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HelpRe: Sigourney?
in reply to a message by MrsHal
If I were you, I would take the majority of baby name websites with a grain of salt. These typically only list a meaning without giving any evidence, and a lot of them list either completely inaccurate meanings (i.e. made up) or half-accurate meanings.
With that said, Babynames.com seems to be as bit of a hit-and-miss website when it comes to baby name meanings. A few correct ones here, a few incorrect ones here (e.g. for Amelia, Chloe, Lorelei), and so on. As such, I wouldn't dare to bet my finger on the accuracy of the meaning that they provided for Sigourney.
For the rest, I can tell you the following about Sigourney. It was originally a surname, a Huguenot French or Norman French one at that. It was often found spelled as Sigournay, but I found a few other variant spellings (most of them very rare compared to Sigournay and Sigourney), namely: Sigournai, Sigourné, Sigournée and Sigournet. According to the very knowledgeable Cleveland Kent Evans, the surname is derived from a place name, namely the place Sigournais in France. Look here for the two entries where Mr. Evans mentioned that:
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/fact/292737
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/fact/570196
Proof that the place Sigournais (found spelled Segornay, Segorné, Sigornay, Sigourné and Sigournés in earlier times) actually exists in France, is here:
http://www.sigournais.fr (the town's official website)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigournais (article on the English Wikipedia)
Further research on Google showed that in even earlier times, the place name was originally Segorniacum (also found spelled as Segornaium, Segornayum, Segornianum, Segorniaum, Segurnacum, Segurniacum, Sigorniaum). This makes it look like the place name was of Gallic (i.e. Celtic) or Roman (i.e. Latin) origin.
Also, this French PDF document claims that the town Sigournais ultimately derived its name from the male personal name Segor:
http://books.google.nl/books?id=uWc2OJbYozgC&pg=PA390
Segor certainly doesn't look like a Roman given name, so it is then either of Celtic or Germanic origin. If of Celtic origin, the meaning is unknown to me at this time. If of Germanic origin, it being a variant form of (or related to) Sigurd could be a possibility - but that is by no means a given. All in all, I suppose one could say that ultimately, the meaning of the name is (still) unknown. People are able to tell where it comes from, yes, but not what the meaning is.
With that said, Babynames.com seems to be as bit of a hit-and-miss website when it comes to baby name meanings. A few correct ones here, a few incorrect ones here (e.g. for Amelia, Chloe, Lorelei), and so on. As such, I wouldn't dare to bet my finger on the accuracy of the meaning that they provided for Sigourney.
For the rest, I can tell you the following about Sigourney. It was originally a surname, a Huguenot French or Norman French one at that. It was often found spelled as Sigournay, but I found a few other variant spellings (most of them very rare compared to Sigournay and Sigourney), namely: Sigournai, Sigourné, Sigournée and Sigournet. According to the very knowledgeable Cleveland Kent Evans, the surname is derived from a place name, namely the place Sigournais in France. Look here for the two entries where Mr. Evans mentioned that:
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/fact/292737
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/fact/570196
Proof that the place Sigournais (found spelled Segornay, Segorné, Sigornay, Sigourné and Sigournés in earlier times) actually exists in France, is here:
http://www.sigournais.fr (the town's official website)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigournais (article on the English Wikipedia)
Further research on Google showed that in even earlier times, the place name was originally Segorniacum (also found spelled as Segornaium, Segornayum, Segornianum, Segorniaum, Segurnacum, Segurniacum, Sigorniaum). This makes it look like the place name was of Gallic (i.e. Celtic) or Roman (i.e. Latin) origin.
Also, this French PDF document claims that the town Sigournais ultimately derived its name from the male personal name Segor:
http://books.google.nl/books?id=uWc2OJbYozgC&pg=PA390
Segor certainly doesn't look like a Roman given name, so it is then either of Celtic or Germanic origin. If of Celtic origin, the meaning is unknown to me at this time. If of Germanic origin, it being a variant form of (or related to) Sigurd could be a possibility - but that is by no means a given. All in all, I suppose one could say that ultimately, the meaning of the name is (still) unknown. People are able to tell where it comes from, yes, but not what the meaning is.
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