Geraldine
WiktionaryText
Etymology
First used by the Earl of Surrey as a poetic name for Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald,"one of the Fitzgeralds". Taken up as a given name in the 19th century, and used as a feminine form of Gerald.
Quotations
- ca. 1540 Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey: Description and praise of his love Geraldine:
- Hunsdon did first present her to mine eyen;
- Bright is her hue, and Geraldine she hight.
- 1936 George Weller: Clutch and Differential. Ayer 1970. ISBN 0836936590 page 196:
- Alberta is more like a man's name than any other name that comes from a men's, more than Georgianna which is just like a magnolia blossom or Henrietta which most people change to Etta or Geraldine which nobody ever thinks of coming from a man's Irish name like Gerald.