Geneviève

The move to "woman of the tribe" from the Germanic Genofewa is new to me. When we chose the name for our daughter, the references were all French and Celtic. It was "white wave" or "fair phantom" as meaning, related to Guinevere. As the Patron Saint of Paris, we have held to the French origins as the Germanic origins seem less strong. I see far less use of the German name and more from the French and Celtic in our culture, so I think Genofewa or Kenowefa are just different.

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However when one person on a name website changes 15 years worth of baby name books (as we had for years), everyone rushes to follow. Anyone have a French history book to check?

People have queried "white wave", but I've always assumed it means a breaking wave, sometimes called a white horse. Other suggestions include "white phantom", which is also pretty obvious, though in today's world an odd name to give a child.

It is a French name in origin. It means "Pure" in French.

My name is Genevieve. I love my name and many pronounce my name the English way and the French version. Although it seems many believe the name to be French in origin, it has Celtic roots (Welsh) from the name "Guinevere". Pronouncing the name "Jenn-eh-veev" does not butcher this name nor is this a mispronunciation. The French form is simply pronounced "Zhahn-v-yev". The reason for it's popularity in France is because of the custom of naming your daughter after a Saint, especially if her birthday was on the death day of that Saint, and in this instance, St. Genevieve, Patron Saint of Paris, death day January 3. Look up the story of St. Genevieve. Very interesting.

The source language of Genevieve is an Ancient Germanic expression meaning "Woman of the people." This meaning is an educated guess by scholars, who trace the elements of this name to Celtic sources only with great difficulty. Another interpretation could be "Mother of the race." This is the name of the patron saint of Paris, France, and its use in modern times can be seen as a tribute to that city, thus the association with France.

The name 'Genevieve' means 'White-Wave'. It is the French version of the name Gwenevere.

From several sources that I have read, the name Genevieve is Gaulic, and means "white wave". The Gaulic, or Gallic, or Gaelic all stem from the same root. Galatia. The Galatians were a nomadic people with roots in the area south of the Black Sea at the time that St. Paul preached to them in the early Christian years. Genevieve's mother was Gerontia, a Gall, while her father was Valerius, a Roman.