The meaning and origin of the name Aldona is indeed uncertain, but I was able to find a few theories for the etymology of the name, which I would like to share with you.1. Aldona is an authentic Lithuanian given name that is ultimately derived from the Lithuanian root 'ald' combined with the Lithuanian feminine suffix -ona. In turn, the root 'ald' is derived from either: - the old Lithuanian noun 'aldas' meaning "echo, sound" - the old Lithuanian verb 'aldėti' meaning "to echo, to (re)sound" - the old Lithuanian verb 'aldoti' meaning "to shout, to scream" as well as "to make noise"Also see the entry for the masculine Lithuanian given name Aldonas in the Submitted Names Database:http://www.behindthename.com/name/aldonas/submitted2. Aldona is the lithuanized form of the Old Prussian given name Aldegut. I was unable to find additional information about Aldegut, but since Old Prussian was a Baltic language just like Lithuanian is, there is a chance that at least the Ald- part of the name is etymologically related to the root 'ald' that I just described above. With that said, the book "Die altpreußischen Personennamen" written by Reinhold Trautmann might possibly contain further information about the name Aldegut, so I would recommend checking out that book when the opportunity presents itself someday. In the meantime, for what it is worth: I myself think that Aldegut may possibly be a diminutive, because it ends in -ut. In Lithuanian, -utis (masculine) and -utė (feminine) are commonly used diminutive suffixes and so -ut could just be the Old Prussian equivalent of them.3. Aldona is the lithuanized form of the Belarusian given name Ałdonia (also Ałdońca and Ałdońja), which is either a Belarusian pet form or direct translation of the Greek given name Εὐδοκία (Eudokia). Also, just in case it is a bit difficult to tell at first glance: the Belarusian name and its variations are written with an L with stroke, not a regular L. Yes, that's right: the L with stroke is not solely a part of the Polish alphabet, it is also part of the Belarusian Latin alphabet (known as Łacinka).Alright, those were the only theories that I was able to find for the etymology of Aldona. I personally think that they are all equally plausible. The first two because they both point to a Baltic origin, and since Lithuania is a Baltic country with a Baltic language, both theories fit right in. The third (and last) theory is similarly plausible because Belarus is a neighbouring country of Lithuania, which means that it is entirely within the realm of possibility that the Belarusian name Ałdonia was exported to Lithuania at some point, where it was subsequently lithuanized to Aldona.With that said, here is a list of the sources that I used for writing this comment:- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldona_(Vorname) (in German) - https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Aldona (in German; mentions that Aldona could be derived from Ałda, which is a short form of Ałdońca or Ałdońja, a Belarusian pet form of the Greek name Eudokia) - https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldona (in Polish; mentions that Aldona is either derived from the Old Prussian name Aldegut or from the Belarusian name Ałdonia, which is a translation of the Greek name Eudokia) - https://web.archive.org/web/20140206010052/http://www.styl.pl:80/mama/ksiega-imion/imie-Aldona, id, 263388 (in Polish; mentions that the etymology is uncertain and that the name could come from the Belarusian translation of the Greek name Eudokia or from the Old Prussian name Aldegut) - https://www.tevu-darzelis.lt/vaiku-vardai/Aldona/ (in Lithuanian; mentions that the name is derived from Lithuanian 'aldas' meaning "echo, sound") - http://www.vardai.org/vardo-reiksme/Aldona/ (in Lithuanian; mentions further down that Aldona can be a genuine Lithuanian name as well as be the lithuanized form of the Belarusian name Aldonia) - http://day.lt/vardai/Aldona (in Lithuanian; mentions that the name comes from the Belarusian name Aldonia, which is a translation of the Greek name Eudokia) - http://vardai.vlkk.lt/vardas/Aldona (in Lithuanian; mentions that the name is of Baltic origin and that it consists of the root 'ald' combined with the suffix -ona) - http://genezanazwisk.pl/content/elditten (in Polish; mentions Aldegut and the book "Die altpreußischen Personennamen" written by R. Trautmann).
