Re: [tied] Re: etymology of German surnames

At 2:58:35 PM on Sunday, May 22, 2005, CG wrote:

>> Is there any site about German surnames' etymology?

>> I'd like to know the origin of surname Dungel.

> Though this site deals with early medieval Dutch names, it
> has some very useful information that pertains to Germanic
> names from other regions:

> http://www.keesn.nl/names/en4_list_ele.htm
> http://www.keesn.nl/names/en3_rules.htm

> I don't know what Dungel might mean (doesn't even look
> very Germanic to me), but Gel is listed on the
> afore-mentioned site as meaning "merry, lascivious, horny"
> (though the site's author does not list it as being an
> attested second element in any recorded medieval Dutch
> names).

That's actually OSax <ge:l>, from Gmc *gaila-; OE <gál>
'lust, luxury, wantonness, folly, levity; gay, light,
wanton'; OHG <geil> (NHG 'randy, horny, lecherous'); Goth.
<gailjan> 'to cheer, make glad'.

> There was an old Germanic word *duniz meaning "loud,
> noisy" (giving English din),

And MHG <tünen> 'to roar, rumble, thunder'.

> so maybe the name might mean "Loud and Merry"?

I'd guess that if it has a non-opaque morpheme boundary,
it's probably <Dung-el>, with a diminutive suffix.

Never mind the phonology, which is all wrong: so far as I
know, the *duni- root never entered the stock of name
themes, and I don't think that I've ever seen *gaila- as a
deuterotheme, so such a compound would be most unlikely as a
personal name. A byname is even less likely, since it would
have to be of medieval or later date. (See, for instance,
<Nicholaus dictus Geilfuoß> 1290 'merry foot' and <Walger
der Gailer> 1339 'the cheerful one'.)

Brian