- Meredith (given name)
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For other uses, see Meredith (disambiguation).
Meredith Pronunciation /ˈmɛrɨdɪθ/ (merr-i-dith) or
/mɛˈrɛdɪθ/ (me-red-ith) after the WelshGender Male or Female Origin Word/Name Welsh Meaning "Great lord" Meredith is an uncommon given name, and a surname common in parts of Wales. Meredith is a well known name of Welsh origin that may be used as both a personal name or as a surname. Until the 20th century, the name Meredith was associated as a masculine name, as the meaning is understood to be ‘battle lord’, or ‘lord of battle’. Meredith has many derivatives which have become personal and surnames as well. [1]
Contents
Etymology and history
In Old Welsh (c. 800-1150) the name was usually rendered as Morgetuid and Margetiud. [1] The exact meaning of the first element, Mere, is unclear though some Welsh scholars have translated it as "great" or "splendid".[1] The final element of iudd has the meaning of lord, and is found in other Welsh names such as Gruffydd and Bleidd[i]udd.[1] However, in Middle Welsh (1150s-1300s) the name was most commonly spelt as Maredud and Maredudd, "in Welsh the accent is on the penult, and this leads at times to the elision of the vowel of the first syllable," producing an early variant Mredydd, according to T.J. Morgan and Prys Morgan.[1] Anglo-Norman scribes often used e for the first syllable and substituting the double d with a th, producing Mereduth. [1] As early as the 14th century the form Meredith and Meredyth is seen. [1]
In medieval manuscripts, the name are frequently “disguised” in records produced by scribes unfamiliar with Welsh naming conventions, and has been confused with the Welsh name Moreiddig (which has produced Moredik, Moriddik, and Morithik).[1] By the early Middle Ages, the name took the form of Mereduc due in part “to its suitability for taking Latin case-endings.[1] The name has been rendered into Latin as Mereducco, Mereduci, Mereduth, Mereduco, Mereduc, and Mereducus, Mereducius. [1]
In the accent of Dyfed (Pembrokshire) the final double d was lost to produce the name Meredy. [1] Though there is no etymological connection, Meredith has also been equated or associated with Merrick, Meyrick, and Moryce, “presumably on the basis of the ‘Mer’, although it is possible that Maurice was adopted as an approximation,” according to Morgan. [1]
Various names rooted with Meredith/Maredudd include Maredith, Maradyth, Merddith, Merydethe, Meredith, Mredith, Redith, among others.
In Spanish north coast, mainly Asturias, Meredith surname has derivated to "Merediz". It can also be found in Argentina and Mexico.
Derivatives
A derivative or pet name of Meredith is Bedo, which has given rise to a variety of other surnames. [1] Surnames rooted in Meredith’s pet name Bedo include Beddas, Beddis, Beddus, Beddose, Beddos, Beddoe, Beddoes, Beddowe, Beado, Beddah, Beddow, Beddas, Beddass, with a deliberate anglazation of Beddis/Beddus into Bedhouse. [1] The forms Beddoe, Beddow, Beddoes, and Beddowes, are particularly common within the Shropshire region of the Marches. The hardening characteristic of the Glamorgan and Gwent accent mutated the d into t, producing Bettoe, Bettoes, with the anglicized variant as Betthouse.[1]
List of people with given name Meredith
- Meredith Baxter (born 1947), an American actress
- Meredith Belbin (born 1926), a British Management Theorist
- Meredith Brooks (born 1958), American musician
- Meredith Emerson, murder victim, Meredith Emerson Memorial Privacy Act (US)
- Meredith Frampton, (1894-1984), British painter
- Meredith Kurtz, (born Meredith Smooke), An American Duchess
- Meredith Poindexter Gentry (1809–1866), U.S. politician
- Meredith Hall, American writer
- Meredith Hunter, American man murdered at the Altamont Free Concert
- Meredith Hunter (politician), Australian politician
- Meredith Kercher (1985–2007), a British woman murdered in Italy
- Meredith Monk, an American composer and vocal performer
- Meredith Salenger, American actress
- Meredith Stiehm, American television producer and screenwriter
- Meredith Vieira, an American journalist and television host
- Meredith Willson, (born Robert Meredith Willson), an American composer, songwriter, conductor, and playwright
- O. Meredith Wilson, former President of the University of Minnesota, a large research University in America.
Fictional characters
- Meredith Blake, a character in the book Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
- Merry Gentry, the protagonist of the Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton
- Meredith Gordon, a character in the TV series Heroes
- Meredith Grey, a fictional character and surgical resident on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy, played by Ellen Pompeo
- Meredith Rodney McKay, a character in the TV series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis
- Meredith Palmer, a fictional character and resident lush on the NBC sitcom The Office
- Meredith Sulez, a fictional character in The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith.
References
Categories:- Unisex given names
- Given names originating from a surname
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