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ArchivesCan there be two forms of a name in the same language?
For example, are Cremilda and Crimilde both Portuguese forms of Kriemhild?
This message was edited 8/2/2021, 6:30 AM
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Yes, of course!
There can be a vernacular form and a "learned" form of the same name that coexist in the same language (both traditional versions), or a foreign version of the a traditional name is adopted at a later stage and becomes common along side the "local" traditional version.
Some other examples in Portuguese:
Mafalda (vernacular) and Matilde (learned)
Martim (vernacular) and Martinho (learned)
Duarte (vernacular) and Eduardo (learned)
Tiago (vernacular) and Jaime (learned)
Luzia (vernacular) and Lúcia (learned)
Fradique (medieval vernacular) and Frederico (learned)
Fernão (medieval vernacular) and Fernando (traditional)
Pero (medieval vernacular) and Pedro (traditional)
Brites (medieval vernacular) and Beatriz (traditional)
Marinha (medieval vernacular) and Marina (learned)
Gil (vernacular) and Egídio (learned)
Iria (vernacular) and Irene (learned)
Águeda (traditional) and Ágata (modern/foreign)
Isabel (traditional) and Elisabete (modern/foreign)
Julião (traditional) and Juliano (modern)
There can be a vernacular form and a "learned" form of the same name that coexist in the same language (both traditional versions), or a foreign version of the a traditional name is adopted at a later stage and becomes common along side the "local" traditional version.
Some other examples in Portuguese:
Mafalda (vernacular) and Matilde (learned)
Martim (vernacular) and Martinho (learned)
Duarte (vernacular) and Eduardo (learned)
Tiago (vernacular) and Jaime (learned)
Luzia (vernacular) and Lúcia (learned)
Fradique (medieval vernacular) and Frederico (learned)
Fernão (medieval vernacular) and Fernando (traditional)
Pero (medieval vernacular) and Pedro (traditional)
Brites (medieval vernacular) and Beatriz (traditional)
Marinha (medieval vernacular) and Marina (learned)
Gil (vernacular) and Egídio (learned)
Iria (vernacular) and Irene (learned)
Águeda (traditional) and Ágata (modern/foreign)
Isabel (traditional) and Elisabete (modern/foreign)
Julião (traditional) and Juliano (modern)
This message was edited 8/14/2021, 1:54 AM
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Well, there's always Jane, Jean and Joan! And Peter and Piers. Mostly, the different spellings reflect dialectal variations.
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Unlike most words, names have no standardised form. Historically even one person's name will have been recorded in several different forms, in their lifetime. In some cases we can identify some as mistakes, but others are simply different scribal conventions, and standard abbreviations.
This message was edited 8/2/2021, 9:00 PM
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Quite so! I've found one and the same 19th-century British relative "named" Diana, Diane, Dina and Dinah in official records, mostly censuses. Surviving relations who knew her or people close to her have assured me that she was always actually Dinah.
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Yes. Charlotte and Caroline are both English and French feminine forms of Charles, for an instance.
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