Adel (given name)

This article is about the male given name. For the female given name, see Adele (given name). For the surname, see Adel (surname). For other uses, see Adel (disambiguation).
Adel

Prince Adel—son of Friso, later King Adel II Atharik of Friesland—as illustrated by Martinus Hamconius.
Pronunciation
  • English: /əˈdɛl/
  • French: [a.dɛl]
  • Arabic: [ʕaːdɪl]
Gender Masculine
Language(s) West Germanic (mainly Anglo-Frisian), North Germanic, Afroasiatic language families
Name day
  • 20 October (Adeline)
  • 16 December (Adelaide)
  • 24 December (Adele)
Origin
Language(s)
Word/name
  • 1. aþalaz
  • 2. αδηλ
  • 3. عدل
  • 4. עֲדִינָא
Meaning
  • 1. noble, nobility
  • 2. concealed, not apparent
  • 3. justice, fairness
  • 4. slender, delicate
Region of origin
Other names
Alternative spelling Adell, Ædel
Variant form(s) Edel, Adil, Adeel
Pet form(s) Addy, Al
Related names

Adel[lower-alpha 1] (English pronunciation: i/əˈdɛl/) is a Germanic monothematic given name meaning noble or nobility. It is also found as a surname, sometimes with a prefix—such as den Adel or van Adel. It is the root of the names Adolf, Albert, Alice, and their variants in other languages.

It is most prevalent in West[1][2] and North Germanic-speaking countries,[3] North Africa, and, to a lesser extent, various parts of Western Europe.

It is commonly used in Nordic countries as a short form for Adolf,[3][lower-alpha 2] and in Muslim countries as an alternative transliteration of the name Adil (Arabic: عادل or عديل, pronounced [ʕaːdɪl]). It is sometimes used by Coptic Christians throughout the Middle East.

Its main feminine variant is Adele.[4]

Origins

Derived from the Old English word æthel,[1] meaning noble—and by extension the Proto-Germanic word aþalaz, meaning nobility, the name itself is used throughout most of Germanic-speaking Europe as the word for nobility.[1][5][6]

Other possible origins include:

Popularity

The name was most popular in the United States in 2007.[9]

Variations of the name

In other languages

Feminine forms

People

Adel and its variants may refer to a number of notable people:

Frisian royalty

  • Adel I Friso of Friesland (died c.245 BC), King of Friesland[2]
  • Adel II Atharik of Friesland (died c.151 BC), King of Friesland[2]
  • Adel III Ubbo of Friesland (died c.71 BC), King of Friesland[2]
  • Adel IV Asega Askar of Friesland (died c.11), King of Friesland[2]

Egyptian royalty

Iranian royalty

Politics

Corporate

Science

Cinema

Literature

Journalism

Art

Sport

Fictional characters

Notes

  1. Sometimes spelt Ædel or Adell.
  2. It is also used as a short form of any of the various names containing adal as an element.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wells, Evelyn (1946). A Treasury of Names. Duell, Sloan and Pearce. pp. 167–168. ISBN 9780385001830. OCLC 1400921.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Martinus, Hamconius (1609). Frisia, seu, de viris rebusque Frisiae illustribus. Monasterii Westphal. ISBN 9781166365998. OCLC 730442.
  3. 1 2 Otterbjörk, Roland (1979). Svenska förnamn: kortfattat namnlexikon. Almquist & Wiksell. ISBN 9789121109373. OCLC 258437884.
  4. 1 2 Eseverri Hualde, Crisostomo (1979). Diccionario etimológico de helenismos españoles. Aldecoa, SL. p. 687. ISBN 9788470090721. OCLC 431915107.
  5. Campe, Joachim Heinrich (1807). Wörterbuch der Deutschen Sprache. Schulbuchhandlung. ISBN 9783487024691. OCLC 3497871.
  6. De Vries, Jan; De Tollenaere, Felicien (1963). Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek. Brill Publishers. ISBN 9789004083929. OCLC 1073712.
  7. Larousse, Pierre (1864). Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle. Tome 1. Larousse & Boyer. p. 88. ISBN 9782869711938. OCLC 489966495.
  8. "Adel-"Paid subscription required. Merriam-Webster: Dictionary and Thesaurus. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  9. "Adel". Whitepages.com. Whitepages, Inc. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  10. Förstemann, Ernst Wilhelm; Jellinghaus, Hermann; Seelmann, Emil Paul (1900). Altdeutsches Namenbuch. Bonn, P. Hanstein. ISBN 9781270754695. OCLC 6433213.
  11. Kruken, Kristoffe; Stemshaug, Ola (2013). Norsk personnamnleksikon. Det Norske Samlaget. ISBN 9788252173680. OCLC 857408033.

See also

Look up Adel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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