derived either from a Saxon word, signifying subtle, or most likely from the French and old English word Druerie or Drury, which meant Gallantry. Edgar, Sax. Happy Power. Edith, formerly Eade, Ada, &c. from the Saxon word signifying Happy. It was the name of Pope's mother. Edmund, Sax. Happy Peace. Edmund Spenser. Edmund Halley. Edmund Burke. Edward, Sax. Happy Guarder or Keeper. Edward Fairfax. Edward Gibbon. Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury. Edwin, Sax. Happy Winner. It is a favourite name in the Sandys family, of whom was Sandys the poet. Eleanor, Eleonora, Sax. All Fruitful. But Camden brings it from Helen, Gr. One who takes Pity. Spenser seems to derive it also from the Grecian Helen, as he spells it Hellenore. Eliza, Elizabeth, Betsey, Isabel, for they are all of one stock, Heb. The Oath of the Lord; or, Camden says, Peace of the Lord. Isabel, or Isabella, is only the termination of Eliza with the addition of Bella. See Dorothea. It seems strange at first how the name of Eliza got into Virgil's Eneid, as that of the sister of Dido; but the sisters were of Phoenician origin, and thus the name gets back to Asia. Emma. Some think the same as Amie or Amelia; others, an old German or Norman word signifying a Good Nurse; others the same as the Saxon Elgiva, Help-mate. It was the name of Charlemagne's daughter, who married his secretary Eginhart. Erasmus, Gr. Loveable, Amiable. The name was introduced by the celebrated scholar of Rotterdam. It seems to have become a favourite in the Dryden family, perhaps when they were growing lukewarm to popery. Ernest, Germ. Sincere and Ardent. Earnest. According to Camden, it is Cæsar's word Ariovistus; which, say the Italian genealogists, is the origin of the name of Ariosto. It is evident from the Commentaries, that the Romans must have mauled foreign appellations as badly as the French do now; so much so, that it seems impossible to recognize the pithy Celtic names in their lengthened Latinisms. Esther, Heb. Secret. Everard, Germ. Well Reported, according to some; but Camden thinks with others, that it means a good kindly disposition or Towardness. Eugene, Eugenia, Gr. Well Born. Euphemia, Gr. Well Spoken. Eustace, Gr. Well Standing; not easily turned aside. The fit name of the famous French patriot Eustace St. Pierre, who delivered -himself up to Edward the Third, as a sacrifice for his fellow-citizens. Eve, Eva, Heb. Giving Life. Evelina, Evelin. Probably a familiar alteration of Eve. and the Saxon Edith. Happy. The same as the Greek Macarius, Ferdinand, Fernando, Fernan, Hernan, is a name of very disputed origin. Camden thinks it may come from the German words Fred and Rand, Pure Peace; and this appears a very likely etymology, for names alter strangely in making the Grand Tour. Hernan Cortes. Flora, Lat. Flowery. Florence, a name both of men and women, Lat. Flourishing. Francis, Frances, Franck, from the German Franc, which signifies Free, as opposed to Servile; whence our metaphorical word Frank, and the old saying of Frank and Free. It is the same word as French. Francesco Petrarca. Francis Rabelais. Francis Bacon. Francis Quevedo. Francis Beaumont. Francis de la Rochefaucault. Francis de Salignac de la Motte Fenelon, Francis Marie Arouet de Voltaire. See Anthony. Francis is one of the pleasantest names in use. It has a fine open air with it, a sound correspondent to it's sense. Frederick, Germ. Rich Peace. Frederick Schiller. George Frederick Handel. Frederick of Prussia. It was brought among us by the Germans. Fulk, Foulk, Sax. Folk or People. swering to the Publius of the Romans. of Sir Philip Sydney. A very popular meaning, an- Gabriel, Heb. The Strength of God. This appears to have been at one time a common name among rustics, if we may judge from the reproach of clownishness conveyed in the old saying of a "great Gaby." 2 ན Geoffrey, Jeffrey, Germ. Joyful Peace. Geoffrey Chaucer. George, Gr. Husbandman, Tiller of the Earth; the same as the Latin Agricola. In spite of the word Georgics, one is surprised to find this name of Greek origin, it has retained so