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Help[Facts] Re: Dickon/Diccon
in reply to a message by Cait
our son Is called Diccon .
Old English for Richard.
Richard III called Diccon.
Old English for Richard.
Richard III called Diccon.
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Replies
NOT Old English for Richard, as Richard is a characteristically Norman name. Only two actual individuals from the Old English period are recorded as Ricardus (the Latinized form) or Richard (the later Anglo-Norman form), neither the contemporary Old English form they would have been known as at the time. Dick is said to be derived from the Middle English pronunciation of the Norman name (D for Norman trilled R, and ck for Norman/southern ch — compare Kelsey in Lincs. with the more Normanized Chelsea).
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Partially correct as it is not Old English but rather Celtic for "Hard Ruler". Richard is the early Germanic with the same meaning. Consequently, when the Normans brought the name over after conquering the English, many of the Celtic speaking subjects used their word for the Normans with that name.
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