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If you are looking for a unique name, it might be tempting to choose one from the period of time known as the Renaissance. This era produced some of the most powerful female monarchs and writers in history. However, many names that people believe originated during this time actually were not coined until centuries later. In this blog post, we debunk 3 popular myths about medieval female names that never existed!
Myth #01: It is common for medieval European names to have two parts, such as Mary or Jane.
This name format never existed during the Renaissance era! In fact, these types of names only became popular in Europe after the Protestant Reformation when people began naming their children after saints instead of Catholic deities. The practice has been so pervasive that it is now difficult to know what a given person’s “real” name might be!
Myth #02: During this time period, many surnames were also hyphenated with an additional descriptor word which described either one’s profession or place of origin. For example, someone named John Smith would be referred to as “John Smithe.” This was not a standard practice in Renaissance Europe.
The only time surnames were hyphenated was during the Middle Ages (circling back to 1500), when people’s last names often had descriptors such as “of the house”, “son of” or “de”. This is a remnant from feudalism which persisted until around 1800 and has been on its way out for centuries now. People have since abandoned this habit and adopted more English-style naming conventions where one name followed by another word creates an occupational descriptor: John Smith = smith; Mary Jones = seamstress.
Myth #03: It is common that women during this era used their fathers’ first name as their surname while men would use their mothers’ surname.
This was not a standard practice in Renaissance Europe, but rather an English tradition that arose after the Norman Conquest (circling back to 100) and became common only by 16th century. It is also worth noting that women during this era did not have surnames at all! In most cases, they were just referred to as “daughter of so-and-so.” This may be where the myth originated from because it’s almost like saying “son of no one,” which sounds ridiculous–but again, it never actually happened! The daughter would usually take on her husband’s last name or follow whatever convention their region practiced for naming children. So girls might become Baker Jones if she married John Smith; or Jane Doe if
Nene:
A name that the Disney movie “The Lion King” popularized, this girlish-sounding moniker originated in Ghana. However, it is not used as a middle name for females there. It could be derived from Nana meaning Grandma or Motherly Love and has found its way to other African countries but still largely remains unknown outside of Africa.
Lanna: Lanna means palm tree (in Thai) and was actually created by a computer program! A search engine algorithm analyzed existing data on baby names and generated new suggestions based off the most common letters in words like ‘Anna’ and ‘Catherine’. The word Imani which means faithfulness pops up often too at number 133 on the list of most popular baby names in the United States.
Phillippa: Phillippa is a female name from Greek origins meaning ‘lover of horses.’ It’s not uncommon for daughters to take their father’s first or last name as a middle name, so it can be possible that this was an example of someone who wanted to honor both parents. The popularity and power growth of feminism may explain why we associate Philippas with strong women like Queen Elizabeth I – she ruled England right before the start of the English Renaissance when Phillipa became prevalent on lists”.”
-A false Middle Name for Women started in Ghana called “Nene,” but is not used by citizens there. Nene means Motherly Love in Ghanian and is used by women as a way to honor their mothers.
-The name “Pamela” came from the novel, ‘Pamela,’ written in 1740 that romanticized an English upper class girl who was mistreated by her family. It’s unlikely this book would have been popular enough to make Pamela so common on lists of names at the time.”
-Marion: Marion didn’t appear frequently until around 1820 when it started appearing as a top 100 baby name for girls. This may be due to its French origins meaning ‘Dark One’ which could reflect people’s ambivalence about America – some felt it represented hope while others saw it as ominous.”
–Please note that it is a myth that “Mabel” comes from the word ‘Beloved.’ The name Mabel was created by Lewis Carroll for his book Alice in Wonderland based on an old English poem.
-Virginia: Virginia isn’t actually derived from Queen Elizabeth I as many people think, but rather inspired by Virginal (meaning untouched or pure) which could be seen as symbolic of some Americans’ visions of their country.”
–Please note the origin myths about “Pamela,” Marion,” and “Virginia” are all false.”
It’s difficult to know what genuine Renaissance era female names would have been used since we don’t have any records from this time period. It is possible they didn’t have any formal naming conventions.
-Eve: Eve is a Biblical name that was never used as far as we know.”
–Please note that “Eve” wasn’t actually an English word until the 18th century when it was introduced by John Dryden in his play, All for Love or The World Well Lost. He created this new word to be more palatable and make sense with context of the story line of Adam and Eve’s relationship.”
-Nora: Nora has Scottish origins but may not have been used during Renaissance times.”
It’s difficult to know what genuine Renaissance era female names would have been used since we don’t have any records from this time period. It is possible they didn’t have any formal naming conventions.
-Emma: Emma has German origins and it may not have been used during this time period.”
It’s difficult to know what genuine Renaissance era female names would have been used since we don’t have any records from this time period. It is possible they didn’t have any formal naming conventions. ]] >]] }} || {{ #FOOTNOTE{| [[Eve, Nora, Emma | your footnote text goes here.]] }}||} }} ![[Long form content example with footnotes|Example of Long Form Content without Footnotes]](..) ^^[[Footnotes about feet|End Notes About Feet]]^^ The end.
Sophia, Jane and Barbara were not used during the Renaissance era for girls. Emma has German origins and it may not have been used during this time period.”
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It’s difficult to know what genuine Renaissance era female names would have been used since we don’t have any records from this time period. It is possible they didn’t have any formal naming conventions.
The end.
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