Linda (first name)

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Linda is a female given name .

Origin and meaning

In the English-speaking world, Linda is often understood as the short form of Melinda or Belinda . Melinda originated in the 18th century from names like Melanie or Melissa and the ending "-inda". Originally the name Linda probably had nothing to do with the Spanish word linda , pretty; in Spain itself it did not emerge until it was already widespread in Great Britain and the USA.

Like the female first name Linde , Linda is also a short form of names with the Germanic element lind , such as Lindgard, Gerlinde or Sieglinde . As the second member of the name, lind only appears in women's names and then goes back to ahd. Lind (i) , gentle, soft, mild - hence the word " relief " (cf. Latin lentus , flexible, and English lithe , supple) .

Lind- as the first name member is derived from the linden tree , ahd.linta . It bears its name because of its "soft" bast, from which z. B. Braided belt. Shields were made from the light wood of the tree, so that linta could also take on the meaning of “shield”. This weapon should be the name motif here.

Whether the name element lind has anything to do with the Lindwurm is "uncertain". It also bears its name because of its flexibility.

variants

  • Lind; Linden; Linder; Lindita (Spanish diminutive)

Long names that can be shortened to Linda:

Name days

Name bearers

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Cleveland Kent Evans, The Great Big Book of Baby Names, Lincolnwood 2006; P. 492 f.
  2. ^ Wilfried Seibicke: German Historical Name Book , Berlin 1996–2006; Linda / Linde
  3. ^ Ernst Förstemann: Altdeutsches Namenbuch , first volume, Munich, reprint of the second edition in 1966; Sp. 1058f.
  4. ^ A b Henning Kaufmann: Altdeutsche Personalennamen, supplementary volume (on Ernst Förstemann: Altdeutsches Namenbuch, first volume, Munich, reprint of the second edition 1966), 1968; P. 237.
  5. ↑ a b Wolfgang Pfeifer u. a .: Etymological Dictionary of German , Munich 2nd edition 1993; P. 803.
  6. ^ A b Kluge: Etymological Dictionary , Berlin, 23rd edition 1995; P. 520.
  7. ^ Adolf Bach: Die Deutschen Personalennamen , Heidelberg 2nd ed. 1952; Vol. 1, p. 217.

See also