The TV series Poldark in the 1970’s made some of these names popular..
The name of the chief female character was Demelza.. which was mentioned in the
books as an old Cornish name. In fact it
was a name that Winston Graham had seen as a village name in Cornwall. It means “hill fort of Maeldaf”. It was well liked… as was Ross - of course, the name of
the hero of the books.
Another Cornish male name is Jago, which evolved as a version of James
and which had a bit of a revival in the 20th century…
Morwenna is another important
female character.. she is one of four sisters, Rowella, Garlanda and
Carenza. Morwenna means “maiden” and
there are several Cornish churches named after
an early Saint Morwenna. Carenza is sometimes spelled “Kerenza” and means
love or affection, so it is quite a charming name.
Loveday is another name mainly found in Cornwall. It refers to the medieval
custom of “love days” which were days when disputes were settled. In the 13th
century children of both sexes who were borne on these days were often called “Loveday”
(which was sometimes pronounced “Lowdy”).
Nowadays the name is still used
in Cornwall but is confined to female
children. (In Poldark we learn in the later books that Morwenna's daughter by her second husband.. Drake Carne is Loveday).
A male name, not mentioned in Poldark, is Piran or Perran. It is a Cornish place name and there was a St
Piran who was the patron saint of miners. The name’s origin is unknown but it
may derive from the name Peter which was often abbreviated as Perkin in
medieval times.
Plaxy is another unusual name said to be derived from the Greek word
Praxis.. but it’s not clear why it was popular in Cornwall.
Melior or Meliora is a girl’s name.. which is derived from the Latin word
“melior” which means “better” and is largely a Cornish name. It appears in the Poldark books as the name
of a minor character.. one of the children of Dwight Ennis…
No comments:
Post a Comment