Names of the US Presidents - what origins?

[lpetrich]

Though she is not yet a President and may never be, Kamala Harris has a very unusual first name by President standards, though her last name is much more typical. So I decided to research the names of US Presidents and Vice Presidents with the help of The Meaning and History of First Names - Behind the Name and Wiktionary

 List of presidents of the United States and  List of vice presidents of the United States

• Germanic: William (Bill), Herbert, Henry (Harry), Richard (Dick), Gerald, Ronald, Elbridge, Charles, Hubert, Walter, Albert (Al)
• English last names: Millard, Franklin, Rutherford, Grover, Woodrow, Warren, Dwight, Lyndon, Garrett, Nelson, Danforth (Dan) (mostly with Germanic elements)
• Gaelic: Donald
• Latin: Martin, Chester, Calvin, Alben
• Greek: George, Andrew, Theodore, Schuyler, Spiro
• Aramaic: Thomas
• Hebrew: John, James (Jimmy), Zachary, Abraham, Ulysses, Benjamin, Joseph (Joe), Aaron, Daniel, Levi, Adlai, Michael (Mike)
• Punic: Hannibal
• Arabic: Barack
• Sanskrit: Kamala

Many of the last names look English, though here are some exceptions:

• Dutch: Van Buren, Roosevelt
• German: Eisenhower, Rockefeller
• Norwegian: Mondale
• Gaelic: Buchanan, Kennedy, Reagan
• Welsh? Latin? : Arthur
• Luo (Nilotic: Eastern Sudanic): Obama

Some names have mixed heritage.

• Jefferson = son of Jeffrey (Geoffrey - from Germanic through Old French)
• Jackson = son of Jack (Jacob - from Hebrew)
• Harrison (Harris) = son of Harry (Henry - from Germanic)
• Nixon = son of Nick (Nicholas - from Greek)

 

[lpetrich]

I like Roosevelt: "rose field" or "field of roses" in Dutch.

The "velt" part is cognate to English "field", from Proto-Germanic *felthuz likely from Proto-Indo-European *pletH- "flat" inferred from Latin plânus "flat" and Greek platu- "flat" and English "flat" itself.

The "roose" part is from Latin rosa, where English "rose" comes from. It's likely from some pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language, as Greek rhodon "rose" likely is.

-

Most of the names of Presidents and Vice Presidents come from the British Isles or nearby continental Europe or Greco-Roman antiquity or the Bible. The exceptions that I could recognize:

• Spiro - Modern Greek
• Barack - Arabic: "blessed"
• Obama - Luo: "bent, crooked"
• Kamala - Sanskrit: "lotus" (flower)

I couldn't recognize any Italian or Slavic names among those who were elected, but among those who weren't elected:

Edmund Muskie's father was a Polish immigrant named Stephen Marciszewski - he changed his last name to Muskie.

Geraldine Ferraro's last name is an Italian one, a variant of Ferrari, a name that means "ironworker" or "blacksmith". Something like Dwight Eisenhower's last name: "iron hewer".


What Edmund Muskie's father did was what Spiro Agnew's father did. Spiro Agnew's father was a Greek immigrant named Theophrastos Anagnostopoulos - he changed it to Theodore Agnew.

Something like George Stephanopoulos's last name.

 

[lpetrich]

How are the languages related? I'll start off with Indo-European.

• Germanic
  • West Germanic: English, Dutch, German
  • North Germanic: Norwegian
• Celtic: Gaelic, Welsh
• Italic: Latin
• Greek
• Indo-Iranian: Sanskrit

Semitic: West Semitic: Central Semitic

• Northwest Semitic
  • Aramaic
  • Canaanite: Punic, Hebrew
• Arabic

Central Sudanic: Nilotic: Luo

 

[Swammerdami]

If tired of clicking on Wiki's List, the President's names can be recalled with a bit of doggerel:

George and John and Tommy J.​

Two Jims, John Q, and Old Hickory A.​

Marty, Willy, Johnny, and James.​

Zachary and Millard (how 'bout those names?)​

Franklin, James and Abraham occurred.​

Then Andrew, Ulysses, and Rutherford​

James and Chester, Grover and Ben.​

Now don’t forget we had Grover again.​

Willy Mac, Teddy, and William T.​

then Woody, Warren, and Calvin C.​

Herbie, Frankie, Harry and Dwight.​

John and Lyndon, then Dickie for spite.​

Gerry, Jimmy, Ronnie and George;​

Then came(!) Bill, then another George.​

Barack and Donny, and a man named Joe.​

Let's stop there; I've got to go.​

A similar poem gives England's Monarchs since 1066:

Willy, Willy, Harry, and the King named Stee,​

Harry, Dick, John, and Harry three,​

Ed, Eddie, Edward, and Richard two,​

Henries four, five, six – then who?​

Edwards four, five; then Dick the bad,​

Harries twain and Ned the lad.​

The meter might fail if we mention Jane​

But don't forget her nine-day reign​

Mary and Lizzie, then a man called James,​

Charlie, pause, Charlie and another James​

William & Mary, then Anna Gloria,​

Four Georges, William and Victoria,​

Edward, George, repeat the twain,​

Liz the second, now Charles again.​

 

[lpetrich]

I recall from my childhood Daniel Inouye, with a Japanese last name, and James Abourezk, with an Arabic last name and Lebanese ancestry.

