Enid (given name)

Enid
Julia Margaret Cameron, "Enid", 1874: portrait of the legendary figure as depicted in Tennyson
Gender Feminine
Origin
Word/name cognate with the Welsh word enaid meaning "soul, life" (earlier eneid, eneit)
Meaning "purity" or "soul"
Other names
Related names Énide (French)

Enid (/ˈiːnɪd/ EE-nid; Welsh pronunciation: [ˈɛnɨ̞d]) is a feminine given name. The origin is Middle Welsh eneit, meaning "spirit, life" (from Proto-Celtic *ana-ti̯o-, compare Gaulish anatia "souls" attested on the Larzac tablet, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂enh₁- "to breathe, blow"; cf. the modern Welsh anadl, "breath" or "wind").[1] Alternatively Enid may be derived from Enaid or Enit meaning "woodlark".[2]

Enid was the Celtic goddess and Arthurian name of the 19th century following Alfred Lord Tennyson's Arthurian epic Idylls of the King (1859) and its medieval Welsh source, the Mabinogi tale of Geraint and Enid.[3]

Enid drifted into popular use in Britain in the 1890s, becoming most popular in the 1920s. Then it was the greatest possible compliment to be called a "second Enid", since the original was a legendary romantic figure of spotless perfection and courage in life. Enid was the quiet brave steadfast character of Tennyson's poem, loved deeply by many, yet her love or loyalty to her husband was unwavering, even at his worst.[4]

Today Enid is a quiet quirky bookish type due to the link with Enid Blyton, the world famous children's adventure and mystery author. Blyton's books remain enormously popular, even after nearly 100 years in print.

People

Female

  • Enid Bagnold (1889–1981), British author and playwright
  • Enid Bakewell (born 1940), English cricketer
  • Enid Bennett (1893–1969), Australian-born American silent film actress
  • Enid Blyton (1897–1968), British children's writer
  • Enid Campbell (1932–2010), Australian legal scholar and law professor
  • Enid Charles (1894–1972), socialist, feminist and pioneering statistician
  • Enid Derham (1882–1941), Australian poet and academic
  • Enid Greene (born 1958), American politician
  • Enid A. Haupt (1906–2005), American publisher and philanthropist
  • Enid Kent, played Nurse Bigelow, a recurring character in the television series M*A*S*H
  • Enid Bosworth Lorimer (1887-1982), Australian actress and director
  • Enid Lyons (1897–1981), Australian politician and wife of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons
  • Enid Markey (1894–1981), American actress
  • Enid Johnson Macleod (1909-2001), Canadian anaesthetist, medical doctor and academic
  • Enid MacRobbie (born 1931), Scottish plant scientist
  • Enid Mumford (1924–2006), British professor largely known for her work on human factors and socio-technical systems
  • Enid Nemy, reporter and columnist for The New York Times
  • Enid Diana Rigg (born 1938), English actress
  • Enid Starkie (1897–1970), Irish literary critic
  • Enid Stamp Taylor (1904–1946), English actress
  • Enid Yandell (1870–1934), American sculptor

Male

Fictional characters

References

  1. ↑ "Enid." Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper. Retrieved 1 January 2013. <Etymonline.com http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Enid>.
  2. ↑ 1958-, Pickering, David, (2009). The Penguin book of baby names. London: Penguin. ISBN 9780141931500. OCLC 680052717.
  3. ↑ 1935-, Dunkling, Leslie, (1984, ©1983). The Facts on file dictionary of first names. Gosling, William., Dunkling, Leslie, 1935-. New York, N.Y.: Facts on File Publications. ISBN 0871962748. OCLC 10533041. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ↑ "Geraint and Enid | Robbins Library Digital Projects". Retrieved 2018-09-04.
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