[Facts] Tigris
According to tradition, Saint Tigris is said to have been the sister of Saint Patrick and I found the name Tigris listed as "Irish" in one of my name books. But is it really used in Ireland? And why would this Saint Tigris have the name of a Middle Eastern river as her first name? Is it perhaps a latinization of an older Irish name?
Anyone who knows? I love the name anyway. :)
Anyone who knows? I love the name anyway. :)
Replies
I'm not much help, but this intrigues me. :) Personally I'd guess it's a Latinized form of a Celtic name; other Latinizations include Tigrida, Tygrida and Tigridia (there was also a 10th-century Spanish saint Tigridia: http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-tigridia/), and apparently she's known as "Tigrid" or "Tirid" in Brittany (this according to http://grandterrier.net/wiki/index.php?title=Santez_Tigrid). Helena Walsh Concannon (1878-1951) wrote that "the names Tigris and Lupita suggest that their bearers were of Gallic origin. Tigris, it is curious to note, was the name of a monk in the monastery of Lerins [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lérins_Abbey] — and one gathers it could be used of either men or women." How accurate any of this is, I don't know. (Additionally there was a male Saint Tigrius (sometimes "Tigris") from Constantinople: http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-tigrius/)
Hmm... Celtic *tigir* (as in http://www.asnc.cam.ac.uk/personalnames/details.php?name=449) may be the same as Irish Gaelic *tigern* "lord" (e.g., Tighearnach)...?
Hmm... Celtic *tigir* (as in http://www.asnc.cam.ac.uk/personalnames/details.php?name=449) may be the same as Irish Gaelic *tigern* "lord" (e.g., Tighearnach)...?