I decided to look at failed Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates.
1792 United States presidential election - Wikipedia and stepping through the elections

• Germanic (mostly Old English, some through Old French): William (Bill), Herbert, Henry (Harry), Richard (Dick), Gerald (Geraldine), Ronald, Elbridge, Charles, Hubert, Walter, Albert (Al), Francis (Frank), Lewis, Alfred (Alf), Earl, Robert (Bob), Ralph, Spike
• English last names: Millard, Franklin, Rutherford, Grover, Woodrow, Warren, Dwight, Lyndon, Garrett, Nelson, Danforth (Dan), Winfield, Whitelaw, Alton, Fielding, Estes, Ross, Mitt (Milton), Darrell, Howard (Howie), Chase (mostly with Germanic elements)
• Other last names: De Witt (Dutch), Strom (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish), Ferraro (Italian, from Latin), Dukakis (Greek, from Latin), Baraka (Swahili, from Arabic), Scott, Finn (from Gaelic)
• Gaelic: Donald, Barry
• Welsh: Lloyd
• Welsh? Latin?: Arthur
• ? Mindy
• Latin (often through Old French): Martin, Chester, Calvin, Alben, Oliver, Rufus, Quincy, Lovell, Horatio (Horace), Emil, Curtis, Sargent, Patrick, Paul, Virgil, Rocky (Rocco), Hillary, Gloria, Cornel
• Greek: George, Andrew, Theodore, Schuyler, Spiro, Nicholas, Eugene, Cynthia, Timothy (Tim), Angela, Melina
• Aramaic: Thomas
• Hebrew: John (Evan), James (Jimmy, Jack), Zachary, Abraham, Ulysses, Benjamin, Joseph (Joe), Aaron, Daniel, Levi, Adlai, Michael (Mike), Samuel (Sam), Jared, Amos, Salmon, Hiram, Sarah, Jo (short for Josephine, Joanna)
• Punic: Hannibal
• Arabic: Barack
• Sanskrit: Kamala
• Lakota: Winona

Many of the last names are English or Anglicized, or at least look English, though with a lot of exceptions:

• Dutch: Van Buren, Roosevelt, ter Maat
• German: Eisenhower, Rockefeller, Hoover, Bricker, Lieberman, Stein
• Danish: Jorgensen
• Norwegian: Mondale
• Gaelic: Buchanan, Kennedy, Reagan, Bryan, Knox, McKinney, Ryan
• Latin (mostly through French): Butler, La Follette, Curtis, LeMay(?), Perot(?), LaDuke(?), Castle, La Riva, Oliver
• Latin and Danish: Bentsen ("son of Benedict")
• ? Dewey
• Hebrew: Cohen
• Arabic: Nader, Abdullah
• Luo (Nilotic: Eastern Sudanic): Obama

Some last names are obviously English, like "King", while others have mixed heritage.

• Jefferson = son of Jeffrey (Geoffrey - from Germanic through Old French)
• Jackson = son of Jack (Jacob - from Hebrew)
• Harrison (Harris) = son of Harry (Henry - from Germanic)
• Nixon = son of Nick (Nicholas - from Greek)

 

[Politesse]

? Dewey

Most commonly Hebrew, via Welsh. A variant of David.

Although some Deweys are actually Douais, a name of Gothic-French origin stemming from the ancient Ostrogothic capital city of the same name. If they have Norman heritage, it's may be the French version, as that's when the name migrated to Devon. And some are Dutch, from De Weij ("out of the way").

 

[bilby]

? Dewey

Most commonly Hebrew, via Welsh. A variant of David.

Although some Deweys are actually Douais, a name of Gothic-French origin stemming from the ancient Ostrogothic capital city of the same name. If they have Norman heritage, it's may be the French version, as that's when the name migrated to Devon. And some are Dutch, from De Weij ("out of the way").

That seems very complex. Perhaps we should develop a numeric system of classification, grouping people in brackets of ten, to identify which origin(s) a given holder of the surname has.

We could call it the Dewey Decim... oh. Nevermind.

 

[Politesse]

? Dewey

Most commonly Hebrew, via Welsh. A variant of David.

Although some Deweys are actually Douais, a name of Gothic-French origin stemming from the ancient Ostrogothic capital city of the same name. If they have Norman heritage, it's may be the French version, as that's when the name migrated to Devon. And some are Dutch, from De Weij ("out of the way").

That seems very complex. Perhaps we should develop a numeric system of classification, grouping people in brackets of ten, to identify which origin(s) a given holder of the surname has.

We could call it the Dewey Decim... oh. Nevermind.

Decimal is from the Latin decimalis, which means "decimal".

 

[lpetrich]

Latin decimâlis < decem "ten" + -âlis (adjective-making suffix) So it's "ten-related"

Latin decem itself is cognate with English "ten".

