Re: Considering Gottlieb was created in the 17th-century...
in reply to a message by Miranda
Probably yes. There are two homographic protothemes possible in most cases. Single syllable long-vowel God "good" is probably the original. Two syllable short vowel Goda- "god" however is routinely syncopated to one syllable by the systematic loss of unaccented vowels. So short syllable Godfrid "God-peace" (from Godafrid) becomes indistinguishable from long syllable Godfrid "good-peace" in the written record. So why do I say the short syllable is late and refers to the Christian god? Because the standard word for a deity in the classic Germanic onomastic tradition is not "god" but "Ans-/As-/Os-". The elevation of "god" over "Ansuz" is entirely the result of it's application to the Christian god. Indeed the use of Goda- is infrequent prior to the 11th C., and aside from Godefrith, the majority may be explained as cognomen or occupations rather than the usual personal names(Godaman for a monk, Godacild "godchild", Godesceald "gods servant" etc.)