Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-08-13
NAMES IN n,syoay.


maue concerning the possibility oil
tracing the career OF a nation by means
Of the specific character Of the uames
Of those combining to nake the popu-
lation; that is. not Of telling that here
battle took place and there u king
was murdered In his palace, but the
way up from barbarism to culture. and
down again through wealth to decay
The thing has already been quite
thoroughly done with coins and medals
which not only tell the story Of dy.
nasties by likenesses and inscriptions
but the progress and abasement Of art
in their design and execution. The
result Of this study OF names has been
exceedingly interesting in more than
one case. Take. for example. the
names prevailing among the Hebrews.
and the primitive simplicity. the pas
toral. poetic and religious nature,
which they picture in wonderful
manner. These people called the
mother OF the race Eve, which signifies
life, and no more subtle fattery was
ever given woman; the father was
called Adam, whose interpretation lie
the red earth. and which is surely at
the very root Of things primitive;
presently they are putting the syllable
alb into names. alb meaning father,
and then we have label, wan
derer. the father OF such as dwell
in tents; while Abraham, the father
Of Il great people, and many other
combinations Of the syllable. point also
to the patriarchal character OF the
race. But soon the syllable oil. mean
ing deity. comes in. in such names as
Melchizedek. Samuel. lshmael, Elihu;
and then comes those with combina-
tions Of Jah and 10. with the same
Specification. and we have Elijah. to bt
translated Jehovah is God; Eliab. God
father; Elimelech. God a king; and
Joshua. God a savior, which sufficient.
ly pOrtrays the religious nature Of the
people. Meantime the poetry Of their
feelings appears IN names such AZ
Jubal. blast of .rs..npets; in Isaac.
born to his parents in their old age,
Dld called. out of their gladness only
laughter; in David signifying beloved
in lsreal, prince with God; from al
of which it is plain that the wearers o.
these names are people OF simplicity
at first OF tent life, then governed by
princes. full of poetry and Of deeI
religion. worshiping one God. as the
word Elijah shows. and seeing in thai
God king. a father, a savior. as Others
of the name indicate. The same thing
again is evident in Greek names
Many of the earlier ones had the ROO
Lyc, from lycOs u wolf; rs in Lycurgu.
and Cycaon; and others had Leon, a.
in Leonidas. Leontes. all betraying the
rude element, admiration and culgiva
ton Of brute strength. After thi,
comes the word hippoS. a horse, as il
Philippos, the lover of horses; Hip
parchus. horse tanner, Xantippe, vel
low horse. and Hippomachus, hors,
warrior, whence perhaps the idea 0
| the ceutaurs-here again showing
the advance from the rude element t,
the martial spirit, the subsection
| of the inferior. and the love of tn,
! chase and of watlike sport. Blu
| awhile after this comes the the pref,
Lys, from lysis. meaning free; where
upon we find Lysander, a free man
and Lysimachus, free fight. from
| which it is easy TO conjecture that
| democracy has come 10 pass anon,
them. But shortly appear the comb
nations of the word cratos. power, ant
We encounter Socrates. safe power, an,
| Celebrates. noble power, and We cal
| again conjecture that wealth and au
thority have the upper hand at last il
All aristocr cy, and there comes al
! end. Again, with the Romans in tn
early generations, there is Ancus,
! servant Servius, slave; Marcus
manly; Curtius, short; Agricola,
! farmer; Coriolanus. ID worker in leather
and many others similar, the simples
sort of names appearing and reappear
ing through the whole period OF Roma
history. After time one comes O
those more descriptive or imaginative
us Nero. strong; Pompey. splendid
Aurelius. golden; but all the time W
have Scipio, staff; Crassus. slow; an
those of kindred sort-names, too, tina
show in the character of the bearers
| far less artistic sense than there Wa
among the Greeks. The theory agai
1 finds proof in the old Saxon nomencls
ture, Hengist and Horsa, the early con
| querors, both signifying the horse, ALI
both giving the keynote of the cour
ageous and warlike atmosphere OF tn
| time. Then comes the terminatio
wulf. wolf. in Ethelwulf, Fad wull
evincing the savage state of societ
that upheld and ennobled mere phys
cal force again. After this the mora
element appears with the syllable &c
meaning truth, as in Edgar. trut
weapon; Edmund, truth-speaker. Thi
is in turn followed by fred, meanin
peace, as we have it in Alfred, Win
fred and Ethelfred; and this is su,
ceeded by the religious idea in I'd
word dred- Edred, happy fear: Mo-
till there come in the Norman conques
and the French names of culture. A
these are certainly very amusing an
interesting ideas. and they may be 70
lowed out in social circles of histories
study with much entertainment an
some profit. - Harper's Bazaar.