New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesRe: Horbelin
in reply to a message by Pie Lady
What do you mean "your character's name"? A character in a fictional story you are writing? A character in a play you are acting in? A character in a role playing game you participate in?
As you probably already know, by usage this is an overwhelmingly Hispanic name in the USA. One guess would be that it is a Hispanic respelling of the French surname Horvelin. "B" and "V" are pronounced the same in most dialects of Spanish and there are many instances of Spanish speakers respelling names that contain "v" with "b". I've seen examples of Banesa for Vanessa, Ebelin for Evelyn, etc.
So far I can't find an etymology for Horvelin but the family with this surname seems to have been mostly living in the department of Cher in central France back in the 17th century.
As you probably already know, by usage this is an overwhelmingly Hispanic name in the USA. One guess would be that it is a Hispanic respelling of the French surname Horvelin. "B" and "V" are pronounced the same in most dialects of Spanish and there are many instances of Spanish speakers respelling names that contain "v" with "b". I've seen examples of Banesa for Vanessa, Ebelin for Evelyn, etc.
So far I can't find an etymology for Horvelin but the family with this surname seems to have been mostly living in the department of Cher in central France back in the 17th century.
2
Replies
This is interesting! Many years ago my sister was living in Guatemala and had a maid named Horbelina. I have never heard it before or since and assumed it was an invented name. Apparently not!
2