Friday, December 12, 2008

What's in a Name?

I've always been interested in my family history, and while I haven't looked too far up the tree I came across a little interesting fact while studying for my Nordic Mythology final.

The name Osborn comes from the old Norse Ásbjörn. The gods were called the æsir, with ás as the singular from. Even though this word is basically extinct, born still has the same meaning and spelling in the languages that evolved from old Norse. In Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian bjørn means bear. So literally my name means God Bear.

So the name was introduced to England and Anglicized into first Osbern and then to its current form. When people spell it wrong, ie Osborne or Osbourne, I know now that the way we spell it is closest to its original form and therefore, the best.

All this means that our descendants were very likely some of the Vikings who raided and eventually conquered England between 700 and 1000. Awesome.

With 5 days left Scandinavia, I find out that I am descended from the same line as the locals.

2 comments:

the wild side of life said...

Wild --> German 'Wilder' --> "hunter"

Jacob --> biblical figure, wrestled with angels and changed his name to Israel - "one who struggles with God" --> multiple wives and
concubines, 13 children who founded Israel.


Way better than viking.

natalie said...

Good luck with finals!!!