Arthur


Arthur is a very common English masculine given name. Its etymology is disputed, but its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur.
Art and Artie are diminutive forms of the name. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur.

Etymology

The earliest datable attestation of the name Arthur is in the early 9th century Welsh-Latin text Historia Brittonum, where it refers to a circa 5th to 6th-century Celtic Briton general who fought against the invading Saxons, and who later gave rise to the famous King Arthur of medieval legend and literature. A possible earlier mention of the same man is to be found in the epic Welsh poem Y Gododdin by Aneirin, which some scholars assign to the late 6th century, though this is still a matter of debate and the poem only survives in a late 13th century manuscript entitled the Book of Aneirin. A 9th-century Breton landowner named Arthur witnessed several charters collected in the Cartulary of Redon.
The Irish borrowed the name by the late 6th century, producing Old Irish Artúr, The earliest historically attested bearer of the name is a son or grandson of Áedán mac Gabráin.
The exact origins of the name Arthur remains a matter of debate. The most widely accepted etymology derives it from the Roman nomen gentile Artorius. Artorius is of obscure and contested etymology, but is possibly of Messapic or Etruscan origin. According to the linguist and Celticist Stefan Zimmer, it is possible that Artorius has a Celtic origin, being a Latinization of the hypothetical name *Artorījos, derived from the patronym *Arto-rīg-ios, meaning "Son of the Bear/Warrior-King". *Arto-rīg-ios is unattested, but the root, *arto-rīg, "bear/warrior-king", is the source of the Old Irish personal name Artrí, while the similar *Arto-maglos, "bear-prince", produced names in several Brittonic languages. According to Zimmer's etymology, the Celtic short compositional vowel -o- was lengthened and the long -ī- in the second element of the compound -rījos was shortened by Latin speakers, under the influence of Latin agent nouns ending in -tõr. Some scholars have noted that the legendary King Arthur's name only appears as Arthur, Arthurus, or Arturus in early Latin Arthurian texts, never as Artōrius. However, this may not say anything about the origin of the name Arthur, as Artōrius would regularly become Artur when borrowed into Welsh.
The commonly proposed derivation from Welsh arth "bear" + wr "man" is not possible for phonological and orthographic reasons; notably that a Brittonic compound name *Arto-uiros should produce Old Welsh *Artgur and Middle/Modern Welsh *Arthwr and not Arthur.
An alternative theory, which has only gained limited acceptance among scholars, derives the name Arthur from the Latin Arcturus, which is the latinisation of the Greek Ἀρκτοῦρος and means Bear Guardian from ἄρκτος and οὖρος. This form, Arcturus would have become Artur when borrowed into Welsh, and its brightness and position in the sky led people to regard it as the "guardian of the bear" and the "leader" of the other stars in Boötes.

People and characters with the given name Arthur

Historical