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Germanic given names are traditionally dithematic; that is, they are formed from two elements, by joining a prefix and a suffix. For example, King Æþelred's name was derived from ''æþel'', for "noble", and ''ræd'', for "counsel". However, there are also from an early time names which seem to be monothematic, consisting only of a single element. These are sometimes explained as hypocorisms, short forms of originally dithematic names, but in many cases the etymology of the supposed original name cannot be recovered.〔e.g. the names of kings Penda, Pybba, Offa, Wuffa, or Sebbi, all Anglo-Saxons born in the 6th or 7th century〕 The oldest known Germanic names date to the Roman Empire period, ''Arminius'' and his wife ''Thusnelda'' in the 1st century, and in greater frequency, especially Gothic names, in the late Roman Empire, in the 4th to 5th centuries (the Germanic Heroic Age).〔the oldest attested Germanic name may be ''Harigast'', written ''harikast'' in the Negau helmet inscription, but there are dissenting minority opinions.〕 A great variety of names are attested from the medieval period, falling into the rough categories of Scandinavian (Old Norse), Anglo-Saxon (Old English), continental (Frankish, Old High German and Low German), and East Germanic (see Gothic names〔Gothic or pseudo-Gothic names also constitute most of the personal names in use in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula during High Middle Ages; c.f. and 〕) forms. By the High Middle Ages, many of these names were abbreviated or corrupted, so that their etymology is not always clear. Of the large number of medieval Germanic names, a comparatively small set remains in common use today. The most frequent name of Germanic origin in English has traditionally been William (Bill; from an Old High German Willahelm), followed by Robert and Charles (Carl, after Charlemagne). Very few names of native English (Anglo-Saxon) origin survive into current use, the most common of these being Edward, Edmund, Edgar, Alfred and Harold for males; the female name ''Audrey'' continues the Anglo-Norman (French) form of the Anglo-Saxon ''Æðelþryð''. ==Dithematic names== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Germanic name」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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