[gothic-l] Gothic Names

[Abrigon Gusiq]

Found the below: Nice site.

http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Salon/2385/gothnames.html

The forms of Gothic names found in works of history are
generally based on those found in the Greek and Latin sources.
By comparing these forms to the known Gothic vocabulary and
to other Germanic names, however, it is possible to
reconstruct something like their original Gothic forms.

Thus historians talk of Theodoric the Great, Odovacar, Alaric
or Uraias but the Goths would have said 'Thiudareiks',
'Audawakrs'.  'Alhareiks' and 'Wraihja'. Many Gothic names,
like early Germanic names generally, are made of two nymic
elements being combined - these tables give a list of some of
 the more common Gothic nymic elements, with their Modern
and Old English equivalents.



Initial Nymic Elements

Gothic             English            Old English
Ahta-              terrible
Airmana-           lofty(?)           Eormen-
Alh-               temple             Ealh-
Amala-             effort/toil(?)
Anda-              spirit/courage
Ans-               god                Os-
Athala-            noble              Aethel-
Athana-            year(?)
Auda-              wealth             Ead-
Badwa-             battle             Beado-
Baltha-            bold               Bald-
Daga-              day                Daeg-
Filu-              much
Frithu-            peace              Freothu-
Gaisu-             spear              Gar-
Gawi-              country
Goda-              good               God-
Guda-              God
Guntha-            battle             Guth-
Harja-             army               Here-
Hauha-             high               Heah-
Hildi-             war                Hilde-
Huna-              Hun(?)             Hun-
Liuda-             people             Leod-
Mahta-             mighty             Meaht-
Nantha-            brave              Noth-
Ragina-            counsel
Reda-              counsel            Raed-
Reika-             ruler/king         Ric-
Sigisa-            victory            Sige-
Sunya-             true
Swintha-           strong             Swith-
Thauris-           daring
Thiuda-            people             Theod-
Thrasa-            confidence
Waihti-            fighting           Wiht-
Wandila-           Vandal
Wili-              will               Wil-
Winitha-           Wend
Wulfa-             wolf               Wulf-

Terminal Nymic Elements (Masculine)
Gothic             English            Old English
-badws             war                -baed(?) (Beo?)
-bairhts           bright             -berht
-balths            bold               -bald
-friths            peaceful           -frith
-funs              ready/eager        -fus
-gairns            desiring           -georn
-gais              spear              -gar
-gauya             citizen(?)
-harjis            army               -here
-liufs             dear               -leof
-mers              famous             -maer
-munths            protector          -mund
-nanths            daring             -noth
-reths             counsel            -red
-reiks             ruler/king         -ric
-swinths           strong             -swith
-wakrs             watchful           -wacor
-wulfs             wolf               -wulf

Terminal Nymic Elements (Feminine)
Gothic             English            Old English
-gunth(i)s         battle             -gyth
-hild(i)s          war                -hild
-swintha           strong             -swith

It is possible to create a Gothic name by combining two of
these traditional elements - Gaisumunths = 'spear-protector',
or Harjareiks = 'army ruler'.  Many
of these duonymic names had 'meanings' which were
nonsensical or even contradictory, such as Frithugais
(peace spear) or Frithubadws (peace war).  It seems
that 'Frithu-' was simply a traditional element for the
beginning of a name and '-gais' was simply a
traditional element for the ending of a name and the
'meaning' of the two elements in combination simply did
not matter.

Eventually the names themselves would have become
traditional and no-one would have thought of their
meanings any more than modern people think about the
Latin, Greek or Hebrew meanings of many of their names.

Some Gothic names seem to be contractions or
abbreviations of longer, more traditional forms.
'Gaina' may be a contraction of 'Gaisananths' for
example.  Similarly, 'Wamba' may be a contraction of
'Wandilbairhts', or it may mean 'belly' (as in the
English 'womb') and be a nickname for a fat man or a
man with a large appetite.

Other Gothic names were diminutives, created by the
addition of the suffixes '-ila' or '-ika'.  'Attila'
(Little Father - 'atta'+'-ila') is one of the more
famous of these names, as is 'Wulfila' (Little Wolf)
the original Gothic form of the name of the apostle to
the Goths, Ulphilas.

Finally, shorter Gothic names were also common and
these were formed by adding the final elements '-a' or
'-ja' to the initial nymic elements listed above or to
other Gothic words.  So Uraias' real name may have been
'Wraihja' from the vern 'wreihan' - to protect, while
Leuva could have been 'Liuba' from the noun 'liufs' -
dear one.

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I suspect there is more names, I know from reading books on Professor
Tolkien, that many of his human names are based on Germanic origins,
especially Gothic and related tribes, or Anglo-Saxon/Norse ones..

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