Message: "Nancy/ Nantia" - Behind the Name

[Facts] Nancy/ Nantia

by Laurenzia (pinkmoon_lj)

2/26/2009, 10:33 PM

The information page on BtN says that there is a town in France with the name Nancy, although derived from a different source.

I've been doing a bit of research on this, and have thus far come up with this as it's alternative etymology: Nancy, the city in northeast France had the Medieval Latin name of Nanceiacum or Nantiacum. This derives from the Gaulish personal name Nantio, with the Latin suffix 'acum, meaning 'place'.

Also, at this website: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/IRL-SLIGO/2000-09/0970243262 Nancy is listed as the latin word for Nantia.

Does anyone have any further information on the meaning of the Latin name Nantia/ Nantio?

TIA!

#Nancy #Nantia

Replies

- Marija Luminitsa +1

2/27/2009, 2:12 AM

Oddly enough, the first resource that directed me to Celtic as the language of origin was the Spanish Wikipedia page on Nancy, France.

This Geographical Etymology source explains that Nancy is derived from the Celtic word nant, meaning valley:

http://www.archive.org/stream/geographicaletym00blacuoft/geographicaletym00blacuoft_djvu.txt

This also explains the etymology:
http://www.speedylook.com/Nancy.html

And this (an online book):
http://books.google.com/books?id=-KwCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA153&lpg=PA154&ots=S0aStAuURn&vq=nancy&dq=etymology+Nancy+valley&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html

Anyway, those were the best sources I came up with. The Latin Nantio/a and Nanceiacum names would have come later when the settlement was founded.

- Laurenzia (pinkmoon_lj)

2/27/2009, 1:37 PM

Thank you so much!

Really useful, thank you!

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