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ArchivesRe: What is correct origin of name?
in reply to a message by roy
Lots of cultures use name equivalents in order to "translate" foreign-sounding names into more recognizable names in one's own culture or language. For example, the Yiddish name of "Velvel", meaning "Wolf", has for generations been viewed as the Yiddish equivalent of the German name "William" (or "Vilhelm"), simply because they sound a little alike. But the names don't really mean the same thing.
The German name you mentioned, "Guta" (which may be derived from the German word "gut" meaning "good"), would be "Gittel" ("good") in Yiddish. That's an example of a direct translation, as in the name "Bona" (again, meaning "good") which you'd mentioned. All of these names can sort of be taken as translations of "Judith", when one counts the meanings of "praised" and "good" to be synonyms of each other.
"Juta" can be a German form of "Judith" as some reference sources list it thus, or it can be a sort of homonymic equivalent of "Judith" in that other sources claim that the name is derived from the name of a tribe (the Jutes) which, along with the Anglo-Saxons, settled in England in the Middle Ages. In the last case, "Judith" and "Juta" would have two completely different meanings.
It sounds like you do a lot of genealogical research, Roy. I'll bet you turn up all sorts of interesting puzzles, like this one.
-- Nanaea
The German name you mentioned, "Guta" (which may be derived from the German word "gut" meaning "good"), would be "Gittel" ("good") in Yiddish. That's an example of a direct translation, as in the name "Bona" (again, meaning "good") which you'd mentioned. All of these names can sort of be taken as translations of "Judith", when one counts the meanings of "praised" and "good" to be synonyms of each other.
"Juta" can be a German form of "Judith" as some reference sources list it thus, or it can be a sort of homonymic equivalent of "Judith" in that other sources claim that the name is derived from the name of a tribe (the Jutes) which, along with the Anglo-Saxons, settled in England in the Middle Ages. In the last case, "Judith" and "Juta" would have two completely different meanings.
It sounds like you do a lot of genealogical research, Roy. I'll bet you turn up all sorts of interesting puzzles, like this one.
-- Nanaea
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