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ArchivesRe: Lenchen
in reply to a message by ADT
It looks very much like it's a German pet name, a la Gretchen, Madchen, Jochen etc.
A best guess would be that it's a pet form of Lena, but there's a few other names it could be a pet name for.
Does a German origin make sense in the context of the book?
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
A best guess would be that it's a pet form of Lena, but there's a few other names it could be a pet name for.
Does a German origin make sense in the context of the book?
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
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Replies
Hi Chrisell,
-chen is a diminutive ending in German and it works for girls (Gretchen, Lieschen, Lenchen) and boys (Hänschen, Kläuschen), but the name Jochen does not belong to that group. Here, the -chen-ending sounds different. It's just a short form of Joachim.
By the way - Mädchen isn't used as a given name in Germany at all. It's just a vocabulary word for "girl".
/ Satu
http://www.nordicnames.de/
-chen is a diminutive ending in German and it works for girls (Gretchen, Lieschen, Lenchen) and boys (Hänschen, Kläuschen), but the name Jochen does not belong to that group. Here, the -chen-ending sounds different. It's just a short form of Joachim.
By the way - Mädchen isn't used as a given name in Germany at all. It's just a vocabulary word for "girl".
/ Satu
http://www.nordicnames.de/
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Not at all. It's Canadian literature and the novel is set in Canada - no references to Germany whatsoever. It was first published in 1959 if that has any significance.
But, thanks. :)
But, thanks. :)
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Ooh, look what I found . . .
My hunch was pretty close: it's a German nickname for Helena
http://www.geocities.com/jesusib/Helena.html
Having a princess known as Lenchen *might* explain why an unusual German name could have found its way into a more mainstream naming pool. It's tenuous, but that's the best I can come up with!
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
My hunch was pretty close: it's a German nickname for Helena
http://www.geocities.com/jesusib/Helena.html
Having a princess known as Lenchen *might* explain why an unusual German name could have found its way into a more mainstream naming pool. It's tenuous, but that's the best I can come up with!
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
1
It can be from MAGDALENA or HELENA. (nt) Andy ;—)
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