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[Opinions] Re: 17th century English criminal's names!
in reply to a message by Lethe
Ursley I think is an English form of Ursula, not a pet form. (Like Margaret -> Margery, Cecilia -> Cecily, Timotheos -> Timothy, Dorothea -> Dorothy etc.)Manly's interesting: I wonder if it's a virtue name, or an English form of the Roman name Manlius (which would refer to the hands)? Hee. Good thing that and Publius (Publy?) didn't catch on.Fryswid, Gunnora interesting as well.Thanks for posting.ETA: Fryswid probably comes from Frideswide. Cool.

This message was edited 12/8/2008, 7:08 PM

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I never thought of Ursley like that, yes you're probably right. I find it quite hard to say, maybe that's why the full Ursula was more popular. And thanks for the info on Frideswide. I found it interesting she's really the only one with a very traditional old English name in the 17thC.According to wiki, Gunnora was the consort and wife of Richard I of Normandy and was of Danish ancestry, so maybe the name is related to the male name Gunnar?
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That was my thinking as well. Gunnar -> Gunnora doesn't seem like a stretch at all. I think maybe it could also be a combination of the elements gunnr (war) and nord (north), but I'm thinking a feminine from of Gunnar is more likely.
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