New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesBunty
Does anyone know where the femle first name Bunty comes from? It's not so common in UK these days, but I know of a few Buntys over the age of 60.
1
Replies
My late mother-in-law, of Scottish descent, was named Edith Elizabeth (both family names) and always called Bunty. It was thought to suit her, and had nothing to do with her given names. Though it may well have been convenient to use Bunty instead of Little Edith or Edith in Africa or whatever to distinguish her from flocks of other Ediths in the family.
1
A Dictionary of First Names by Hanks & Hodges has the following entry:
Bunty (f) Nickname and occasional baptismal name, relatively popular in the early twentieth century, but of uncertain derivation. It seems most likely that it derives from what was originally a dialectical pet name for a lamb, from the verb bunt, to butt gentley.
Withycombe's The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names says:
apparently dating from 1911, when the popular comedy Bunty Pulls the Strings had a great success of the London stage.
Bunty (f) Nickname and occasional baptismal name, relatively popular in the early twentieth century, but of uncertain derivation. It seems most likely that it derives from what was originally a dialectical pet name for a lamb, from the verb bunt, to butt gentley.
Withycombe's The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names says:
apparently dating from 1911, when the popular comedy Bunty Pulls the Strings had a great success of the London stage.
This message was edited 7/28/2006, 11:09 AM
1