English

Where English comes from

From Middle English Englisch, English, Inglis, from Old English Englisċ (“of the Angles; English”), from Engle (“the Angles”), a Germanic tribe + -isċ; equivalent to Engle + -ish. Doublet of Anglish. Compare West Frisian Ingelsk, Scots Inglis (older ynglis), Dutch Engels, Danish engelsk, Old French Englesche (whence French anglais), German englisch, Spanish inglés, all ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- (“narrow”) (compare Sanskrit अंहु (áṃhu, “narrow”), अंहस् (áṃhas, “anxiety, sin”), Latin angustus (“narrow”), Old Church Slavonic ѫзъкъ (ǫzŭkŭ, “narrow”)). More at Angles (tribe) § Etymology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
— Wiktionary's entry for English
  • 2 syllables
English through the years
  1. 1961
    First appearance
    #6,567 among girls with 5 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1961
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name. From this year on, more girls have.
  3. 1983
    Peak, #3,555
    22 babies named English, the most in any year.
  4. 1990
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #7,880.
  5. 1992
    English Gardner born
    American sprinter
In the dictionary
  • A male or female given name.
Namesakes
  • English Gardner · American sprinter, born 1992

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.