... have you got any ideas about the origins of names like
Gary,
Gareth and
Garrett? I'd always gone the Arthurian route, and assumed that the various versions were just the way things historically happen; then I read a brief remark in the course of something else, which suggested that certainly in the case of
Garrett and probably of
Gary, they might have originated from
German traders, miners or whatever - in other words, that they are forms of
Gerhard.
My feeling is that it's more likely to have happened the other way round - that a new
German neighbour in Wales three hundred years ago might say his name was
Gerhard till he got a sore throat, but his new friends would hear it as
Gareth or
Gary or whatever and call him that.
And if anyone has any information,it'll be you, for sure!
Allt he best