Arthur

Infobox Given Name Revised
name = Arthur


imagesize=150 px
caption=Statue of King Arthur, designed by Albrecht Dürer and cast by Peter Vischer the Elder, early 16th century [Harvnb|Barber|1986|p= 141]
pronunciation=IPA|/ɑːθɘ/, IPA|/ɑrθɝ/
gender = Male
meaning = Bear-like
region =
origin = Latin or Celtic
related names = Art, Arttu (Finnish)
footnotes =

Arthur is a common male name, meaning "bear-like," believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius ("plowman") or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word "artos" ("bear"). Other Celtic languages have similar first names, such as Old Irish "Art, Artúur", Welsh "Arth" - which may also be the source for the modern name."Art" is also a diminutive form of the common name Arthur. In many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages the name is spelled as Artur. The Finnish versions are Arttu and Artturi.

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. [Harvnb|Malone|1925] 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. [See Harvnb|Higham|2002|p= 74.] 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. [Harvnb|Koch|1996|p= 253] 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" and the "leader" of the other stars in Boötes. [Harvnb|Anderson|2004|pp= 28–29; Harvnb|Green|2007b|pp= 191–4.] Also intensive attention has been paid to relevant agreements supporting the conclusion that 'Arthur' is a devolution of the name of the roman-breton hero (Ambrosius) Aurelianus. [Korrel. An Arthurian Triangle, 1984, pp. 7-30.] The earliest historically attested use of the name 'Arthur' is Artúr the son or grandson of Áedán mac Gabráin.

People, characters and animals with the given name Arthur

People

* King Arthur, the legendary British ruler.
* Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (1187–1203)
* Arthur, Prince of Wales (1486–1502)
** Prince Arthur, other British princes
* Arthur Ashe (1943–1993), American athlete and author
* Arthur Askey, CBE (1900–1982), English comedian
* Arthur Balfour (1848–1930), British Foreign Secretary
* Blessed Arthur Bell, 17th century Catholic martyr
* Arthur Burns (born 1954), American discus thrower
* Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008), British author
* Arthur Cravan (1887–1918?), British boxer, poet and pre-Dadaist
* Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), British writer, and creator of the character Sherlock Holmes
* Arthur Davis (disambiguation), various
* Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944), British astrophysicist
* Arthur Fiedler (1894–1979), long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra
* Arthur Freeman, Russian Jewish writer
* Art Garfunkel (born 1941), American musician and actor
* Arthur Golden (born 1956), American author
* Arthur Griffith (1872–1922), founder and first leader of the Irish political movement Sinn Féin
* Arthur Koestler (1905–1983), Hungarian polymath
* Arthur Kornberg (born 1918), American biochemist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1959
* Arthur Lowe (1915–1982), English actor
* Arthur Mafokate, South African kwaito musician and producer
* Arthur Miller (1915–2005), American playwright, essayist and author
* Arthur C. Miller (1895–1970), American cinematographer
* Arthur Rackham (1867–1939), British book illustrator
* (Jean Nicolas) Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891), French poet
* Arthur Rowe (athlete) (1936-2003), English shot putter
* Arthur Rubin (born 1956), American mathematician
* Arthur Scargill (born 1938), former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers and current leader of the Socialist Labour Party
* Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
* Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860), German philosopher
* Arthur Serevetas, also known as Arthur Penn, Australian actor
* Arthur Shawcross (born 1945), American serial killer
* Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), English composer best known for his operatic collaborations with librettist W. S. Gilbert
* Arthur Treacher (1894–1975), English actor
* Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852), Irish-born British soldier and statesman

Animals

* Arthur (racehorse), the unlucky runner up in the 1840 Grand National

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 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 Fancy, NYPD Lieutenant on NYPD Blue.
* Arthur Holland, LAPD Deputy Chief on Dark Blue.
* Arthur Penhaligon, main character in "The Keys to the Kingdom" series
* 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"

Tropical cyclones

* Tropical Storm Arthur (a disambiguation page): Arthur is the name of several tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic and Fiji cyclone naming areas.

See also"'

*MacArthur
*McArthur
*Macarthur

Notes

References

*citation|last=Anderson |first=Graham |title=King Arthur in Antiquity |place=London |publisher= Routledge |year=2004|isbn= 978-0415317146.
*citation|last=Barber |first=Richard| title=King Arthur: Hero and Legend| place= Woodbridge, UK |publisher= Boydell Press |year= 1986|isbn=0851152546.
*citation| last=Green |first= Thomas |title= Tom Thumb and Jack the Giant Killer: Two Arthurian Fairytales? |journal= Folklore |volume= 118 |issue= 2 |date= August, 2007 |year= 2007a |pages= 123-40 |url= http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=25902140&site=ehost-live. (EBSCO subscription required for online access.)
*citation|last=Green |first=Thomas |title=Concepts of Arthur |place=Stroud |publisher= Tempus |year= 2007b |isbn= 978-0752444611 |url=http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/concepts.
*citation|last=Higham |first=N. J. |title=King Arthur, Myth-Making and History |place=London |publisher= Routledge |year= 2002 |isbn=978-0415213059.
*citation|last=Koch |first=John T. |chapter=The Celtic Lands |editor-first=Norris J. |editor-last=Lacy |title=Medieval Arthurian Literature: A Guide to Recent Research |place=New York |publisher= Garland |year= 1996 |pages=239–322 |isbn=978-0815321606.
*citation| last1= Koch |first1= John T. |last2= Carey |first2= John |title= The Celtic Heroic Age: Literary Sources for Ancient Celtic Europe and Early Ireland and Wales |place= Malden, MA |publisher= Celtic Studies Publications |year= 1994 |isbn= 978-0964244627.
* (abridgement accessible by enregistering it in Google Books/My Library) (Commentary: http://members.lycos.nl/jathu/PeterKorrel.htm)
*citation|last=Malone |first= Kemp |title= Artorius |journal= Modern Philology |volume= 22 |issue= 4 |date= May, 1925 |year= 1925 |pages= 367-74 |url= http://www.jstor.org/stable/433555 |accessdate= 2008-05-22. (JSTOR subscription required for online access.)