New Post
Search
Help[Facts] Pharamond
This is a name used in a series of mysteries by Rita Mae Brown and her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown. They're set in Virginia and he's old-blood.
I'm just curious as to what the name may mean, if it's been used. Thanks.
I'm just curious as to what the name may mean, if it's been used. Thanks.
1
Replies
Pharamond is the first, possibly legendary king of France, who lived in the 5th century AD. Apparently, a possible etymology is from the Greek "pharos", lighthouse, and "mons", mountain, so it would be "light on the mount".
1
It would be pretty strange if a Germanic king had a Greek name. The site says that Pharamond is a form of Faramund, which sounds more likely to me.
1
Anyway, "mons" isn't Greek; it's Latin.
1
I know that, I didn't bother to specify because I thought it would be obvious. I got that information from a French surname forum, since apparently it still exists as a surname in French-speaking areas. O guess it could be a pseudo-etymology, though (that's why I said it was a possible one).
This message was edited 8/11/2009, 1:39 PM
1
The Greek etymology is a folk etymology created in the Middle Ages by the historians in order to connect a character (historical or legendary) with the Roman and Greek historical and/or mythological characters (in the case of Pharamond, the historians attributed to him a so-called Trojan origin).
The name Faramund (latinized as Faramundus or as Pharamundus by analogy with some Greek words and names) comes from the Germanic element *fara-, related with the Saxon faru and the Old High German faran, "to move, to travel", meaning later "emigrant family" and subsequently, by extension, "land, property where that family is stablished"; the second element is mund, "protection".
The name Faramund (latinized as Faramundus or as Pharamundus by analogy with some Greek words and names) comes from the Germanic element *fara-, related with the Saxon faru and the Old High German faran, "to move, to travel", meaning later "emigrant family" and subsequently, by extension, "land, property where that family is stablished"; the second element is mund, "protection".
1