Emeryn has two sources with related meanings: “Immortal/Universal/Unceasing” from
Emery and
Emrys.
1.
Emeryn is a variant spelling of the Norman name
Emeran, also
Emmeran and
Emmeram, but utilizing the more known English form
Emery. The Germanic is
Emmerich. See also
Émeric. These names also appear as
Emry,
Emryn,
Emric. The many forms are caused by linguistic alterations as the Germanic name moved through Europe during the Germanic invasions of Western Europe ending in the early Middle Ages. The Norman Conquest in the 11th-century brought the name to England. Alterations continue in modern times with
Emerson (meaning son of
Emery) becoming
Emersyn. Furthermore, while the origin and source names are all masculine, in recent decades, many forms have found feminine use as well in America.
From Germanic languages, the first element is from
ermen meaning "whole, universal"(to be a relative of
Ermenrich). Alternatively, the first element is also traced to
heim meaning "home" (to be a relative of
Heimeran and
Henry) or even
amal meaning "unceasing, vigorous, brave" (to be a relative of
Amalric) It is likely that several forms merged into a single name. The second element is
hramn (Old Norse
hrafn) meaning "raven".
Note the forms ending in “
-ric” have a different second element, being
ric,
rich or Old Norse
rikr meaning “ruler”. However, “
-ryn” does not mean “ruler”, it's meaning in Emeryn is explained in (2). Also see
Rynn is merely an English diminutive of another name.
2. From the Late Latin name
Ambrosius, which was derived from the Greek name Ἀμβρόσιος (
Ambrosios) meaning "immortal”, comes the male Welsh name
Emrys. In Welsh, the “yn” suffix is used for the singular of a masculine noun, usually applied to nouns that refer to groups (Like this: adar "birds", aderyn "bird"; plant "children", plentyn "a child".) Consequently there are a plethora of Welsh male names ending in “yn” (In “Welsh Personal Names” by Heini Gruffudd nearly all names ending in “yn”, such as
Arwyn,
Bryn,
Medwyn, are masculine, with a few exceptions based on meaning such as
Blodyn is feminine as it means "flower"; Welsh is a very gendered language). Thus, from
Emrys "immortal", we have
Emryn meaning "immortal one", or following English consonant patterns,
Emeryn. The Welsh source was already present in Wales before the Norman invasion brought
Emery, as its influence is from the Roman Conquest.
Note: A common error is to affiliate
Emeryn by cropping at
Emer, an anglicized version of
Eimhear. From Irish Mythology
Eimear,
Eimhear, or
Eimhir, are female names said with a long E in the first element and a “v” because Gaelic "mh" is said "v". There is already a male version of this name,
Eimhin or anglicized to
Evin with meaning “swift” from the Gaelic,
eimh.
Notable People: This name was borne by
Saint Emeran of Regensburg from the 7th century AD.
Saint Emeric of Hungary, also Emericus, Emerick, Emery, Emory (c. 1007 – 2 September 1031) was the son of King Stephen I of Hungary and Giselle of Bavaria.
Emrys Wledig was a Welsh military leader of the 5th century whose life tales helped shape the early character of Merlin, originally Merlinus Ambrosius in Latin and Myrddin Emrys in Welsh, invented by the 12th-centurn chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth.
Saint Ambrose was a 4th-century theologian and bishop of Milan, who is considered a Doctor of the Church.
Popularity: As of 2023,
Emryn is the more popular form, with
Emeryn appearing only for some years in U.S. Social Security Card Applications,