EDITH.
Edith is the only representative in women's names of A.S. ead, happiness, prosperity, from which we have so many men's names, as Edward, Edwin, Edmund, Edgar. It represents an A.S. Editha, a contraction of Eadgitha, and the question, which is not without a little difficulty, is, What is the origin of githa? Is it a phonetic variation of gifa (A.S. gifu, gift), so common in Anglo-Saxon names of women, as in God-gifa (Godiva), Sungefa (Suneva), &c., or is it a separate word? I am disposed to come to the conclusion, upon the whole, that it is a separate word, and though the traces of it as such are not strong, yet there are some traces. There is a woman's name Githa in the Liber Vitæ, and this seems to be the same as an Old Norse woman's name Gyda in the Landnamabôk. There was also a Gytha, daughter of Swend, king of Denmark. Then there are two Old German names of women with the endings respectively gid and (H.G.) kid. And the origin of all I should take to be found in O.N. gydia, goddess, the exalted conception of womanhood.
EVELYN, EVELINA, EVELINE.
There does not seem to be sufficient ground for Miss Yonge's suggestion that Eveline, a name which we have from the Normans, was borrowed by them from the Celts. On the contrary, they seem to have derived it from their Frankish ancestors, among whom we find it in the eleventh century in the form Avelina. This appears to be the original form, for we find it as Avelina in the Liber Vitæ about the twelfth century. And again in the thirteenth century we find that one of the Earls of Albemarle married a lady named Aveline. It is probably a diminutive from the stem av, which Foerstemann refers to Goth. avo, in the probable sense of ancestor. The names Evelyn and Eveline should be kept sharply distinct, the former being a man's name, and the latter a woman's, being the French form of Evelina, as is Louise of Louisa.
From the same stem, av, is formed also the female name Avice, now become very rare. It appears as Auiza and Avicia in the Liber Vitæ, and its original form I take to be found in Avagisa, eighth century, in the Altdeutsches Namenbuch, from gis, hostage. From a similar origin, but from the masculine form Avagis, may probably be Avis, included by Mr. Lower among Latinized surnames.
Another name from the same stem which seems to have been formerly rather common, but which now seems quite obsolete, is Avina.
HAVEYS, HAWOISE.
This is another woman's name which has become almost extinct, and, seeing how uncomfortable a name it is to pronounce, I do not wonder that it should be so. It appears in the Liber Vitæ as Hawysa, and in the Pol. Irminon as Hauis, but its proper form is to be traced up to the older name Hathewiza in the Liber Vitæ, from hath, war, and wisa, leader. A surname corresponding, though of course from the masculine form of the name, may probably be the well-known one of Haweis.
Some other Obsolete or Obsolescent Names.
The name Helwis occurs in the Liber Vitæ about the thirteenth century, and a more perfect form, Helewiza, about two centuries earlier. It seems rather probable, however, that its proper form would be Hildwisa, from hild, war, and wisa, leader. It occurs as Helois in the Pol. Irm., and is the same as the French Heloise (=Helwise). This name I take to be quite obsolete with us.