little of it's character, and been so much identified with modern England. It was the national Saint that brought it into such repute; a personage who, according to Gibbon, turns out to have been no greater than a jobber and contractor, of very equivocal character. George Buchanan. George Chapman. George Frederick Handel. George Berkeley. George Louis le Clerc, Count Buffon. George Washington. Georgiana, a compound of George and Anne. Gerard, Gerald, often corrupted into Garret. Female Geraldine, Germ. All Towardness; Perfect Good-will. Gerard Douw. The name of Lord Surrey's celebrated mistress, real or poetical, was Ge raldine. Gertrude, Germ. All Truth. Gervas, Jervas, Jervoise, Germ. All Fast or Sure. Gilbert, Germ. Gilt-Bright; or as Camden rather thinks, according to an old spelling, Gislebert, Sax. Bright Pledge, like the Pignora Amoris of the ancients, and our modern phrase of a Pledge of Love. Giles, "Miserably disjointed," says Camden, by the French, from the Lat. Ægidius, Gr. Aigidion. A Little Kid. The word Giles is still translated into Latin Egidius. Camden thinks however that it is probably brought from Julius, as Gillian from Juliana: which appears the more likely from the French word Jules for Julius. Godfrey, Germ. God's Peace. Godfrey of Boulogne, who went to make war in the Holy Land. Grace, Lat. Grace, in the sense of Favour. Guy, from the Italian Guido, which they derive from the French Guide. A Guide or Conductor. Guido Reni. In this country, the name is probably from our hero of romance, Guy Earl of Warwick. Hector, Gr. Defender. This, like Solomon and Alexander (Sawney) came to have a contemptuous mock-heroical meaning, for an obvious reason. Helen, Gr. One who takes Pity. Paris and the Trojans must have differed on the applicability of this name. Henry, Henrietta, Harry, Harriet, Germ. Rich Lord: the same as the Greek Plutarch. Henry the Fourth. Henry Purcell. Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke. Henry Fielding. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. Herbert, Germ. Bright Lord. Horatio, Horace, Lat. Camden says he is ignorant of the etymology of this word, but with his usual acuteness offers us that of Horatos or Horatikos from the Greek, "as of good eyesight." Etymologists after him have translated it, Worth looking at. Worthy to be beheld. Sightly. Query? Whether it was a name given in gratitude to the Hora or Seasons, who were always supposed to be bringing us something new, and one of whose pleasantest gifts were children. See Theocritus. Syrakousiai, v. 105. Hubert, Sax. Bright Hue. b:. Hugh, Germ. The same as our English word Hough. To cut and lame. Hugo de Groot, or Grotius. Hugh Middleton. Germ. Home Peace. See John. Humphrey, have been told, make a similar butt of their word Onufrio. 7 The Italians, we Isaac, Heb. Laughter. The Gelasius of the Greeks. Isaac Newton. Isaac, or (as he more Judaically spelt it). Izaak Walton. Isabel. See Elizabeth. Jane, from Joan and Joanna, the female of John. Lady Jane Grey. Joan of Arc. Jacob, James, Giacomo, Giacopo, Iago, Jachimo, Jacques, Heb. A Supplanter, or Tripper-up: in allusion to the birth of Jacob. James Chrichton the Admirable. James Thomson. K. James the First of Scotland. Jean Jacques Rousseau. James Cook. [We miscalculated our room this time, owing to the breaks in the print, which make such a number of paragraphs; otherwise this article would not have been left unfinished. The rest will appear, of course, next week.] Orders received by the Booksellers, by the Newsmen, and by the Publisher, THE INDICATOR. There he arriving round about doth flie, No. XIX.-WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16th, 1820. NAMES. CONCLUDED FROM LAST WEEK. JASPER, Gaspar, Arab. The precious stone of that name. Gaspar Poussin. Jemima, Heb. Meaning unknown to us. Jeremy, Heb. High of the Lord. Jeremy Taylor. Jessica, Jessy, Heb. We know not the signification; but the little music-loving Jewess in the Merchant of Venice has rendered it's pleasant simplicity still pleasanter. John, Heb. Gracious. Giovanni in Italian. Jean in French. The commonest Christian name in use, given originally from the most amiable of the Apostles. It's being so great a favourite seems at last to have turned the tables upon it, and brought it's familiarity into disrepute; as was the case with Humphrey and Anthony. This is another reason for bringing the word Jack from it, as every body does; otherwise we should have thought it came from Jacques or James. Jack has been tagged to every possible name of homeliness, ridicule, and contempt :-as Jack-a-napes. Jack-ass. Jack-daw. Jack Pudding. Jack-a-dandy. Jack (to roast meat with.) Black Jack (to hold beer.) Jack Boots. Every Jack has his Gill. Jack-a-lantern. Jack in the Green. Jack in the Box. Jack in the Corner. Jack Sprat. Jack Priest. Jack Ketch. A Jack in Office. But now hear the name resume it's dignity in John Milton, John Hampden, John Fletcher, John Dryden, John Locke, John Selden, John Marston, John Webster, John Evelyn, John Ford, John Howard, &c. &c. Then in the French there is Jean Racine, Jean Baptiste Moliere, Jean de la Fontaine, Jean le Rond d'Alembert, Jean Jacques Rousseau: and in Italian, Giovanni Boccaccio, Giovanni Lodovico Ariosto, Giovanni Paesiello, &c. Joan, Joanna, see Jane. The word Anne seems to be from the same root. Jonathan, Heb. God's Gift. The same as the Greek Theodore and Theodosius, and the Latin Deodatus. Jonathan Swift. Joseph, Heb. Addition. Joseph Addison. Joseph Hadyn. 2nd Edition. Julius, or Julus, originally Gr. Soft-haired, or Mossy-bearded. Julius Cæsar. Giulio Romano. Lætitia, Lettice, Lat. Joy. Lancelot, Launcelot, Lancillotto, a Little Lance. Spanish or old French. It is supposed to have been invented for the famous hero of romance, Launcelot of the Lake; from whom it became a common name. Laurence, Lorenzo, Laura, Lat. Laurel-like. Flourishing like the Bay. The Daphnis of the Greeks. A happy name for Lorenzo de Medici, under whose shadow lived so many poets and learned men. Lorenzo Lippi. Laurence Sterne. Leonard, Germ. People-Pleaser. Like the Greek Demochares. Leopold, Germ. Defender of the People. Answering to Alexander. Lewis, Louis, Louisa, Luigi, Ludovico, from Lodowick, Germ. Refuge of the People. From it's Latin Ludovicus came by familiar transposition Clovis; and then by dropping the C, Lovis and Louis. The Italians turn the final s into igi, as Amadis, Amadigi; Fleur-delis, Fiordiligi; Louis, Luigi. Luigi Pulci. Louis de Comoens. Lodovico Giovanni Ariosto. Lionel, Lat. A Little Lion. Lucretia, Lat. Profitable; Lucrative. The name of the celebrated Roman wife. More suitable to your chaste marriers for money. Lucy, Lat. Like Light. Camden says it was given to girls born at daylight; which is very probable. The Romans gave their names for very idle reasons, compared with the Greeks, throughout whose language indeed the superiority in sentiment is remarkable. A better cause would be a Brightness of Aspect,—a Glad Clearness of Eye and Look. Lucifer or Light-bringer, the Phosphorus of the Greeks, used to be counted a good name; till the application of it to the devil, from a passage in one of the Prophets, brought it into disrepute. There was a well-known Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari. Luke, if Hebrew, Lifting up; if Greek, a Wood or Grove. Luca Giordano. Lydia, Gr. A female born in Lydia. It is a name in the New Testament. Mabel. We believe still survives, as it ought, whether it comes from Mabella, My Fair One; or from Mabilia, Amabilia, Amabilis,Amiable. Magdalen, Madelina, Madeline, Maudlin, Heb. Majestic; some say Magnificent. It conveys a very different, though not less pleasant idea, from the gentle penitent in the Bible. Margaret, Marget, Margery, Gr. A Pearl. In French it signified also a Daisy, which gave occasion to a world of amatory and flowery allusions. Margaret of Navarre. Marianne, Marian, Marion. A compound of Mary and Anne. Marian, a gentle and sprightly word, became in request as the name of the real or fancied mistress of Robin Hood. Mark, if Hebrew, High; if Latin, it referred to the month of March, or to Martialness. Mark Akenside. |