 

[bilby]

Latin decimâlis < decem "ten" + -âlis (adjective-making suffix) So it's "ten-related"

Latin decem itself is cognate with English "ten".

Yeah, that's the joke.

 

[Swammerdami]

dik ("finger") > one, indicate, show, hand
dik ("finger", "hand") > five, ten
is one of the very ancient Global etymologies proposed by Bengtson and Ruhlen. The addition of 'm' in "decem" -- *dekm ("ten") -- occurred early in, or before PIE. Finding evidence may be difficult since many languages lack ancient words for "ten."

Assuming the absence of an 'm' in a word for "ten" supports this hypothesis, we see
Nilo-Saharan: Dendje doko ‘ten', Merarit tok ‘ten'
Old Korean t¯ek ‘10'
Ainu: atiki ‘five'
Amerind: Wintun tiq-eles ‘10' Nisenan tok- ‘hand' Moseten tak ‘10' EXCEPTION: Allentiac tukum ‘10'

Very speculative? Sure, but the transitions "hand" > "five", "ten" seem not unlikely.

 

[lpetrich]

 List of first ladies of the United States and  Second ladies and gentlemen of the United States

• Germanic (mostly Old English, some through Old French): William (Bill), Herbert, Henry (Harry, Harriet), Richard (Dick), Gerald (Geraldine), Ronald, Elbridge, Charles (Caroline, Carrie), Hubert, Walter, Albert (Al), Francis (Frank, Frances), Lewis (Louisa, Lou), Alfred (Alf), Earl, Robert (Bob), Ralph, Spike, Ida, Edith
• English last names: Millard, Franklin, Rutherford, Grover, Woodrow, Warren, Dwight, Lyndon, Garrett, Nelson, Danforth (Dan), Winfield, Whitelaw, Alton, Fielding, Estes, Ross, Mitt (Milton), Darrell, Howard (Howie), Chase (mostly with Germanic elements)
• Other last names: De Witt (Dutch), Strom (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish), Ferraro (Italian, from Latin), Dukakis (Greek, from Latin), Baraka (Swahili, from Arabic), Scott, Finn, Douglas, Craig (Gaelic), Lynn (Welsh)
• Gaelic: Donald, Barry, Muriel
• Welsh: Lloyd
• Welsh? Latin?: Arthur
• ? Mindy, Eleanor (Elinor), Thelma, Ilo
• Latin (often through Old French): Martin, Chester, Calvin, Alben, Oliver, Rufus, Quincy, Lovell, Horatio (Horace), Emil (Emily), Curtis, Sargent, Patrick, Paul, Virgil, Rocky (Rocco), Hillary, Gloria, Cornel (Cornelia, Neilia), Letitia, Priscilla, Julia, Lucy, Lucretia, Rose, Florence, Mabel, Grace, Claudia, Alta, Laura, Florida, Caro
• Greek: George, Andrew, Theodore, Schuyler, Spiro, Nicholas, Eugene, Cynthia, Timothy (Tim), Angela, Melina, Dorothy (Dolley), Catherine (Karen), Angelica, Margaret, Helen (Ellen), Barbara, Melania, Sophia, Lois, Irene
• Aramaic: Thomas, Martha
• Hebrew: John (Evan, Jane, Ivana, Joan), James (Jimmy, Jack, Jacqueline), Zachary, Abraham, Ulysses, Benjamin, Joseph (Joe), Aaron, Daniel, Levi, Adlai, Michael (Mike, Michelle), Samuel (Sam), Jared, Amos, Salmon, Hiram, Sarah, Jo (short for Josephine, Joanna), Abigail, Elizabeth (Eliza, Isabel), Rachel, Hannah (Anna, Ann, Nancy), Mary (Mariette, Marla, Marilyn), Rebecca
• Punic: Hannibal
• Arabic: Barack
• Sanskrit: Kamala
• Lakota: Winona

Many of the last names are English or Anglicized, or at least look English, though with a lot of exceptions:

• Dutch: Van Buren, Roosevelt, ter Maat
• German: Eisenhower, Rockefeller, Hoover, Bricker, Lieberman, Stein, Knauss, Rucker
• Danish: Jorgensen
• Norwegian: Mondale
• Gaelic: Buchanan, Kennedy, Reagan, Bryan, Knox, McKinney, Ryan
• Latin (mostly through French): Butler, La Follette, Curtis, LeMay(?), Perot(?), LaDuke(?), Castle, La Riva, Oliver, Bouvier
• Latin and Danish: Bentsen ("son of Benedict")
• Czech from Yiddish from Romanian from Bulgarian from Greek: Zelníčková
• ? Dewey
• Hebrew: Cohen
• Arabic: Nader, Abdullah
• Luo (Nilotic: Eastern Sudanic): Obama

Ivana Trump's original last name Zelníčková is the only very different one that I found.

With the help of Behind the Name and Wiktionary,

Zelníčková - feminine of Zelníček - Czech form of Yiddish Zelnick צעלניק tselnik: "tax collector" or "small things for sewing" or "celery" - Romanian țelină "celery" - Bulgarian целина́ (celiná) "celery" - Greek σέλῑνον (sélīnon) "celery" - Pre-Greek