actually a name. Referred to as a queen in the text, the word was written as Κανδάκη (Kandakē) in Greek, from Kdke in the Meroitic language of the Cushites, was a specific title for the sister of a king. This sort of terminology was commonly used around the region, especially around what is now Ethiopia, but later Greek and Roman sources misunderstood this and treated it as her personal name in Acts. This is how it came to be a name in English, despite it not technically being a biblical name, per se.
2253: John Doe & Other Stand-In Names Feb 15, 2021
'John Doe' is the name given to men when there is not another name given for whatever reason for law enforcement in the US. More exist in the US for other purposes such as John Q. Public, and of course around the world similar names have been created. In Ancient Rome even the name was 'Numerius Negidius' for the defendant—a play on actual given names that comes to mean "I refuse to pay"—while 'Aulus Agerius', another pun-name from the verb 'agere' meaning 'to set in motion'. In some modern European countries another Latin one is used, but it isn't a pun; Nomen Nescio (n.n.) just means "I do not know the name". In religious Jewish contexts and sometimes secular Israeli ones, the name פלני אלמני (Ploni Almoni) is used as a stand-in, which is originally found in the Book of Ruth probably as a euphemism for Boaz. More on this at another point.