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ArchivesWhy the name Terence is common in Ireland?
Terence(Terentius) was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 170–160 BC. So the name Terence is not assosicated with Ireland. But why the name Terence is more common in Ireland?
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Until quite recently in Ireland, priests would not christen a child unless a saint's name was used. This was the case when my husband's aunt was being baptised in the early 1960s, for example. Her parents wanted to give her an Irish language adjective as a name, and the priest refused. So they picked the name of an aunt who is a nun as her baptismal name, and called her the name they wanted in everyday life. This used to be common in Ireland - a relatively small pool of Christian names was used until quite recently, and family names were used and reused, meaning that nicknames and alternative versions of given names were popular.
As there is a Saint Terence I am guessing this is the origin of the use of Terence.
I don't know how far the usage of Terence goes in Ireland but remember we had Viking, Norman and English invasions and settlements from early on, leading to an introduction of foreign languages, and names hundreds of years ago.
As there is a Saint Terence I am guessing this is the origin of the use of Terence.
I don't know how far the usage of Terence goes in Ireland but remember we had Viking, Norman and English invasions and settlements from early on, leading to an introduction of foreign languages, and names hundreds of years ago.
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It's in the name description. "The name was used in Ireland as an Anglicized form of Toirdhealbhach". It came in to common use because it replaced an earlier Irish name.
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It is more likely that it is a Romanization, because Roman Catholic ritual stipulates that “Since those who are brought to baptism are thereby reborn in Christ as children of God and enrolled among his followers, care should taken that obscene, mythical or ridiculous names or those of false gods or heathen heroes be not given; rather, so far as it is possible, should be given the names of saints”. There is a Terentius on the List of Saints, so that name would be acceptable to the Roman priests. Likewise Tadhg was sometimes altered to Thaddæus and Brian to Bernardus. The same policy was imposed in England with the result that Anglo-Saxon names were mostly suppressed, with exception of those belonging to (usually royal) saints, such as Edmund and Edward and Oswald and Oswine. Terence seems to have arrived in England from Ireland comparatively recently as Withycombe thought that it was exclusively Irish: “it has not been used as a Christian name, except in Ireland”. So it is misleading when writers such as Hanks & Hodges say that Terence is an Anglicized form of an Irish name. Rather, it is the Anglicized form of a Roman name, and that Roman name was used in Ireland as a substitute for an Irish name.
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It's my understanding that often the Romanised versions were used on church documents but not in everyday life - even into the 1800s I see people being baptised as, say, Iohanna, when all of their other documents say Joan. Isn't it equally likely that families were naming the child Terence, and it was being recorded under the Latin Terentius?
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Yes, some priests recorded names in Latin and some didn't. Terence would have been the name used, even if Terentius was recorded.
Per my answer elsewhere in this thread, Roman Catholic baptism required a Saint's name, I would imagine that is why Terence became popular. Justin is another Latin name that was popular here (and was associated with certain families.)
Per my answer elsewhere in this thread, Roman Catholic baptism required a Saint's name, I would imagine that is why Terence became popular. Justin is another Latin name that was popular here (and was associated with certain families.)
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