Arthur
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| Arthur | |
|---|---|
 Statue of King Arthur, designed by Albrecht Dürer and cast by Peter Vischer the Elder, early 16th century[1] |
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| 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 |
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Look up Arthur in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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.
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[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
- Arthur (racehorse), the unlucky runner up in the 1840 Grand National
- Arthur, Elton John's black-and-white Cocker Spaniel
[edit] Fictional characters
- Arthur the Artificial Intelligence, a fictional character from the Journeyman Project computer games
- Arthur Bach, a character played by Dudley Moore in the movie Arthur (film)
- Arthur Brown, the more instinctive brother in Patrick White's novel The Solid Mandala
- Arthur the chimpanzee, from Lillian Hoban's children's books
- Arthur Curry, the DC Comics superhero known as Aquaman
- Arthur Daley, lead character played by George Cole in the British comedy-drama Minder (TV series)
- Arthur Dent, a "mild-mannered Earthman" whose planet is demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Arthur Dimmesdale, a main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Victorian novel, The Scarlet Letter
- Arthur Fancy, NYPD Lieutenant on NYPD Blue.
- Fonzie, Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, a character on the television sitcom Happy Days.
- Arthur Holland, LAPD Deputy Chief on Dark Blue.
- Arthur Kirkland,a main character in the series, Axis Powers Hetalia. He is the representation of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- Arthur Petrelli, a character in the NBC drama series Heroes
- Arthur Penhaligon, main character in The Keys to the Kingdom series
- Arthur Pendragon, legendary Prince and King of folklore
- Arthur (plant), a running gag in MAD Magazine
- Arthur Read, the aardvark from the Arthur children's books by Marc Brown and the PBS television series Arthur
- Arthur (Soul Calibur), a minor character in Soul Calibur, as a replacement for Mitsurugi in nations where it is forbidden to feature samurai in games
- Arthur Spooner, a character on the television sitcom The King of Queens played by Jerry Stiller
- Arthur (Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends), a character in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
- Arthur (The Tick), sidekick of superhero The Tick
- Arthur Trine from Gundam Seed Destiny
- Arthur Weasley, from the Harry Potter books
- Sergeant Arthur Wilson, character played by John Le Mesurier in the British sitcom Dad's Army
- Little Arthur from ABC kids. The bear (Little Arthur)
- Artillery Arthur, a fictional character who is Marshall's boss in the hit sitcom, How I Met Your Mother
[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
- Armenian: Արթուր (Artur)
- Basque: Artur, Artza
- Breton: Arzhur
- Bulgarian: Артур (Artur)
- Catalan: Artur
- Croatian: Artur
- Czech: Artuš, Artur
- Danish: Arthur
- Dutch: Arthur
- Estonian: Artur
- Finnish: Arttu, Artturi
- French: Arthur
- Georgian: ართური (Arturi)
- German: Artur, Arthur
- Greek: Αρθούρος (Arthoúros)
- Hebrew: ארתור (Artur)
- Hungarian: Artúr
- Icelandic: Arthur
- Irish: Artúr
- Italian: Arturo
- Medieval Latin: Arturus, Arthurus
- Latvian: Arturs
- Lithuanian: Artūras
- Norwegian: Artur
- Polish: Artur
- Portuguese: Artur
- Russian: Артур (Artur)
- Serbian: Артур (Artur)
- Slovakian: Artúr
- Slovenian: Artur
- Spanish: Arturo
- Swedish: Artur
- Uzbek: Artur
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Barber 1986, p. 141
- ^ Malone 1925
- ^ 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
- ^ Olli Salomies: Die römischen Vornamen. Studien zur römischen Namengebung. Helsinki 1987, p. 68
- ^ Herbig, Gust., "Falisca", Glotta, Band II, Göttingen, 1910, p. 98
- ^ See Higham 2002, p. 74.
- ^ See Higham 2002, p. 80.
- ^ Koch 1996, p. 253
- ^ Anderson 2004, pp. 28–29; Green 2007b, pp. 191–4.
- ^ 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
- Anderson, Graham (2004), King Arthur in Antiquity, London: Routledge, ISBN 978-0415317146.
- Barber, Richard (1986), King Arthur: Hero and Legend, Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, ISBN 0851152546.
- Green, Thomas (August, 2007), "Tom Thumb and Jack the Giant Killer: Two Arthurian Fairytales?", Folklore 118 (2): 123–40, doi:, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=25902140&site=ehost-live. (EBSCO subscription required for online access.)
- Green, Thomas (2007b), Concepts of Arthur, Stroud: Tempus, ISBN 978-0752444611, http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/concepts.
- Higham, N. J. (2002), King Arthur, Myth-Making and History, London: Routledge, ISBN 978-0415213059.
- Koch, John T. (1996), "The Celtic Lands", in Lacy, Norris J., Medieval Arthurian Literature: A Guide to Recent Research, New York: Garland, pp. 239–322, ISBN 978-0815321606.
- Koch, John T.; Carey, John (1994), The Celtic Heroic Age: Literary Sources for Ancient Celtic Europe and Early Ireland and Wales, Malden, MA: Celtic Studies Publications, ISBN 978-0964244627.
- Malone, Kemp (May, 1925), "Artorius", Modern Philology 22 (4): 367–74, doi:, http://www.jstor.org/stable/433555, retrieved 2008-05-22. (JSTOR subscription required for online access.)
