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- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “nectar.”
Nectar is the English form of the Greek Nektarios Νεκτάριος, which is derived from νέκταρ (nektar), meaning “nectar, the drink of the gods. Nectar is not a name that has ever been in common use in the English-speaking world, but since it is the name of several Eastern and Western Christian saints, the proper English male translation of the name would be Nectar; or it would have appeared thus in the calendar.
It was borne by St. Nectaire of Auvergne, a 4th-century Christian missionary to the Gauls in what is now the Massif Central region of France. According to Gregory of Tours, he was sent by Pope Fabian, along with his brothers, where he transformed a temple that was dedicated to Apollo on Mont Cornadore into a cathedral that still stands, and was subsequently beheaded by the local Gaulic chieftain. The commune of Saint-Nectaire in the Puy-de-Dôme department of France gets its name from him, as does the cheese of the same name; or the latter technically comes from the Marshal of Senneterre, which is a linguistic corruption of Saint-Nectaire.
Male forms include:
- Nektarij, Nektary Нектарий (Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian)
- Nectari (Catalan)
- Nektarious (Coptic)
- Nectarije (Croatian-Serbian)
- Nectar (English)
- Nectaire (French)
- Nektari ნეკტარი (Georgian)
- Nektarios Νεκτάριος (Greek)
- Nettario (Italian)
- Nectareus, Nectarius (Late Latin)
- Nektārijs (Latvian)
- Nektariusz (Polish)
- Nectário (Portuguese)
- Nectarie (Romanian)
- Nectario (Spanish)
Feminine forms include
- Nektaria, Nektarija Νεκταρία Nექთარიჯა Нектария (Coptic, Bulgarian, Georgian, Greek, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Ukrainian)
- Nectarie (French)
- Nettaria (Italian)
- Nectaria (Latin, Romanian, Spanish)
- Nectária (Portuguese)
A modern male Greek diminutive form is Nektary and the Russian diminutive form for both the male and female form is Nechka.
Sources
- Nectaire d’Auvergne — Wikipédia (wikipedia.org)
- Meaning, origin and history of the name Nektarios – Behind the Name
- Saint Nectaire (cef.fr)
- Prénom Nectaire (cef.fr)
- Nectarius of Auvergne – Wikipedia
- Nectarios – Wikipedia
- Нектарий — Википедия (wikipedia.org)
- Trismegistos Home
- Nettario (nome) – Wikipedia
- Meaning, origin and history of the name Nektaria – Behind the Name
Its feminine form of Rufina was borne by a couple of early saints, one of whom was from Seville, she was a pottery maker who refused to sell her wares for a pagan festival.
Gender: Feminine
The name was also borne by a legendary Egyptian Christian saint who was believed to have originally been a prostitute. She was converted by St. Paphnutius who had disguised himself as a “customer.” Thaïs became a fervent Christian, abandoning her comfortable life as a high-end prostitute and spending three years in repentance eventually dying in peace as a hermit in the Egyptian desert. Her story is the inspiration behind the Anatole France novel Thaïs (1890) which was later adapted into an opera of the same name. Demetre Chiparus famous sculpture, Thaïs, was in turn inspired by the Opera.
Due to the cult of St. Thaïs of Egypt, the name remained in use throughout the former Byzantine Empire. She was used to a certain extent on the continent and in 18th-century England during the Romantic Period.
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Greek
Origin: Hebrew גַבְרִיאֵל Γαβριηλ
Legitimate Baby Names 