Herløv also spelled Herloev, is a name primarily used in Denmark that is applied most commonly as a middle or surname, and least commonly as a male given name. It is of Germanic origin dating back to the Viking Age. Herløv is derived from the Old Norse word "Herrlof", meaning "praise gained in war" or "a sign of victory, a trophy".
 | |
| Gender | Male ( given or middle name) |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Germanic (Old Norse & Old English) |
| Meaning | I. praise gained in war II. a sign of victory, a trophy |
| Region of origin |  Denmark |
| Other names | |
| Related names | possibly Harlow or Herlev |
Etymology
editThe first syllable "her", meaning army, comes from the Old Norse word for army, "herr",[1][2][3] or its Old English equivalent, "here".[4][5][6][7] Both words and their meaning exist today in Danish and Norwegian as, "hær", and in Swedish as "här"; all three languages are derived from Old Norse.
The second syllable, "løv", is derived from the word "lof", which is used in both Old Norse and Old English to mean praise or glory. The transformation of "lof" into "løv" most likely came from the Old Norse letter "F", which depending on the word, would have been pronounced either as "F" or "V".[8][9] Over time, this would have led to lof being written as lov. In Swedish, the word lov still exists, unaltered in spelling or meaning.
Together, the Old Norse words herr and lof made Herrlof, alongside Herelof in Old English, both of which meant "praise gained in war" [10] or "a sign of victory, a trophy".[11]
References
edit- ^ English-Old Norse Dictionary, by Ross G. Arthur, p. 7
- ^ Old Norse Online - Base Form Dictionary, by Jonathan Slocum & Todd B. Krause [1] Archived 2016-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ FREELANG Old Norse-English and English-Old Norse online dictionary [2], enter the word army for english
- ^ Old English Made Easy (OEME) - Dictionary [3], under "A" section for Modern English
- ^ A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary - Second Edition, by John R. Clark Hall, p. 155
- ^ Modern English to Old English Vocabulary [4], under "A" section
- ^ Old English English Dictionary
- ^ Pronunciation of Old Norse (standard) [5], by Óskar Guðlaugsson
- ^ Omniglot - Old Norse
- ^ Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, p. 533 Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ A Thesaurus of Old English, King’s College London; 1995