This week’s
choice was an easy one for me as I have liked it since I first heard it as the
name of the daughter of a “friend” of my parents. As it turned out the said
“friend” was, actually, my father’s first cousin. His cousin Gordon had named
his only daughter Dorette and I loved it from the first even though I did not
realize the significance at the time. The name is pronounced as “Doretta” with
the final “e” having the sound of an “a”.
Dorette - Pronunciation of Dorette as
a name for girls is of Greek origin, and the name Dorette means
"gift". Dorette is a version of Dora (Greek): pet form of Dorothy.[i]
When I began
doing genealogy I found that my paternal great-grandmother was Dorette
Christensen and her mother had been Karen Dorothea.
Dorette
Christensen was born 2 Nov 1857 in Akershus, Norway to Daniel Christensen and
Karen Dorthea Christensen[ii].
She was the oldest of seven children and married Johannes Adolf Waldemar Hansen
on 12 Dec 1876 at Grønland Parish, Oslo, Norway[iii].
Johannes and
Dorette had seven children before her untimely death on 4 July 1887, at the age
of thirty. Their youngest daughter, who died shortly after birth, was named Aagot Dorette.
RELATIONS VIA DORA Dodee, Dorae,
Doralee, Dore, Dorea, Doree, Doreen▼, Doreina, Dorelia, Dorelle, Dorena, Dorene, Doretta, Doreyda, Dorie,
Dorine, Dorita, Dorrie[iv]
Dorette’s
son Adolph, my grandfather, named his daughter Dorothy, and his sister, Dagny, named her daughter Dorette. A great-granddaughter of Adolph's brother Sigurd, was named Dorette and over the years other great-granddaughters and great-great-granddaughters down to the sixth generation have used variants of the name as first or middle names.
My own name
is Donna, but I never asked my parents if I was named after anyone. I assumed
it was after my father Donald, but I kind of hope it was after that great-grandmother
from Norway.
[i] http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Dorette#D4mVutxRAoVdWAhm.99
[ii] SAO,
Garnisonsmenigheten Kirkebøker, F/Fa/L0009: Parish register (official) no. 9,
1842-1859, p. 77
Filter:Born and baptised (1857)
[iii] Norwegian
Lutheran Church, , FHL film 1282502, , Marriage of Johannes Adolf and Dorette
Christensen; FHL microfilm , 1876.
[iv]
ibid
No comments:
Post a Comment