Re: meaning of Aramis
in reply to a message by elbowin
In more detail, the musketeer Aramis' name was derived by Dumas from a surname Aramitz, in no way related to any of the derivations you've been given, but rather the name of a French Pyrenean Commune or village, currently Aramits, but previously spelled Aramiçs, Aramitz and Aramys. Although the native language is now Bearnaise, a dialect of Gascon, the region was previously Basque, and the name is believed to be from a Latinized version of Basque "haran"— valley, with a locative suffix (Basque "aran" refers to types of wild or cultivated plum). "M" for "n" and vice versa is quite a common change, in this case probably because "amitz" is slightly easier to say than "anitz".