Statue of King Alfred the Great, Winchester

There are actually very few ‘English’ names that originally arise from Old English / Anglo Saxon. My own comes from the bible, so Hebrew, and is the feminine form of John, which means ‘God is gracious’.

What about Richard? As a name it has been popular here for centuries (if not in the Royal family), but it comes from French originally.  However, many French names, Richard included, are kind of hybrids of French and Germany words. In Richard’s case, it’s a hybrid of Ric and Hard, and means hard or strong ruler.

We still have a few old English names, such as Edward, Alfred, Edith and Wilfred but not very many. If you’re interested in the origins of your name, take a look at the fascinating video, which explains why different names became popular and where and when they originated.

https://youtu.be/SIMGph7xkDA?si=r1ojVpxeyQrrtKgI


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2 responses to “What’s in a Name?”

  1. funny thing last night I posted on instagram about strange coincidences between Richard II and Richard III and the title was “what’s in a name” another coincidence 😁

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  2. gracefullydream8082aa7f2c Avatar
    gracefullydream8082aa7f2c

    Richard’s name suits him as he was a hard but fair, strong ruler.

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