Message: "ORIGIN OF NAME" - Behind the Name

ORIGIN OF NAME

by Cynthia (guest)

2/4/2007, 10:04 AM

MOTHERS NAME WAS ESTYNA, IS IT WELSH, FROM WORD ESTYN, MEANING TO STRETCH. OR ANY OTHER IDEAS?

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- Elea +2

2/6/2007, 3:49 AM

I think your theory is highly likely. Estyn is occasionally found as a male name in Wales and it is not uncommon for feminine names to add a -a suffix to a male name.

Examples include:
Owen - Owena
Aeron - Aerona
Arfon -Arfona
Meirion -Meiriona

This message was edited 2/6/2007, 3:50 AM

- Anneza +1

2/6/2007, 9:58 PM

I was interested in your Owena example. How is it pronounced in real life? I would have guessed, like Owen with an a on the end - stress on the first syllable - but a friend of mine met an Owena once who pronounced it like Rowena with the R missing, which we both thought was unlovely. I'd love to know which is more used!

- Elea

2/11/2007, 10:31 AM

A Welsh speaker would pronounce Owena as oh-WEN-ah. It is essentially Owen with an a on the end but the stress moves to the middle syllable. The 'e' is also short unlike the 'e' in Rowena.

HTH

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