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I'd like to know the meaning of my name, Famke. I've always wondered, and I know I share it with an actress, but I've never been able to find out what it really means. I've heard it means everything from "wee one" to "feather", but nothing definite. Please help!
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I think it's a great name, whatever it means. Are your ancestors Frisian (spelling?) and how do you pronounce it? (your name, that is)
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Famke is pronounced fem-kah, although my teachers seem to have some conspiracy to all pronounce it "fame-k" when they first meet me. By the way, to answer your question, I don't believe that my ancestors are Frisian, especially because I'd never heard of that culture before I read the responses to my post. My name is funny, though, because I am a blond-haired, green-eyed American teenager, who looks like she ought to be a "Brittany" or a "Danielle", instead of such an ethnic name.
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Numerous websites for the actress/model Famke Janssen say that the name "Famke" means "little girl" in Frisian. Frisian is the language spoken in the Dutch province of Friesland.
-- Nanaea
-- Nanaea
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For once the fluff pieces got it pretty much right. Our friendly neighborhood English-Frisian dictionary defines "famke" as "girl, lass".
I seem to recall from my linguistics courses that Frisian is the language most closely resembling English...
I seem to recall from my linguistics courses that Frisian is the language most closely resembling English...
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"For once the fluff pieces got it pretty much right."
******Well, as you know, I believe in going directly to the source to find a meaning of a name, and I figured that Famke Janssen ought to know what her own name means, seeing as how interviewers would be likely to ask her that frequently enough. :)
"Our friendly neighborhood English-Frisian dictionary defines "famke" as "girl, lass"."
******Yep, the Frisian online dictionaries said the same thing.
"I seem to recall from my linguistics courses that Frisian is the language most closely resembling English..."
******I dunno 'bout that, but I do know that my favorite breed of horse is the Frisian (or Friesian). Big, black devil-horses. The most impressive horses you might see in any dressage event:
http://www.worldofdancingfriesians.com/
-- Nanaea
******Well, as you know, I believe in going directly to the source to find a meaning of a name, and I figured that Famke Janssen ought to know what her own name means, seeing as how interviewers would be likely to ask her that frequently enough. :)
"Our friendly neighborhood English-Frisian dictionary defines "famke" as "girl, lass"."
******Yep, the Frisian online dictionaries said the same thing.
"I seem to recall from my linguistics courses that Frisian is the language most closely resembling English..."
******I dunno 'bout that, but I do know that my favorite breed of horse is the Frisian (or Friesian). Big, black devil-horses. The most impressive horses you might see in any dressage event:
http://www.worldofdancingfriesians.com/
-- Nanaea
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