Carmen (name)
Encyclopedia
Carmen is a unisex given name
that represents two names taken as one. Its first (and original) root is Italian
and Spanish
, used as a diminutive nickname for Carmel and Carmelo (respectively), from Hebrew
karmel
, "God's vineyard." The second (and more recent) origin is from Latin
carmen, which means "song," "tune," or "poem" and is also the root of the English word charm. The name of the Roman Goddess Carmenta
based on this root comes from the purely Latin origin. While in English the name is unisex, in Italian and in Spanish it is generally female.
), stemming from the vision of Mary the mother of Jesus on 16 July 1251 by Simon Stock
, head of the Carmelite order.
Its presence in literature:
In Nabokov's 'Lolita
', the name is used in reference to Mr Clare Quilty, the man who takes Lolita from Humbert. Carmen and Clare being both male and female names, Lolita uses them to deceive Humbert into thinking he is a woman and no threat.
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
that represents two names taken as one. Its first (and original) root is Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, used as a diminutive nickname for Carmel and Carmelo (respectively), from Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
karmel
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
, "God's vineyard." The second (and more recent) origin is from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
carmen, which means "song," "tune," or "poem" and is also the root of the English word charm. The name of the Roman Goddess Carmenta
Carmenta
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Carmenta was a goddess of childbirth and prophecy, associated with technological innovation as well as the protection of mothers and children, and a patron of midwives...
based on this root comes from the purely Latin origin. While in English the name is unisex, in Italian and in Spanish it is generally female.
Spanish name
As a Spanish given name, it is usually part of the devotional compound names María del Carmen, Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Our Lady of Carmen) or Virgen del Carmen (in English Our Lady of Mount CarmelOur Lady of Mount Carmel
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid 13th centuries...
), stemming from the vision of Mary the mother of Jesus on 16 July 1251 by Simon Stock
Simon Stock
Saint Simon Stock, an Englishman who lived in the 13th century, was an early prior general of the Carmelite religious order. Little is known about his life with any historical certainty. The Blessed Virgin Mary is traditionally said to have appeared to him and given him the Carmelite habit, the...
, head of the Carmelite order.
Its presence in literature:
In Nabokov's 'Lolita
Lolita
Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian...
', the name is used in reference to Mr Clare Quilty, the man who takes Lolita from Humbert. Carmen and Clare being both male and female names, Lolita uses them to deceive Humbert into thinking he is a woman and no threat.
People with the name
- Carmen the name of a radio personality in the United States, famous for prank calls.
- Carmen ArgenzianoCarmen ArgenzianoCarmen Antimo Argenziano is an American actor who has appeared in over 50 movies and around 100 television movies or episodes....
, an American actor - Carmen Espinoza-RodriquezCarmen Espinoza-RodriquezCarmen Espinoza-Rodriquez is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of ten children of Camilo Espinoza, Jr., and Maria Guadalupe Orozco Espinoza. Carmen attended Texas Tech in Lubbock and West Texas A&M University in Canyon...
, an American singer-songwriter - Carmen ElectraCarmen ElectraTara Leigh Patrick , professionally known as Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, and dancer...
, an American actress - Carmen LuvanaCarmen LuvanaCarmen Luvana is the stage name of a former American pornographic actress.- Biography :Born in Brooklyn, New York on 23 August 1981, Luvana's family moved to Puerto Rico when she was five. She moved to Miami, Florida, at the age of 18 and got her start as a dancer in Miami strip clubs.Luvana...
, an American porn star - Carmen McRaeCarmen McRaeCarmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
, an American jazz singer - Carmen MirandaCarmen MirandaCarmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
, a Portuguese-Brazilian samba singer and film star - Carmen RinkeCarmen RinkeCarmen Rinke is a retired boxer from Canada, who represented his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics. There he was defeated in the quarterfinals of the men's welterweight division by East Germany's eventual gold medalist Jochen Bachfeld.-References:*...
, a Canadian boxer
Fictional characters with the name Carmen
- Carmen CortezCarmen CortezCarmen Elizabeth Juanita Costa-Brava Cortez is a fictional character in the Spy Kids films, played by Alexa Vega.Carmen is one of two main protagonists in the films. For most of her life, Carmen had no idea her parents were secretly spies. Carmen's main concern was with her little brother Juni,...
, a character from the Spy Kids trilogy. - Carmen LowellCarmen LowellCarmen Lucille Lowell is a main character in the book and film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She is sometimes called Carma and Carmabelle or carmeena in the book, and is a sensitive and caring half-Puerto Rican with a bad temper. Her parents are divorced, and she lives with her mother,...
, character from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. - Carmen de la Pica Morales, character on Showtime's lesbian drama, The L WordThe L WordThe L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood...
. - Carmen SandiegoCarmen SandiegoCarmen Sandiego is a media franchise of educational computer and video games, television programs, books and other media featuring a thieving villain of the same name. The basic premise of the franchise lets the user or protagonists become agents of the ACME Detective Agency, who attempts to thwart...
, character from the Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is the title of several edutainment computer games in the Carmen Sandiego series that teach geography. The World games, often marketed as the flagship products of the Carmen series, were created by Brøderbund Software from 1985 to 1996 with another version...
franchise. - Carmen Lopez (character), a fictional character from the TV series, George Lopez
Fictional characters with the name Carmela or Carmella
- Carmella CorleoneCarmella CorleoneCarmela Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's The Godfather. She is the wife of Don Vito Corleone. Though she features somewhat prominently in the book and the films, she is nowhere given a name, and is only referred to as "Mama". She receives one seemingly as an afterthought in the...
, wife of Don Vito CorleoneVito CorleoneVito Andolini Corleone is a fictional character and the main character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather trilogy, where he was portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Godfather and by Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II. Premiere Magazine listed Vito...
, mother of Santino "Sonny" CorleoneSonny CorleoneSantino "Sonny" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation. He also appears as an infant, as a young boy, and an adult in The Godfather Part II....
, Frederico "Fredo" CorleoneFredo CorleoneFrederico "Fredo" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather. In the fictional universe of the novel and its film adaptation, he is the second son of Vito Corleone , head of a powerful Mafia family...
, Michael "Mikey" CorleoneMichael CorleoneMichael Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novels, The Godfather and The Sicilian. He is also the main character of the Godfather film trilogy that was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, in which he was portrayed by Al Pacino, who was twice nominated for an Academy Award for his...
, and Constanzia "Connie" CorleoneConnie CorleoneConstanzia "Connie" Corleone , is a fictional character from The Godfather by Mario Puzo. In the films, Connie is portrayed by Talia Shire, the sister of director Francis Ford Coppola....
, and adoptive mother of Tom HagenTom HagenThomas "Tom" Feargal Hagen is a fictional character in the Godfather books and films. He was portrayed by Robert Duvall in the films. He is the informally adopted son of Don Vito Corleone and serves as the family lawyer and consigliere . Mild-mannered and soft-spoken, he often serves as a voice of...
in the series of books and movies based on Mario PuzoMario PuzoMario Gianluigi Puzo was an American author and screenwriter, known for his novels about the Mafia, including The Godfather , which he later co-adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola...
's 1969 novel, The GodfatherThe GodfatherThe Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
. - Carmela SopranoCarmela SopranoCarmela Soprano née DeAngelis, played by Edie Falco, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the wife of Mafia boss Tony Soprano and the program's most prominent female character.-Character biography:...
, leading female character and wife of northern New Jersey mafia boss, Tony SopranoTony SopranoAnthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...
, on HBO's series, The SopranosThe SopranosThe Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
.