Re: names of misscriptive origin (was: RE: A question and introduction

And Rosta scripsit:
>
> Philip Newton:
> > On 11 Jun 02, at 9:15, Steg Belsky wrote:
> >
> > > Btw, supposedly Oprah Winfrey was supposed to be named after the figure
> > > Orpah in the Scroll of Ruth, but her father couldn't spell.  Or something
> > > like that.
> >
> > And Condoleezza Rice was named after the Italian musical term "con
> > dolcezza" ("with sweetness"), but her parents couldn't spell. Or so I
> > heard. (Her name always reminds me of "condolences" when I hear it on
> > the news.)
>
> It seems slightly suspicious to me that the supposed analphabetes
> are African American, though given that most anglophones can't spell
> and African Americans turn into conlangers when it comes to the
> But the one
> example of a name of misscriptive origin that comes to my mind
> was perpetrated by one of the very best users English has ever
> had, Sir Walter Scott, for I believe -- and on this point I admit
> I have neglected to check any online sources for confirmation --
> that the name Cedric, made popular by _Ivanhoe_, was a misreading
> of the name Cerdic.
Interesting!

A related case is the name Wendy, which has no normal etymology,
and first appeared AFAWK in James Barrie's play _Peter Pan_.
Supposedly, it's a childish pronunciation + hypocoristic of
"friend", i.e. [fwEndi].

--
John Cowan <jcowan@...>     http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen,    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith.  --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_

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