NAMES: AND THEIR MEANING.
NAMES:
AND THEIR MEANING
A BOOK FOR THE CURIOUS
BY
LEOPOLD WAGNER
THIRD AND REVISED EDITION.
London
T. FISHER UNWIN
PATERNOSTER SQUARE
MDCCCXCIII
INTRODUCTION.
Not the least difficult matter in connectionwith the present work has been the choiceof a title. The one finally determinedupon is far from satisfactory, because it scarcelysuggests the scope of the subject treated. Trueenough, the single word Nomenclature offereditself as a suitable title; but this is really aFrench word, derived, of course, from the Latin, andalthough it has been admitted into our vocabularysimply owing to the lack of an English equivalent,its use is properly restricted to the classification oftechnical terms in relation to a particular branchof science. In a scientific sense, then, the wordNomenclature finds a ready acceptance; but for theclassification of the names of persons, of places, andof things, it is altogether too pedantic. A youngfriend of the author the other day, on being informed,in answer to his inquiry, that this workwould probably be entitled “The Curiosities ofNomenclature,” promptly asked whether it mightnot be as well to explain, first of all, what the wordNomenclature meant. Now, the author does notbelieve for one moment that any intelligent person[6]who took up this volume would be at a loss to judgeof its contents from the title, that is, supposing theword Nomenclature appeared on the page; nevertheless,his young friend’s suggestion reminded himthat a book intended not for the scientific andlearned, but for general reference, should bear atitle easily comprehended by all classes of the community.The title originally chosen has, therefore,been rejected in favour of one less pretentious andmore matter-of-fact: if it is not sufficiently expressive,the fault must be attributed to the poverty ofthe English language.
Of all the “Ologies,” Philology, or the science oflanguage, is the most seductive; and that branch ofit known as Etymology, which traces the derivationand combination of the words of a language fromits primary roots, possesses an interest—one mightalmost say a fascination—for all, when once theattention has been arrested by it. This fact isproved by the popularity of Archbishop Trench’spublished lectures on “The Study of Words,” whichhave now reached a nineteenth edition. But it isnot to an examination of the dictionary words of theEnglish language that the present volume is devoted.Bearing in mind that several excellent works alreadyexist on this subject, the author has occupiedhimself in the following pages exclusively with theetymology, and significance of Names—of personalnames, comprising Surnames, Sobriquets, Pseudonyms,Nicknames, Class Names, and ProfessionalDesignations; of names of places, including the[7]Countries of the World, with the principalSeas, Islands, Gulfs, Straits, &c., the UnitedStates of North America, the C