Re: [tied] Eh, Catherine!

Message

Fair enough, but where does her Russian name come from -- *h1katerina? :))) Her original name was Marta Skavronska (a Livonian/Latvian version of what is certainly a Polish surname). Different versions of "Catherine" (including Polish Katarzyna < *Katarina) have long been popular round the Baltic, so it may have been her middle name (I don't know what the historians say), but I am not aware of any initial E's except in this curious Russian variant. Presumably an adaptation of Greek Aikaterine was found suitable for her -- there _is_ a saint with that name -- St. Catherine of Sinai is worshipped as Aikaterine in the Greek Orthodox Church, AFAIK.

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: Sergejus Tarasovas

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2001 2:33 PM

Subject: RE: [tied] Catharina.Catherina etymology - Katharos or Aikaterine - Slav

-----Original Message-----
From: Joćo S. Lopes Filho [mailto:jodan99@...]
Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2001 3:21 PM
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [tied] Catharina.Catherina etymology - Katharos or Aikaterine - Slav

IFAIK the name hasn't been used in Russian till Peter the First time. It seemes there has been no Orthodox saint bearing this name. <Jekaterina> was adapted from German as the official name of the second Peter's wife, whose past is rather murky (some authors call her 'a camp-follower from the Baltic region').

Sergei