>>Are you more comfortable with Étzel?
>>
>>Patrick
> ============
>
>Where is it attested ?
>
>Arnaud
Nibelungenlied.
cf. en.wikipedia:
"The origin of Attila's name is not known with confidence, because
very little is known about Hunnic names. In the Hunnic language
Danube-Bulgarian, the etymology "oceanic (universal) [ruler]" has been
proposed.[13] Others believe that the name may be Gothic (or Gepid),
from the word atta ("father") and the diminutive suffix -ila.[14]
Attila was not a rare name in Central Europe prior to Attila making
his mark on history; the historical record shows numerous persons with
the name preceding him. 'Attila' has many variants: Atli and Atle in
Norse, Ætla, Attle and Atlee in English, Attila/Atilla/Etele in
Hungarian (all the three name variants are used in Hungary; Attila is
the most popular variant), Etzel in modern German or Attila, Atila or
Atilla in modern Turkish. Also the word possibly originates from
Turkic Atyl/Atal/Atil (ancient name of Volga river) with adjective
suffix -ly. (Compare also Turkic medieval notable title _atalyk_ -
"senior as father").[15][16][17]"
(As for Hungary, in one of the oldest preserved Hungarian
chronicles, written perhaps a few years earlier than the
1st written Nibelungenlied variants, the latin spelling is
_Athila_, genitive _Athile_.)
George