The As of Medieval names

Due to a number of unwanted, extenuating circumstances, the great theme I’d planned for this year’s A to Z has to be pushed off till next year. If I’d gone ahead with it, without ample prep time, the resulting posts wouldn’t have been my best work. Instead, this year’s theme is Medieval names, from a variety of languages.

I’m featuring names with interesting etymologies, names which look intriguing, and names I like. I’ll also focus on names which were mostly exclusive to the Middle Ages, instead of Medieval names which are still regularly used today.

Let’s get started!

Female:

Abluna (Swedish): Form of Apollonia, which of course comes from Apollo. It may derive from the Indo–European *apelo (strength), the Greek verb apollymi (to destroy), or the Anatolian god Appaliunas (father light or father lion). The alternate form Ablunia was Finnish.

Adalsinda (German): “Noble path,” from Old High German adal (noble) and Gothic sinths (way, path).

Adélaïse (French): A shortened form of the Ancient Germanic Adalheidis, with roots adal and heid (sort, kind, type). Other forms included Adelasia (Italian, Sardinian); Adelissa (Dutch); and Adeliza (English, Swedish). This name eventually morphed into more familiar forms such as Alice, Alicia, Adelaide, Adeline, Adele, and Adela.

Alamanda (Occitan, Gascon): From Alemannia, the Latin word for Germany.

Alara (Turkic): A beautiful water fairy in Turkic mythology, who lives in rivers and lakes of the Caspian basin. She grants wishes she deems worthy, and heals broken hearts and makes them able to love again. Al ara also means “red ornament” in the Turkic languages.

Amice (English): From Latin amicus (friend). The male form was Amis. These were very popular names in Medieval England.

Male:

Aberycusgentylis (English): This was used as a namesake for Oxford professor Albericus Gentilis (né Alberico Gentili). The first part of the name derives from the Ancient Germanic Alberich (elf power), with roots alf (elf) and ric (power). The second part of the name comes from a Latin adjective meaning “of the same family.”

Adalrik (Swedish): From the Ancient Germanic Athalric, with roots adal (noble) and rīhhi (rich, noble, distinguished).

Aleksandru (Slavic): From the Greek Alexandros, “helper of man,” with roots alexo (to help, defend) and aner (genitive andros) (man). This name soared to popularity all around the Indo–European world because of Alexander the Great.

Andriü (Occitan): Form of Andrew, which comes from the Greek Andreas, with root andreios (masculine, manly).

Arlotto (Italian): Possibly from Old French herlot (tramp, vagabond).

Astralabius (French): The name of the son of the infamous Héloïse and Abélard. It means “one who reaches the stars,” after the word “astrolabe.”