Elvis (name)

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See also: Elvis (disambiguation)
Elvis
Gendermasculine
Name day12 September[1]
Origin
Word/nameIrish or British
Meaningunknown
Other names
Related namesEilfyw, Eilfw, Ailbe, Ailbhe, Alby, Albeus, Alibeus, Elwen, Elvan

Elvis is a male given name. It is an anglicisation of the Irish name of Saint Ailbe (d. 528).[2] The saint was also a popular figure in medieval Wales, where he was claimed to be of British origin,[3] in which case the Irish name Ailbe might be gaelicisation of an Ancient British name ancestral to modern Welsh Eilfyw or Eilfw.[4]

Etymology[]

Further information: Ailbe_of_Emly § The_name_"Ailbe"

The etymology of the name is unknown, and it is uncertain whether the name should be considered Irish (Gaelic) or British (Welsh) in origin. A folk etymology is suggested in the Vita Albei, as a derivative of ail "a rock" and beo "living".[5] A sporadic association of the saint's name with rocks has been observed, as in the Lia Ailbe ("stone of Ailbe") on the Magh Ailbe (plain of Ailbe), in Sliabh Ailbe "Mount Ailbe" in Duanaire Finn.[6] and maybe in Inbher Ailbhine mentioned in Tirechan's Vita Patricii.[7] Other possibilities involve derivation from the root albh- "white", which is found in the names of a number of Celtic deities (including a possible Albius recorded in a single inscription from Aignay-le Duc),[8] or alternively from Insular Celtic albi(i̭)o- "world" (Welsh elfydd "world, land").[9]

The name may be related or identical to Elwen, Elvan, the name of a poorly attested saint or saints venerated in early medieval Cornwall and Brittany.

In medieval French sources, the unrelated homograph Elvis occurs as a feminine name, a variant of Helvis, Aluysa, Alaisa, from a Germanic name such as Alwis.[10]

Usage[]

The name most commonly refers to American singer and actor Elvis Presley (1935–1977). Earlier bearers of the name include American administrator Elvis Jacob Stahr, Jr. (1916–1998, born the same year as Elvis Presley's father, Vernon Elvis Presley).[11] In most cases, however, it refers to people who have the name as a tribute to Elvis Presley.[citation needed] People in this latter group includes those who took the name themselves (with UK-born singer and songwriter Elvis Costello being an example), and those who were named Elvis by their parents.

People with the name[]

Musicians[]

  • Elvis Presley (1935–1977), American singer and actor, known simply as Elvis, also known as “The King of Rock and Roll”, or simply “The King”
  • Elvis Perkins (born 1976), American singer and songwriter
  • Elvis Costello (born 1954), the stage name of Declan Patrick MacManus, English singer
  • Elvis Blue (born 1979), the stage name of South African Idol's season 6 winner Jan Hoogendyk
  • Elvis Hitler, the stage name of Jim Leedy, an American singer and the frontman of the band Elvis Hitler
  • Elvis Crespo (born 1971), Puerto Rican Merengue singer
  • Elvis Francois (born 1985), American orthopedic surgeon and singer
  • Elvis Maswanganyi (born c. 1985), South African DJ, better known as DJ Mujava

Sports[]

Other[]

  • Elvis Jacob Stahr Jr. (1916–1998), American administrator and government official
  • Elvis Mitchell (born 1958), American film critic, formerly with The New York Times
  • Elvis Duran (born 1964), host of Elvis Duran and the Morning Show

Fictional characters[]

References[]

  1. ^ historically also 13 September and 27 February, "Saint Elvis" in Terry Breverton's Wales: A Historical Companion, pp. 164 f. Amberley Publishing (Stroud), 2009.
  2. ^ Iseabail Macleod and Terry Freedman, The Wordsworth Dictionary of First Names: A Concise and Useful Guide to the Origins and Meanings of Over 2000 Names (Ware: Wordsworth, 1995), p. 68; Leslie Dunkling and William Gosling, Everyman's Dictionary of First Names, 3rd edn (London: Dent, 1991), pp. 82-83.
  3. ^ "Saint Elvis" in Terry Breverton's Wales: A Historical Companion, pp. 164 f. Amberley Publishing (Stroud), 2009.
  4. ^ Plummer, Charles (1968) [1910]. Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae [Lives of the Saints of Ireland] (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon. p. 46 ff., vol. 1.
  5. ^ Baring-Gould and Fisher (1907), "The Lives of the British Saints" Vol I, p. 130 [1]
  6. ^ II, 95, xlii in MacNeill, Eoin and Murphy, Gerard (1908-54) Duanaire Finn, 3 vols, Irish Texts Society 7, 28, 43.
  7. ^ Watson, W.J. (1926) "The Celtic Place Names of Scotland", Edinburgh/London, p. 469, note 1.
  8. ^ Lajoye, Patrice & Crombet, Pierre, (2016) "Encyclopédie de l'Arbre Celtique" s.v Albius, retrieved 25 August 2016. [2] ; Beck op.cit: 4, III, B, 1) c)
  9. ^ In fact this root has been argued to be related to the root albho- 'white, bright', see Meid, Wolfgang (1990) "Über Albion, elfydd, Albiorix, und andere Indikatoren eine keltischen Weltbildes" in M.J. Ball, J, Fife, E, Poppe and J.Rowland, ed. Celtic Linguistics: Readings in the Brythonic Languages, Festschrift for T. Arwyn Watkins, Amsterdam/ Philadelphia.
  10. ^ Mémoires de la Société bourguignonne de géographie et d'histoire 5 (1887), p. 481; Elvis d'Epoisses (died c. 1252), wife of André de Montbard.
  11. ^ "Elvis Presley roots in Scotland". Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
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