Latin name query

Hi Everyone!

I have tried to google this but did not get a satisfactory answer.....

What would the Latin name Radus (1571) be today?

The closest I have come is Radulphus, which I believe is Ralph.

Any/all suggestions would be most gratefully received.
Cheers, Diana

 

From words by William Whitaker
Radus N 0 0 X X X
Assume this is capitalized proper name/abbr, under MODE IGNORE_UNKNOWN_NAME
No help there!

Code:

https://www.behindthename.com/name/radus

There was no name definition found for Radus.
User-submitted names:
RADUS m Medieval

I've also only found Radulfus from Ireland! Could it be that it [Radus] was abbreviated in the entry you have?

 

Hi Wendy, I don't think it is Irish as this apparently is a long standing Anglo Saxon family in Cheshire. No, I think it is more than likely to be a lazy vicar's abbreviation of Radulphus (which also appears in the family at different times) but I thought I would ask just in case someone understands more about Latin and old Parish Registers than I do (which is next to nothing!).
Diana

 

Conrad? As in Con(radus) Gessner?

 

Thanks AM! Will make a note of it, although it does not fit with anything/anyone that I already have. Cheers Diana

 

Sorry Diana, I forgot the web title

Code:

http://www.from-ireland.net/irish-names/latin-names-in-english/

meaning this is where I found Radulfus.

 

...behindthename.com
Given name: Radus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval
Meaning and History: Recorded in Montenegro in the early 1600's.

 

I'm not so sure that there is a modern day equivalent. I suspect it's one of those Christian names that just hasn't survived the passage of time e.g. (male) Eubold, Pagan, (female) Naverin, Welthin.

e.g. see http://homepages.
rootsweb.ancestry.com/~oel/givennames.html

 

I think it's most likely to be a contraction of Radulphus. Such contractions are very common in old documents, and are usually recognised by some kind of squiggle or other mark. In many cases this is above the place where the letters were omitted, though there were other conventions too, such as different kinds of flourishes on the stem of an initial "p" to show whether it stood for "pre-", "par-", "pro-" etc.

It wouldn't have been a question of laziness on the vicar's part - it was just the way things were done then. (Sort of 16th century txt spk )

Can you post a copy of the name in question, or tell us where it can be seen online? Sometimes I pontificate and get it wrong and I wouldn't want to mislead you.

 

From other posts you have made, would I be right in thinking this is the baptism of Rad(ulph)us Lea in Sandbach, 30 Jan 1571/72? If so, I've just found the image at FindMyPast, and I'm pretty sure I'm right.

The stem of the "d" in the middle of the word curls back (faintly to the point of disappearing) and then loops round, crossing through the "a" and the lower part of the "d".
Then there is "us" for the end of the name, but there's a clear horizontal line above these letters to indicate the contraction. (It's not part of the word above.)

So the name is, as you thought, Radulphus - Ralph. It also appears two lines higher up.

There are quite a lot of other contractions elsewhere on the page too.

 

Found the name Radus to be an English babies name. Not in the top 1000 and only used in other Countries that are British. But is a proper name. Then they went on to tell the meaning of the name. They also have 5 people with the name and English Surname..No mention of it being latin..

 

Thanks to everyone who has gone out of their way to help me on this one, and very sorry that I did not thank you before this, but we have been having huge Internet problems ..... like none more often than any at all! Seems to be fixed now, but for how long is anyones guess! This is the second time in as many weeks! Altogether off air for over 7 days out of 14! Not happy Jan!

I feel that Chimp and a few others have come up with the right answer as I have a few listed as Radulphus and this was, I believe, also Ralph, so I'm going with that!
To me it looked like a lazy way of writing Radalphus (Rad....us) but I just wasn't sure. Again many thanks to everyone for their help.
Diana

 

Yes, that is the one Arthur! Your eyes must be heaps better than mine, even with my specs on!

 

Maybe, but only if I'm wearing mine