As far as I can tell, the name was invented by Gaiman, although some baby name websites have unsourced origins. The closest I can find that appears legitimate is the male name Yvain, which is of Welsh origin. Yvain is a form of Owain, meaning 'Youth', the name of a knight in the Arthurian legends. In 2012, 9 girls were named Yvaine.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Yvaine
As far as I can tell, the name was invented by Gaiman, although some baby name websites have unsourced origins. The closest I can find that appears legitimate is the male name Yvain, which is of Welsh origin. Yvain is a form of Owain, meaning 'Youth', the name of a knight in the Arthurian legends. In 2012, 9 girls were named Yvaine.
Labels:
Fantasy,
Literature,
Neil Gaiman
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Yvain is actually of French origin; it is an Old French form of Owen found in medieval Arthurian cycles. Owen itself is from Greek Eugene 'well-born; of good kin/family', so I'm not sure where your sources got 'youth' from. Yvaine is the expected Middle French fem. form for the 13th or 14th C; by the 15th C, you'd be more likely to see Yvainne.
ReplyDeleteFor more information, see http://dmnes.org/name/Eugene