Gender | masculine |
---|---|
Name day | 12 September[1] |
Origin | |
Word/name | Irish or Welsh |
Meaning | unknown |
Other names | |
Related names | Eilfyw, Eilfw, Ailbe, Ailbhe, Alby, Albeus, Alibeus, Elwen, Elvan |
Elvis is a male given name. It is an anglicisation of the Irish name of Saint Ailbe (d. 528).[2] The saint was also a popular figure in medieval Wales, where he was claimed to be of British origin,[3] in which case the Irish name Ailbe might be gaelicisation of an Ancient British name ancestral to modern Welsh Eilfyw or Eilfw.[4]
Further information: Ailbe of Emly § The name "Ailbe" |
The etymology of the name is unknown, and it is uncertain whether the name should be considered Irish (Gaelic) or British (Welsh) or Scandinavian (Old Norse) in origin. A folk etymology is suggested in the Vita Albei, as a derivative of ail "a rock" and beo "living".[5] A sporadic association of the saint's name with rocks has been observed, as in the Lia Ailbe ("stone of Ailbe") on the Magh Ailbe (plain of Ailbe), in Sliabh Ailbe "Mount Ailbe" in Duanaire Finn.[6] and maybe in Inbher Ailbhine mentioned in Tirechan's Vita Patricii.[7] Other possibilities involve derivation from the root albh- "white", which is found in the names of a number of Celtic deities (including a possible Albius recorded in a single inscription from Aignay-le Duc),[8] or alternively from Insular Celtic albi(i̭)o- "world" (Welsh elfydd "world, land",[9] or alternatively from the surname Elwes.[10]
The name may be derived from the Scandinavian Old Norse word Alviss which in Norse mythology means “all-wise”.
The name may be related or identical to Elwen, Elvan, the name of a poorly attested saint or saints venerated in early medieval Cornwall and Brittany.
In medieval French sources, the unrelated homograph Elvis occurs as a feminine name, a variant of Helvis, Aluysa, Alaisa, from a Germanic name such as Alwis.[11]
The name most commonly refers to American singer and actor Elvis Presley (1935–1977). Earlier bearers of the name include American government official and college administrator Elvis Jacob Stahr Jr. (1916–1998, born the same year as Elvis Presley's father, Vernon Elvis Presley).[12] In most cases, however, it refers to people who have the name as a tribute to Elvis Presley.[citation needed] People in this latter group includes those who took the name themselves (with UK-born singer and songwriter Elvis Costello being an example), and those who were named Elvis by their parents.