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. dovico 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. Marmaduke, Germ. More Mighty. Martha, Heb. Bitterness. Martin Wieland. Mary, Maria, Heb. Some say Exalted; others, Bitter. The sweet, unaffected, and feminine sound of Mary will always redeem it from an ill meaning, whether of pride or pain. Mary, the Anglo-Norman poetess. Queen Mary, who married Charles Brandon. Marie de Rabutin, Marchioness de Sevigne. Mary Woolstonecraft.-See Matthew and Adam. Matthew, Heb. A Gift. Matthew Prior. Matteo Maria Boiardo. Matthias, Heb. A similar allusion. Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary. Matilda, Maud, Germ. Noble Maid. Maurice, Lat. Born or descended of a Moor; or born in Mauritania. Maximilian. A modern name, compounded by a German emperor of Fabius Maximus, and Scipio Emilianus. Maximilian de Bethune, Duke de Sully. Melicent, Milly, Fr. Honey-Sweet. Michael, Heb. Who is like Montaigne. Miguel Cervantes. Nathaniel, Heb. God's Gift. God? Michael Angelo. Michael de Nicholas, Nicol, Colin, Cole, Gr. Conqueror of the People. Niccolo Macchiavelli. Cola di Rienzi. Nicholas Boileau. St. Nicholas among the Catholics is the patron of seamen. Oliver, Olivia, Lat. From the Olive-tree, an emblem of peace; but more likely perhaps in allusion to the utility and pleasantness of the tree itself. Oliver, the Uliviero of the Italian, is the great gallant of the romances relating to Charlemagne and Orlando: whence the proverb of a Rowland for an Oliver.' Oliver Cromwell. Oliver Goldsmith. Osmund, Sax. House Peace. Oswald, Germ. House-Ruler-Major Domo. The De Spenser, now Spenser, of the Normans. Patrick, Lat. Patrician. Paul, if Heb., Wonderful, or Rest; if Lat., Parvulus, or Little, a term of endearment. Paulus Govius, or Paulo Giovio. Peter Paul Sarpi. Peter Paul Rubens. Penelope, Gr. A species of Turkey. Peregrine, Lat. Foreign. none. See Paul. The Czar Peter. Pietro GianPietro Metastasio. Pierre Abelard. Pierre Bayle. Pedro Calderon de la Barca. Pierre du Terrail, called the Chevalier Bayard. Philip. Philippa, Gr. A Lover of Horses. Sir Philip Sydney. Philip Melancthon. Priscilla, Lat. A Little Ancient. Prudence, Lat. Humanized into Pru. We suspect that these prodigiously staid names are apt to overshoot themselves, and disgust the possessor. w of no fair Prudence but one, whom our English We k know of Anacreon, Robert Herrick, a bachelor and poet, has often recorded as an exquisite maid-servant. Hear his epitaph upon her: Quintin, Lat. Rachael, Heb. Underneath this turf is laid Prudence Baldwin,-once my maid. From her happy spark here let Spring the purple violet. A Fifth Child. A Sheep or Lamb. Well bestowed on the excellent Lady Rachael Russell, the gentle and patient widow of the Lord Russell that was beheaded. Ralph, Germ. From Randolph, Help-Counsel. Raphael, Heb. The Medicine of God. Raphael Sanzio d'Urbino. Raymond, Germ. Quiet Peace. Rebecca, Heb. Fleshy and Full; a word apparently answering to the Bathukolpos, or Deep-bosomed, of the Greeks. Reuben, Germ. The Son of Visions, or Quick-Seeing. Herrick. Robert Burns. Robin Hood. Robert Roger Bacon. Roger, Germ. Strong Counsel. Rose, Lat. The Flower so called. Rosamund, Lat. The Rose of the World. The name of the fair mistress of Henry the Second. Rowland, Orlando, Germ. Counsel for the Land. The name of the hero of the old French and Italian romance. Sampson, Heb. There the Second Time, says Camden: others say, a Little Son. Samuel, Heb. Placed of God. Samuel Butler. Samuel Richardson. Samuel Johnson. Sebastian, Gr. Worshipful-Worthy of Honour. Sebastian Cabot. John Sebastian Bach. Simon, Heb. Obedient Listening. Sophia, Gr. Wisdom. Rendered pleasanter by Tom Jones's heroine. Stephen, Gr. A Crown. Susanna, Susan, Heb. A Rose. Sylvanus, Sylvester, Lat. Of the Woods, Delighting in Trees. It would shorten well into Sylvan. Tabitha, Heb. A Roebuck. Evidently the same allusion to eyes and figure, as the favourite Eastern simile of the gazel or antelope. Yet from grave appropriation it has come to mean something ludicrously opposed to grace and sprightliness. Theodore, Gr. God's Gift. Thomas, Heb. A Twin. Sir Thomas More. Thomas Hobbes. Thomas Decker. Thomas Gray. Thomas Chatterton. Timothy, Gr. Honouring God. Valentine, Lat. See Charles. Vincent, Victor, Victoria. Conquering. Vittorio Alfieri. Vittoria Colonna, a celebrated Italian poetess. Walter, Germ. According to some, a Pilgrim; to others, a Wood man or Lover of Woods, like Sylvanus; and to others, a General of an Army. In all senses it will be suitable to Sir Walter Raleigh. Walter Furst, one of the founders of Swiss liberty. William, Wilhelmina, Germ. The Defender of Many. A good name; and together with Alfred, the most honoured in our language, for it belonged to Shakspeare. See also the illustrious names that follow him. William Wallace. William Penn. William Tell. These are all names still in use. But they who would give a name to their children in a right spirit, might introduce others, especially female ones, from favourite authors. As the whole of what we had written on this subject could not be got into our last week's paper, we shall proceed to enlarge upon it a little more, and give a selection of names from the greatest writers, ancient and modern. They will chiefly be female; not only because they are the more beautiful ones, but because the fair sex, being less out in the common world than men, preserve a kind of natural romance about them, which makes a poetical name suit them better. They can wear it as they do a crown of flowers. At the same time, there will be a choice of every species of meaning, from the highest and most abstract down to the homeliest or most housewifely. We of the brown sex however might be named to better advantage than usual, if our parents should not anticipate for us a character exceedingly low, groveling, or ridiculous, or unable to afford a respectable association of ideas. And it would be as well for parent as well as child, if the former would think what he is going to do with the latter, when he is afraid of giving him a good name. GREEK NAMES. Andromache, Man-fight. The wife of Hector. Not a Virago surely, as some give it, but spoken in allusion to qualities which attract rivals, the Men's Contest. Calypso, Concealing, Secret. The Nymph who detained Ulysses so long in her green island. According to some she was the Goddess of Silence; but the first thing we know personally of her in Homer, is her singing. Euryclea, Ample Honour. Eurynome, Ample Feeding or Distribution. Polymele, Many-Measured. A Dancer. Phaethusa, Lightsome or Shining. Pasithea or Pasithae, a Wonder to All. Galene, Calm and Glad. Thyene, Odorous. Melissa, a Bee. Eudora, Well Gifted, Accomplished. Dione, Divine, Sprung from Jove. Aglaia, Sparkling. Coronis, Crowned or Tufted, a Crown. Thalia, Flowery Joy. Euphrosyne, Well-minded, Chearful. |