Hello Berries,
I need your sleuthing/research skills. A good friend’s DH loves Eddard and insists it is an old form of [name]Edward[/name]. We cannot find any evidence of this. it appears to be a fictional name created by [name]George[/name] R. R. [name]Martin[/name]. My friend is not sure it matters but she really wants a DS called after an important family member who was [name]Ned[/name]. So if she accepts Eddard, he will be called [name]Ned[/name], as well. [name]Shakespeare[/name] invented names many of us love but I’m not sure it’s the same. Thoughts? Is it an old name? Is it too much? Thanks!
I can’t find any actual historical roots of Eddard anywhere. I definitely wouldn’t use it myself (even though A Song of [name]Fire[/name] and Ice may be my favorite novel series of all time).
I love [name]Edmund[/name]. Eddard is more appealing than [name]Edward[/name], to me, if I can get over the “but its made up” thing… but I don’t know that I can. [name]Ned[/name] is pleasant. [name]Edwin[/name] is all right. I think if I really wanted a [name]Ned[/name] and my husband would ONLY concede to Eddard I might just go for it, but I’d prefer [name]Edmund[/name] or something with more historic weight.
Eddard was made up by GRR [name]Martin[/name]. Like most Game of Thrones names, it’s based on a real medieval name ([name]Edward[/name]): see also [name]Catelyn[/name]/[name]Catherine[/name], Sansa/[name]Sancha[/name], [name]Joffrey[/name]/[name]Geoffrey[/name].
There are plenty of alternatives to honor a [name]Ned[/name]:
- [name]Edward[/name], [name]Edmund[/name], [name]Edgar[/name], [name]Edwin[/name], [name]Edric[/name], Edmé, [name]Edmond[/name]
- [name]Edith[/name], [name]Eda[/name], [name]Edwina[/name], Eduarda, Edmée, Edytha, [name]Eadie[/name], [name]Ediva[/name].
[name]Martin[/name] was a genius at creating namey names for his characters-- just subtle tweaks on the real thing.
The [name]Ed[/name] in [name]Edward[/name] comes from Anglo-[name]Saxon[/name] “ead,” “rich.” Similarly, the Germanic name [name]Edda[/name] (name element Hed) comes from proto-Germanic “Hedu,” meaning “battle.” Likewise, many names end in “ard,” and they likely come from Old English “weard” (protector, guardian) or Germanic “hard” (meaning brave, hardy.)
So if they choose Eddard, they are going with a modern invented name, but they can easily make up a few nice etymologies for it.
I love, love, love Eddard, both the character and the name. There is an old scottish form of [name]Edward[/name] which is [name]Eideard[/name]. I’m not sure exactly how it’s pronounced but I say it like EYE-DEERD. I could be completely wrong though.
Thank everyone for the input, very helpful!