> andrew wrote:
>> quoting Michael Poxon:
>>> Re Elvis. Both his names are Welsh! "Elfis" is a native Welsh first
>>> name, and "Presley" is surely an English version of "Preseli" (now
>>> spelt Prescelly) a small group of mountains in Pembrokeshire which
>>> is, apparently, where the stones for Stonehenge came from. Okay - I
>>> know there are probably other placenames that could produce the same
>>> result "Priestley" for example, but its tempting to think of him
>>> being called "Y brenin"!
>>
>> I thought it was Germanic: from All Wise;
>
> Moyna Kitchin says so too, in her "Choosing a Name", 1979. Though she
> claims it's Scandinavian. Elfis is not listed on
http://
> www.names2be.com/welshbabynames3.html. Is there anything elsewhere
> more comprehensive?
>
>> which suggests to me that a
>> Latin version of the name should be something like *Allevisus, like
>> the
>> Allemanni of Germany.
>
> What do we need Latin for? All-wise can be readily translated into
> Gaulish as Olloviððos. Romans go home!
>
> 'Elv-' is a Gaulish root, too, meaning 'many' (< PIE *pelu-). But the
> only adjectival endings are -a, -os and -on. An i-stem Elvis probably
> didn't exist.
>
> LEF
>