Comments (Meaning / History Only)
I was born in Dublin at two in the morning during the worst storm in living memory, I am told I was named Keith because it was Gaelic for The Wind in English.
I found the Irish word Goath (the wind) which may be a source. Perhaps Gaelic “o” is sometimes sounded as “e” and “a” as “i”. Also I don’t believe there’s a “k” in Gaelic – hope this helps. The Scots wood idea seems intriguing – maybe their word for the sound of the wind in the trees?
So here’s a thought - if you’re fond of a Keith, no matter where you are the wind will whisper his name.
2
I found the Irish word Goath (the wind) which may be a source. Perhaps Gaelic “o” is sometimes sounded as “e” and “a” as “i”. Also I don’t believe there’s a “k” in Gaelic – hope this helps. The Scots wood idea seems intriguing – maybe their word for the sound of the wind in the trees?
So here’s a thought - if you’re fond of a Keith, no matter where you are the wind will whisper his name.
2
Apologies the word (Irish) “Gaoth” not "Goath" is wind. This from a Scottish – English online dictionary:
[gaoth] nf. G. Gaoithe; d. Gaoith; pl.+an, wind : gaoth tuath, north wind : gaoth deas, south wind : gaoth an ear, east wind : gaoth an iar, west wind.
This from a Scottish Gaelic pronunciation guide: g -velar (with tongue to soft part at the back of the roof of your mouth) for example, like the s in English so the “g” can sound like the “k” that doesn’t exist in written Gaelic (Gàidhlig)
I believe the “ao” dipthong is pronounced “ee” in Irish, so I’m pretty sure we’re close enough.
One thing I am sure of is this – I was given the name 50 years ago and I been blown all over the world ever since.
2
[gaoth] nf. G. Gaoithe; d. Gaoith; pl.+an, wind : gaoth tuath, north wind : gaoth deas, south wind : gaoth an ear, east wind : gaoth an iar, west wind.
This from a Scottish Gaelic pronunciation guide: g -velar (with tongue to soft part at the back of the roof of your mouth) for example, like the s in English so the “g” can sound like the “k” that doesn’t exist in written Gaelic (Gàidhlig)
I believe the “ao” dipthong is pronounced “ee” in Irish, so I’m pretty sure we’re close enough.
One thing I am sure of is this – I was given the name 50 years ago and I been blown all over the world ever since.
2
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Some Googling shows a possible connection to the German suffix '-keit' (pronounced like the English word "kite"), specifically as it appears in the German words 'Wirklichkeit' ("reality") and 'Richtigkeit' ("correctness"), both of which can apparently be used in certain circumstances as a translation of the English word 'truth'.
The suffix '-keit' actually originates from a sort of misspelling of the suffix '-heit' (pronounced like the English "height"), a wrong segmentation of two suffixes when '-heit' followed '-ec'. The suffix '-heit' is usually equivalent to the English '-ty' and '-ness' and ultimately derives from the Proto-Germanic '*haiduz' (“personality, character, manner, way”) which in turn derives from the Proto-Indo-European '*(s)kayt-' or '*(s)kaydʰ-' (“clear, bright, shining”).
Of course... in all my digging, I also happened to stumble upon the interesting tidbit that the English word "truth" comes from the Proto-Indo-European *drū- (“tree”), which is essentially the same as the listed meaning here of the Brythonic element 'cet' ("wood"). It's entirely possible that is the link. This is also, as far as I can tell, also the root for (or at least closely related to) the word 'druid'.