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ArchivesRe: Kleber
in reply to a message by Super Kitty
If I interpreted your words correctly, you think that the name is probably French solely because it appears in the French popularity charts? If so, then I should say that this is a simplistic view. Just because a name appears in a country's popularity charts, doesn't mean that the name's etymology is derived from one (or more) words from that country's language. The name can easily be of foreign origin and have been imported (as is the case with many names, e.g. Alexander was brought to us by the Greeks and Marcus by the Romans) and subsequently become truly popular in only the "adoptive country/culture/language".
Take the names of ancient Greek and Roman deities, for example: out of respect for the deities, their names were never used by the people on their own (at most combined with a word, e.g. Hermogenes). So, in ancient times, there were no men named Hermes walking around, but there were men named Hermogenes, Hermokrates, Hermolaos, etc. Many of the names of these ancient deities are now commonplace in modern societies (such as Diana and Gaia), whereas they were not used as given names by their people/culture of origin. In other words: these names are far more common in the cultures/societies that adopted them than in the cultures/societies they originated from. Some of the original societies have since gone on to use the names of these deities as given names (after the introduction of christianity and the eradication of their native religion), but in some cases, the deities' names are still more popular in the countries that they have been exported to.
Similar scenarios have happened with names that didn't belong to deities. The easiest example probably being surnames: many Americans bear a surname as a given name, while those surnames were never used as given names in their country of origin. For example, there are Americans that have a French surname (such as Beaumont and Montague) or a German surname (such as Haydn and Kiefer) for a given name, but these names are not used as given names in France and Germany, because it is forbidden by law to use surnames as given names (at least in Germany - this used to be the case in France until 1993).
So, in short: just because a given name appears in a country's popularity charts, doesn't mean that it's actually native to that country or derived from a word of that country's language. From the popularity charts, you can only conclude that the name is in use as a given name in that particular country, and nothing more (other than statistical stuff, such as in which year the name was at its most popular).
"How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on... when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend... some hurts that go too deep... that have taken hold." ~ Frodo Baggins
Take the names of ancient Greek and Roman deities, for example: out of respect for the deities, their names were never used by the people on their own (at most combined with a word, e.g. Hermogenes). So, in ancient times, there were no men named Hermes walking around, but there were men named Hermogenes, Hermokrates, Hermolaos, etc. Many of the names of these ancient deities are now commonplace in modern societies (such as Diana and Gaia), whereas they were not used as given names by their people/culture of origin. In other words: these names are far more common in the cultures/societies that adopted them than in the cultures/societies they originated from. Some of the original societies have since gone on to use the names of these deities as given names (after the introduction of christianity and the eradication of their native religion), but in some cases, the deities' names are still more popular in the countries that they have been exported to.
Similar scenarios have happened with names that didn't belong to deities. The easiest example probably being surnames: many Americans bear a surname as a given name, while those surnames were never used as given names in their country of origin. For example, there are Americans that have a French surname (such as Beaumont and Montague) or a German surname (such as Haydn and Kiefer) for a given name, but these names are not used as given names in France and Germany, because it is forbidden by law to use surnames as given names (at least in Germany - this used to be the case in France until 1993).
So, in short: just because a given name appears in a country's popularity charts, doesn't mean that it's actually native to that country or derived from a word of that country's language. From the popularity charts, you can only conclude that the name is in use as a given name in that particular country, and nothing more (other than statistical stuff, such as in which year the name was at its most popular).
"How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on... when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend... some hurts that go too deep... that have taken hold." ~ Frodo Baggins
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