We continue our publication of a research regarding the origin of European names widely used at present. Next part is related to names that came from distant past.
• Ancient Mainland Germanic: Several very familiar names, that are Arnold, Baldwin, Millicent, Alice, Gertrude, Jocelyn, Hilda, and Matilda – all of which have settled cognates in German, Dutch, French, and other linguas – originated in Germanic pre-era. It is possible to utilize English to Polish translation to find more. Names reached English by a shaded way. The paperwork language of the court of the Merovingian and Carolingian Franks (5th – 9th centuries) was Latin, however their vernacular language was a Germanic variation, and their personal names were predominantly of Germanic origin. These Frankish given names became established in medieval France and in due time were accepted by the Vikings who lived in Normandy in the 9th century. Upon the Norman occupation of England in 1066, these given names were taken to England, where they noticeably replaced usual Anglo-Saxon personal names like Ethelred and Athelthryth. A very new Anglo-Saxon personal names survived, for example Edward, which was originated by King Edward the Confessor (c. 1002–1066; ruled 1042–1066), the offspring of an Anglo-Saxon father and a Viking mother, who was revered by British and Vikings alike. A quite different situation is that of Alfred, an Anglo-Saxon patronymic that disappeared of use because of the Vikings, but was revived in the 19th century in honor of the great 9th-century king of Wessex.
• Ancient Norse: Old Norse is, certainly, a Germanic language, but its naming tradition is rather original from that of continental Germanic, and many usual Norse forenames are still used in Scandinavia today, for example Olaf, Harald, Hakon. There has been much brought from German (e.g., Helga, Ingeborg). Some Nordic names such as Ingrid have been adopted much more broadly. Many looked for language service into Slavic. In the latter situation, the TV celebrity Ingrid Bergman (1915–1982) was a powerful attraction.
• Old Slavic linguas: Names that are Wojciech (Vojteˇch), BogusLaw (Bohuslav), and StanisLaw (Stanislav) are unlikely known in the English-speaking world except within Slavic immigrants, however demonstrate a strong and independent Slavic tradition, with cognates in various Slavic linguas. Many such names are pre-Christian, whereas others have been sanctified by use as a saint’s name. Except where a saint has been involved, these names are not widely used in Russia, because there the Orthodox Church has long insisted on using names associated with Christian saints, such as Fyodor (Theodore) and Dmitri. These are predominately of Greek origin. Within the Western Slavs (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks) and Southern Slavs (Serbs, Croatians, Slovenians, Bulgarians, etc.), each linguistic county of Slavic natives has its own contrast set of traditional personal names, most of which are of Slavic etymology.