1. Aldona is an authentic Lithuanian given name that is ultimately derived from the Lithuanian root 'ald' combined with the Lithuanian feminine suffix -ona. In turn, the root 'ald' is derived from either:
- the old Lithuanian noun 'aldas' meaning "echo, sound"
- the old Lithuanian verb 'aldėti' meaning "to echo, to (re)sound"
- the old Lithuanian verb 'aldoti' meaning "to shout, to scream" as well as "to make noise"
Also see the entry for the masculine Lithuanian given name Aldonas in the Submitted Names Database:
http://www.behindthename.com/name/aldonas/submitted
2. Aldona is the lithuanized form of the Old Prussian given name Aldegut. I was unable to find additional information about Aldegut, but since Old Prussian was a Baltic language just like Lithuanian is, there is a chance that at least the Ald- part of the name is etymologically related to the root 'ald' that I just described above. With that said, the book "Die altpreußischen Personennamen" written by Reinhold Trautmann might possibly contain further information about the name Aldegut, so I would recommend checking out that book when the opportunity presents itself someday. In the meantime, for what it is worth: I myself think that Aldegut may possibly be a diminutive, because it ends in -ut. In Lithuanian, -utis (masculine) and -utė (feminine) are commonly used diminutive suffixes and so -ut could just be the Old Prussian equivalent of them.
3. Aldona is the lithuanized form of the Belarusian given name Ałdonia (also Ałdońca and Ałdońja), which is either a Belarusian pet form or direct translation of the Greek given name Εὐδοκία (Eudokia). Also, just in case it is a bit difficult to tell at first glance: the Belarusian name and its variations are written with an L with stroke, not a regular L. Yes, that's right: the L with stroke is not solely a part of the Polish alphabet, it is also part of the Belarusian Latin alphabet (known as Łacinka).
Alright, those were the only theories that I was able to find for the etymology of Aldona. I personally think that they are all equally plausible. The first two because they both point to a Baltic origin, and since Lithuania is a Baltic country with a Baltic language, both theories fit right in. The third (and last) theory is similarly plausible because Belarus is a neighbouring country of Lithuania, which means that it is entirely within the realm of possibility that the Belarusian name Ałdonia was exported to Lithuania at some point, where it was subsequently lithuanized to Aldona.
With that said, here is a list of the sources that I used for writing this comment:
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldona_(Vorname) (in German)
- https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Aldona (in German; mentions that Aldona could be derived from Ałda, which is a short form of Ałdońca or Ałdońja, a Belarusian pet form of the Greek name Eudokia)
- https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldona (in Polish; mentions that Aldona is either derived from the Old Prussian name Aldegut or from the Belarusian name Ałdonia, which is a translation of the Greek name Eudokia)
- https://web.archive.org/web/20140206010052/http://www.styl.pl:80/mama/ksiega-imion/imie-Aldona, id, 263388 (in Polish; mentions that the etymology is uncertain and that the name could come from the Belarusian translation of the Greek name Eudokia or from the Old Prussian name Aldegut)
- https://www.tevu-darzelis.lt/vaiku-vardai/Aldona/ (in Lithuanian; mentions that the name is derived from Lithuanian 'aldas' meaning "echo, sound")
- http://www.vardai.org/vardo-reiksme/Aldona/ (in Lithuanian; mentions further down that Aldona can be a genuine Lithuanian name as well as be the lithuanized form of the Belarusian name Aldonia)
- http://day.lt/vardai/Aldona (in Lithuanian; mentions that the name comes from the Belarusian name Aldonia, which is a translation of the Greek name Eudokia)
- http://vardai.vlkk.lt/vardas/Aldona (in Lithuanian; mentions that the name is of Baltic origin and that it consists of the root 'ald' combined with the suffix -ona)
- http://genezanazwisk.pl/content/elditten (in Polish; mentions Aldegut and the book "Die altpreußischen Personennamen" written by R. Trautmann).