New Post
Search
HelpRe: Dream
in reply to a message by queenv
Dreama was fairly common in the central Appalachians (West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky) during the first half of the 20th century. I think I prefer that over Dream.
Archived Thread - replies disabled
1
Replies
That said, I have often wondered if Dreama is actually some old contraction of Angadrisma, perhaps a Cajun contraction of Angedreme that found its way into West Virginia? I have met Cajuns with this name too.
This message was edited 3/4/2019, 11:10 AM
1
That seems unlikely to me. It reminds me of Eartha. I'd guess people just felt like adding a feminine suffix to a word because that made it seem more namey to them.
Drema is interesting, though.
Drema is interesting, though.
This message was edited 3/4/2019, 11:46 AM
1
Why would it seem unlikely when Angedreme was a pretty common name among the early French settlers? Twyla has similar origins, you would never guess it comes from Etoile.
1
It's interesting that they coincide, and it might have been an influence, like I would think Bertha was an influence on Eartha, but I suspect it was not the primary reason Dreama would have been used in the central/southern Appalachians in the 1900s, considering word names were not that unusual there. I could see people thinking: Dream is a pretty word/concept, but maybe it'd mark me as low class, while adding an A would make it look even prettier, fancier, more official; and once they thought that, maybe it sounded familiar to them because of a rare preexisting name. Or it could be a heavily accented version of Dreamer, idk.
That is just my impression, having lived in that area most of my life.
It's possible it was from Angedreme, and people didn't know how to spell it or decided Dreama was more intuitive. I don't think it can be proved one way or the other.
That is just my impression, having lived in that area most of my life.
It's possible it was from Angedreme, and people didn't know how to spell it or decided Dreama was more intuitive. I don't think it can be proved one way or the other.
This message was edited 3/4/2019, 7:40 PM
1
I agree, you are right. There is probably more than one reason. Dreama also occurs among Cajuns. I have no doubt that maybe in the Appalachian case they were inspired by Dream.
1
Dreama has always been a gp of mine. I quite like it.
1