Ethel

Ethel is an Old English word meaning "noble", frequently attested in Anglo-Saxon names. "Ethel" is derived from æthel, also spelled aethel and ethel. In Anglo-Saxon times it was a common first element in names e.g. "Ethelbert", "Etheldreda". The use of the element "Ethel" as an independent name is modern probably being initiated in the mid-19th century due to the name's being borne by characters in novels by W. M. Thackeray (The Newcomes - 1855) and Charlotte Mary Yonge (The Daisy Chain whose heroine Ethel's full name is Etheldred - 1856); the actress Ethel Barrymore - born 1879 - was named after The Newcomes character. Notes & Queries published correspondence about the name Ethel in 1872 because it was in fashion. Ethel's popularity increased during the first decades of the twentieth century to decline abruptly by the century's midpoint.