Raræ aves

[muckefuck]

Looking over my lists of Czech surnames, one thing that really struck me was the number of ornithonyms. In addition to the ones I gave in that earlier post, we also encountred Straka "magpie", Sojka "jay", Holub "dove/pigeon", Kohout "cock", Pěnkava "finch", and Sýkora (which my dictionary translates as "tit", but which is almost certainly a titmouse) on tombstones. Intrigued, I did some web research and found hits for Vrabec "sparrow", Skřivan "lark", Sokol "falcon", Luňák "hawk", Slavík "nightingale", Orel "eagle", Tetřev "grouse", and Sova "Owl", all used as surnames.

Many of these have equivalents in German, e.g. Hahn, Fink, Nachtigall, Adler, Kauz. But some are very rare, like Lerch(e) or Dohle, and others don't seem to exist. Going further afield, counterparts are even harder to come by. How many of the corresponding names exist in English, for example? I mentioned the phenomenon to monshu and he couldn't think of a single common French surname derived from an avian designation. Apparently, though, the phenomenon is common in neighbouring Slavic languages, like Polish and Ukrainian. (I was delighted some years ago to find that the name of my favourite Ukrainian-American baritone, Pliszka, means "wagtail".)

Oh, and for the Gallery of Unfortunate Czech Surnames, here's one that looks innocuous in English: Uher. It originally designated a Hungarian who settled in Czech territory, but, in the modern language, uher means "zit". Perhaps it's no surprise, then, that the new politically-correct term is mad'ar (pronounced almost exactly like Hungarian magyar).

Comments

[niemandsrose.livejournal.com]

The most-common French avian surname I can think of is Rossignol (like the ski company...)

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

At my urging, monshu did a search for "Corbeau", which did turn up a few hits. What I really need are lists of surnames by frequency for various languages so I can comb them for bird names.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

I can't find a meaning for "ouellette" (aka Ouellet, Houlette, Houlet) but seem to remember it being something birdish.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Houlet is an archaic spelling of English owlet, which derives ultimately from French hulotte "hoot owl". I think this term may be obsolete in modern French, replaced by chat-huant.

[niemandsrose.livejournal.com]

Also, depends on what you consider "English". I'm "Hane", which is a "Hahn" via Sweden ("Huyn"? We wonder.).

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Etymologically English. Otherwise, couldn't you count all the names we saw in the cemetery as "English"? After all, they lived and died here (even if they were born elsewhere) and, presumably, many still have descendents in the country.

Actually, since surnames derived from given names are by far the most common in Scandinavia (far rarer are ornamental names like Lönngren or toponyms like Åberg), I'm not convinced that "Hane" actually represents Swedish hane "cock" and not some diminutive form of Johan. I know that in German, there are quite a few names which are homonyms for common vocabulary items with which they have absolutely no etymological connexion. Two from my own family: Wolken, which appears identical to the modern word for "cloud" but more likely represents a Low German diminutive form of Walther (cf. Dutch Woutje "Wally"). Immer, a dead ringer for "ever", but actually derives from the name of an Austrian river.

Sign. Gallo / Gallina

[nibadi.livejournal.com]

zumindest diese beiden Nachnamen "Hahn" oder "Henne" sind mir im Italienischen vertraut.

Re: Sign. Gallo / Gallina

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

E Corvo anche, d'accordo?

Ich finde es interressant, dass "Hahn/Huhn" oefter vorkommt als andere Vogelbezeichnungen. Ich vermute, dass es normalerweise eine metonymische Berufbezeichnungen ist. Das heisst, man nennt jemande/n "Dohle", da er/sie dohlenartig ist, aber man nennt jemande/n "Hahn" nur weil er/sie Huehner erzeugt.

Re: Sign. Gallo / Gallina

[nibadi.livejournal.com]

Ich kann mich nicht bewusst erinnern, dass mir je der Name begegnet ist. Aber Corvo hört sich für Italien nicht fremdartig an.

Der Name Dohle kommt - zumindest am Niederrhein - eher selten vor. Ich habe im Düsseldorfer Telefonbuch geschaut und er kommt gar nicht vor. Hahn hingegen kommt um die hundert Male vor.

Wie verhält sich denn jemand, der dohlenartig ist. Der Begriff gefällt mir. Wird er in den USA benutzt? Ich erinnere mich, dass wir (früher, als ich noch häufig ausging) in der Schwulenszene besonders exaltierte Tänzer Hüpfdohlen nannten und uns darüber amüsierten.

Re: Sign. Gallo / Gallina

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

So ne Redewendung kenn ich nicht. So weit wie ich es weiss, was charakterisiert die Dohle für uns ist ihre Neigung zur Ablenkung. Wie Elster sammeln sie glänzender Tand (aber "Elster" ist bei uns eher eine Bezeichnung für einen Schwätzer).

Ich bin in meinem Leben beides benannt!