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in reply to a message by Cass
AY-da may well have been a set of syllables used as a name in Ancient Greece, but that doesn't mean that when parents in late Victorian English-speaking countries developed a passion for a name using those same syllables it necessarily came from the same source. A common Germanic-origin name is a far more likely origin for an English name than is an obscure Ancient Greek name.
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
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Agree but...
Certainly yes, but its also a fact that many Greek names, together with the Greek alphabet and language, have "travelled" because of the Romans all over Europe since the ancient times.
And of'course the formation of Greek names is far away more complicated than "a set of syllabes", as it can be in other languages...! (See the "Lexicon of the Greek Personal Names" by the British Academy, www.lgpn.ox.ac.uk )
PS Who said Ayda anyway?
Certainly yes, but its also a fact that many Greek names, together with the Greek alphabet and language, have "travelled" because of the Romans all over Europe since the ancient times.
And of'course the formation of Greek names is far away more complicated than "a set of syllabes", as it can be in other languages...! (See the "Lexicon of the Greek Personal Names" by the British Academy, www.lgpn.ox.ac.uk )
PS Who said Ayda anyway?
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Yes, I agree that Greek names travelled all over Europe, but the names that travelled were by and large those well-known from mythology or history. I studied Greek Mythology for one year and Greek Archaeology/Art and Architecture for onr year, and I never heard of an Ada, so it seems she was an obscure character whose name might not have the same travelling power as, say, Cassandra or Alexander.
I didn't mean quite what you thought with the "set of syllables" thing - all names are sets of syllables, whether those syllables have independent meanings or not. What I meant was that the two syllables 'ay' and 'da' are found in most languages, so it's not surprising that the combination of the two as a feminine name is found in more than one language.
I didn't say anything about Ayda - AY-da is the phonetic transcription of the pronunciation of Ada.
I didn't mean quite what you thought with the "set of syllables" thing - all names are sets of syllables, whether those syllables have independent meanings or not. What I meant was that the two syllables 'ay' and 'da' are found in most languages, so it's not surprising that the combination of the two as a feminine name is found in more than one language.
I didn't say anything about Ayda - AY-da is the phonetic transcription of the pronunciation of Ada.
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Thanks for the reply.
I hope you understand that I don't mean that any name that sounds like a Greek name, it has actually came from Greek. I would be at least silly if I do that! All I want to do is think and search and ask people's opinion about different options on the etymology. Thats why I started my first post as: "Could ADA not be a short for ADELAIDE?" and not as: "ADA is a short for ADELAIDE"!
Anyway, thats what is all about, find the truth through dialogue, sensible thinking and research, isnt it? :0)
I hope you understand that I don't mean that any name that sounds like a Greek name, it has actually came from Greek. I would be at least silly if I do that! All I want to do is think and search and ask people's opinion about different options on the etymology. Thats why I started my first post as: "Could ADA not be a short for ADELAIDE?" and not as: "ADA is a short for ADELAIDE"!
Anyway, thats what is all about, find the truth through dialogue, sensible thinking and research, isnt it? :0)
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I agree that both meanings should be placed in.
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