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ArchivesFake Aboriginal names?
I have a (Swedish) name book with names from many different cultures. Many of the meanings are so totally wrong that I almost suspect the author has made them up herself:
Agnes - lamb
Alison - sunshine
Amelia - purple
Cinderella - a fairy tale by H.C. Andersen (sic!)
Curt - short
Erin - peace
Gemma - bud
Gillian - light yellow
Imogene - image
Lavinia - to wash
Leah - woman
Maeve - purple
Malvina - righteous friend
etc, etc...
Then, there are also a lot of names said to be Australian Aboriginal names. I know there are hundreds of Australian Aboriginal languages and I don't speal a word of any of them, but from what I've read about the Aboriginals and seen in old Australian place names, most of the "Aboriginal" names don't sound like they come from any Australian Aboriginal languages. Many actually sound like modern African American names - Latanya, Latisha, Latoya, Moesha, Nichelle, Tavarius. One - Azzure - sound more Italian.
The only one I really know IS from an Aboriginal language is Kylie.
But where can the author have found these names? And why are they said to be "Australian Aboriginal"? And although names like Elanora and Gulara don't sound like they come from Aboriginal languages, how can I be sure they aren't? As I have written, there are hundreds of Aboriginal languages.
Agnes - lamb
Alison - sunshine
Amelia - purple
Cinderella - a fairy tale by H.C. Andersen (sic!)
Curt - short
Erin - peace
Gemma - bud
Gillian - light yellow
Imogene - image
Lavinia - to wash
Leah - woman
Maeve - purple
Malvina - righteous friend
etc, etc...
Then, there are also a lot of names said to be Australian Aboriginal names. I know there are hundreds of Australian Aboriginal languages and I don't speal a word of any of them, but from what I've read about the Aboriginals and seen in old Australian place names, most of the "Aboriginal" names don't sound like they come from any Australian Aboriginal languages. Many actually sound like modern African American names - Latanya, Latisha, Latoya, Moesha, Nichelle, Tavarius. One - Azzure - sound more Italian.
The only one I really know IS from an Aboriginal language is Kylie.
But where can the author have found these names? And why are they said to be "Australian Aboriginal"? And although names like Elanora and Gulara don't sound like they come from Aboriginal languages, how can I be sure they aren't? As I have written, there are hundreds of Aboriginal languages.
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Replies
NOt your question, but
Agnes-- often gets confused with Latin "agnus" meaning "lamb"
Curt -- sometimes is short for Curtis-- there is an English surname that came from a nickname meaning "short pants" (curt hose)
Erin-- sometimes gets confused with Irene -- Greek Eirene, and Erin is a poetic name for Ireland, (modern form Éire ) Eirene is sort of a combo of the two!
I've been spending years trying to figure out all the weird entries in my baby name books-- I have some that are up to 80% inaccurate!
Anyway, about the Aboriginal names-- I suspect it's like Native American names in American baby name books-- there are hundreds of languages, so sometimes it's easier to just throw that label on an "exotic" sounding name than to actually do real research!
Agnes-- often gets confused with Latin "agnus" meaning "lamb"
Curt -- sometimes is short for Curtis-- there is an English surname that came from a nickname meaning "short pants" (curt hose)
Erin-- sometimes gets confused with Irene -- Greek Eirene, and Erin is a poetic name for Ireland, (modern form Éire ) Eirene is sort of a combo of the two!
I've been spending years trying to figure out all the weird entries in my baby name books-- I have some that are up to 80% inaccurate!
Anyway, about the Aboriginal names-- I suspect it's like Native American names in American baby name books-- there are hundreds of languages, so sometimes it's easier to just throw that label on an "exotic" sounding name than to actually do real research!
This message was edited 10/12/2012, 10:52 PM
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I live in Australia and I know that none of those names are Aboriginal. Actually, most Aborigines I know have normal English names. I've heard several theories about Kylie, so I can't say. (Kylie is not currently in fashion - the only one I know is 30.)
Moesha? C'mon, we all know where that came from - it's from an American TV show starring the singer Brandy. Real-life Moeshas were probably named after the character.
How does Curt mean "short"? I know it sounds similar to the word for short in a lot of Romance languages, but Curt is derived from a Germanic name. And I don't know how Amelia means "purple". The only name I know of that has a purple-related meaning is Porfirio (and its rare female form Porfiria). The writer seems to like color meanings for some reason.
Although Agnes really is often said to mean "lamb", but that's because of an association related to the Catholic saint Agnes - that's not originally what it meant.
Moesha? C'mon, we all know where that came from - it's from an American TV show starring the singer Brandy. Real-life Moeshas were probably named after the character.
How does Curt mean "short"? I know it sounds similar to the word for short in a lot of Romance languages, but Curt is derived from a Germanic name. And I don't know how Amelia means "purple". The only name I know of that has a purple-related meaning is Porfirio (and its rare female form Porfiria). The writer seems to like color meanings for some reason.
Although Agnes really is often said to mean "lamb", but that's because of an association related to the Catholic saint Agnes - that's not originally what it meant.
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You're right that Kylie is the only Australian Aboriginal name in common usage.
Names like Latanya et al may be being called "Australian Aboriginal" because some parts of the Australian Aboriginal community identify strongly with African American sub-culture and use some of their names (I taught an Aboriginal Lekeesha, for example).
I once had a book that had quite a few questionable "Aboriginal Australian" names, and Elanora was one of them. They are almost always place names rather than personal names:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elanora,_Queensland
Here's a partial list of Aboriginal place names, on which you might find many of your book's suggestions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_place_names_of_Aboriginal_origin
So... it seems that at some point some unknown baby name book writer scooped up a whole heap of assorted Australian Aboriginal place names, stuck some approximate meanings on them if they didn't already have one, and published them for all to copy.
Names like Latanya et al may be being called "Australian Aboriginal" because some parts of the Australian Aboriginal community identify strongly with African American sub-culture and use some of their names (I taught an Aboriginal Lekeesha, for example).
I once had a book that had quite a few questionable "Aboriginal Australian" names, and Elanora was one of them. They are almost always place names rather than personal names:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elanora,_Queensland
Here's a partial list of Aboriginal place names, on which you might find many of your book's suggestions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_place_names_of_Aboriginal_origin
So... it seems that at some point some unknown baby name book writer scooped up a whole heap of assorted Australian Aboriginal place names, stuck some approximate meanings on them if they didn't already have one, and published them for all to copy.
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Thanks, Chrisell (I just realised that Amphelise is you, lol)!
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