Arthur

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Arthur
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Statue of King Arthur, designed by Albrecht Dürer and cast by Peter Vischer the Elder, early 16th century[1]
Pronunciation /ˈɑrθər/
Gender Male
Meaning Bear or bear-like
Origin Latin or Celtic
Related names Artur, Art (short form), Arttu (Finnish variant)
Popularity Popular names page

Arthur is a common male name. Its etymology is disputed, but its popularity derives from its being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A frequently repeated Welsh language etymology suggests its original meaning is "bear" or "bear-like".

Art is a diminutive form of the name. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur.

Contents

[edit] Etymology

The origin of the name Arthur remains a matter of debate. Some suggest it is derived from the Latin family name Artorius, of obscure and contested etymology[2](but possibly of Etruscan origin[3][4][5]). Others propose a derivation from Welsh arth (earlier art), meaning "bear", suggesting art-ur, "bear-man", (earlier *Arto-uiros) is the original form, although there are difficulties with this theory - notably that a Brittonic compound name *Arto-uiros should produce Old Welsh *Artgur and Middle/Modern Welsh *Arthwr and not Arthur (in Welsh poetry the name is always spelled Arthur and exclusively is rhymed with words ending in -ur - never words ending in -wr - which confirms that the second element cannot be [g]wr "man").[6][7] It may be relevant to this debate that the legendary King Arthur's name appears as Arthur, or Arturus, in early Latin Arthurian texts, never as Artorius. However, this may not say anything about the origin of the name Arthur, as Artorius would regularly become Art(h)ur when borrowed into Welsh.[8] An alternative theory links the name Arthur to Arcturus, the brightest star in the constellation Boötes, near Ursa Major or the Great Bear. Classical Latin Arcturus would also have become Art(h)ur when borrowed into Welsh, and its brightness and position in the sky led people to regard it as the "guardian of the bear" (which is the meaning of the name in Ancient Greek) and the "leader" of the other stars in Boötes.[9]

Irish language has similar first names, such as Old Irish Artúr. The earliest historically attested bearer of the name is a son or grandson of Áedán mac Gabráin (d. AD 609),[10]

[edit] People, characters and animals with the given name Arthur

[edit] Animals

[edit] Fictional characters

[edit] Tropical cyclones

  • Tropical Storm Arthur (a disambiguation page): Arthur is the name of several tropical cyclones in the North Nebraska and Fiji cyclone naming schools.

[edit] In different languages

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Barber 1986, p. 141
  2. ^ Malone 1925
  3. ^ Wilhelm Schulze, Zur Geschichte lateinischer Eigennamen (Volume 5, Issue 2 of Abhandlungen der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Philologisch-Historische Klasse, Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften Göttingen Philologisch-Historische Klasse) , 2nd Edition, Weidmann, 1966, p. 72, pp. 333-338
  4. ^ Olli Salomies: Die römischen Vornamen. Studien zur römischen Namenge­bung. Hel­sinki 1987, p. 68
  5. ^ Herbig, Gust., "Falisca", Glotta, Band II, Göttingen, 1910, p. 98
  6. ^ See Higham 2002, p. 74.
  7. ^ See Higham 2002, p. 80.
  8. ^ Koch 1996, p. 253
  9. ^ Anderson 2004, pp. 28–29; Green 2007b, pp. 191–4.
  10. ^ Adomnán, I, 8–9 and translator's note 81; Bannerman, pp. 82–83. Bannerman, pp. 90–91, notes that Artúr is the son of Conaing, son of Áedán in the Senchus fer n-Alban.

[edit] References