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Dareth was the name of the third wife of the British actor Anthony Newley. Through Google I also discovered Dareth as the first name of a government employee in Swansea, Wales.

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My guess would be that Dareth was a name created in Wales during the late 19th or early 20th centuries as part of the revival of Welsh nationalism. Daron was the name of the ancient Welsh goddess of oak trees and is listed as a girls' name in Heini Gruffudd's Welsh Personal Names. My guess is that Dareth was invented by someone who blended Daron with other Welsh names ending in the sound -eth such as Gwyneth because they thought it sounded more feminine that way. A great many names used in Wales have been recent creations of that sort.

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I will emphasize that the above is just an educated guess based on the name having been used in Wales and my limited knowledge of the creation of new names by the Welsh nationalist movement. You would have to track down that game show contestant and find out how she got the name to be sure.

This message was edited 10/21/2005, 2:17 PM