This week is ‘Sneak Peek Week’ at Nook of Names. Each day, I shall be previewing the entry or entries for the names of five friends who first ‘put their hands up’ when I announced it on Facebook.
So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Estelle. It’s a good name to start with, as it demonstrates very well how one entry often leads to another — a name in capitals indicates that name has an entry of its own. And Estelle leads us on a journey that takes us to Rome and beyond…
Estelle ♀
A French name. It may be from an old form of French: étoile ‘star’ < STELLA. A comparative development of how the word étoile arose from stella can be seen in the development of Étienne from Stephen. However, another plausible option is that Estelle developed as a variant of ESTHER. The -er ending sits awkwardly in French, and the linguistics involved in a shift to -elle in French are slight. Certainly, the resemblance to the Latin stella, if not an archaic form of étoile (no coincidence, as stella and Esther are probably cognate anyway), may have encouraged the development. The name was rare in France before the 19th Century, being found only in Les Charentes and Provence – another hint that its origins lie in Esther; Provence was where Isabella developed from Elizabeth. Although it had become more widespread by the 2nd half of the 19th Century, Estelle’s use in France still largely postdates the publication of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations (1860-61), the heroine of which is Estella – which naturally became Estelle in the French version. Bearers: Estelle Masterson, a (shrewish mortal) character in the US film I Married a Witch (1942).
Stella ♀
Latin: stella ‘star’. Stella was used by Sir Philip Sidney in his Astrophel and Stella (1591). Stella Maris meaning ‘star of the sea’ is now considered a title of the Virgin Mary, but it is likely that the title was originally bestowed upon the Goddess Isis. 17th Century. Bearers: Stella Mayfair, a character in Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches series (1990-94).
Esther ♀
In The Bible, Esther was the name given to Hadassah when she entered the harem of King Ahaseurus. It is widely believed to have derived from the Old Persian stāra ‘star’. However, it may actually be from ISHTAR. Esthêr was the Greek form used in The Bible; the Latin forms were Esthera and Hestera, with Esther deriving from the former and HESTER from the latter. Both came into use in the 16th Century and quickly became confused with EASTER and each other. Variant: Esta (modern). Diminutive: ESSIE. Czech, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Portuguese: Ester, Finnish: Esteri, Dutch, French, German, Spanish: Esther, Hungarian: Eszter; Eszti (diminutive). Bearers: Esther Vanhomrigh (c.1688-1723), probably the inspiration for Jonathan Swift’s VANESSA; Esther Forbes (1891-1967), the US writer among whose works was A Mirror for Witches (1928) about the Salem Witch trials. Esther (1689) is a play by Racine.
As you can see, Estelle’s journey doesn’t end with Stella and Esther – but that’s quite enough for today :).
bet my name’s not in the book……………I never appear in name books!
Oh dear! Sorry, no, although Milan, Milena and Milène are, Mlani (Milani), I’m afraid, isn’t – not in this edition, anyway! I’ve not had time to investigate thoroughly, but it appears to have come into use in the last quarter or so of the 20th Century and I would say that it arose as a variant of Melanie, popular in the period, possibly inspired by the Italian surname Milani – which derives from the Italian town of Milan. I’d be very interested to hear any further light you can on your name!
[…] Hesper. Hesper Gamp appears in a genealogy, and Hesper Starkey, features on a wizard card. Hesper is a poetic name for the Evening Star, from the Latin Hesperus, itself from the Greek Hesperos ‘of evening’, ‘evening’ and ‘Evening Star’. Closely related to Hespera, meaning simply ‘evening’ in Greek, which is the name of one of the Hesperides, the nymphs who guard Hera’s golden apples and the grove where they grew, on islands somewhere in the far west of Greece. Hesper itself is found as a genuine given name from the mid 19th Century. Makes an interesting variation on Hester. […]
[…] ESTHER is 267. She’s been away in the wilderness a while, but I think the tide is turning in her favor now. […]
[…] also lies behind Estrella, Estelle and Estella, as well as the more unusual French […]
[…] as early as the seventeenth century, although in many cases this may represent variant spellings of Esther, Hester and Easter (which also got thoroughly muddled), or of the surname […]
[…] Ishtar – Ishtar is another of those names which has had a number of mentions, but hasn’t really been properly featured in her own right yet. Ishtar is probably the most famous of the Goddesses of Mesopotamia—equated with Aphrodite and Ashtoreth, and it may be her name which lies behind Esther. In Egyptian texts, she appears as ‘Astar-Ḫūru. The etymology is unknown for certain; many theories abound, ranging from (rather far-fetched) connections with Eostre (see Easter) to a shared root with Aster, but evidence is too flimsy to say anything with absolute conviction. What can be said is that it is a most beautiful and evocative name. […]
[…] Tellou – Lou’s French friend; in her case, it’s a pet-form of Estelle. […]
[…] contents based on names of people who connected to her on Facebook. For example, the entry on Estelle, also covers Stella and Esther, and hints that looking up the entries for Ishtar, Hester, Easter […]