Muriel (given name)
Encyclopedia
Etymology
The name is derived from a Celtic language name composed of word elements meaning "sea" and "bright". Forms of Muriel are found in the BretonBreton language
Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as...
, Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
, and Scottish Gaelic languages. In the form Merial, the name was very common in mediaeval England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Muriel was mainly used in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
at first, although the name became popular outside the country in the early 20th century.
A Scottish Gaelic form of the name is Muireall; and Irish form of the name is Muirgheal.
Popularity
The name's modern usage in the English speaking world dates from the mid-19th century being initiated or augmented by its appearance in Dinah CraikDinah Craik
Dinah Maria Craik was an English novelist and poet. She was born at Stoke-on-Trent and brought up in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.After the death of her mother in 1845, Dinah Maria Mulock settled in London about 1846...
's 1856 novel John Halifax, Gentleman
John Halifax, Gentleman
John Halifax, Gentleman is a novel by Dinah Craik, first published in 1856. The novel was adapted for television by the BBC in 1974.-Plot summary:...
in which the title character's daughter is named Muriel; born in 1802 Muriel is said to be named "after the rather peculiar name of John's mother."
Usage of Muriel peaked in the early 1920s and has subsequently declined
List of persons with the given name
- Muriel AndersonMuriel AndersonMuriel Anderson is a composer and award-winning guitarist and harp-guitarist.-Biography:Muriel Anderson was born in Downers Grove, Illinois. Her grandfather was a saxophone player in John Phillip Sousa’s band, and her mother was a piano teacher. Her musical heritage showed early when an inspired...
, American guitarist - Muriel AngelusMuriel AngelusMuriel Angelus was a British-born stage, musical theatre and film actress.Born Muriel Angelus Findlay London, England to Scottish parentage, she developed a sweet-voiced soprano at an early age...
, British stage and film actress - Muriel BarberyMuriel BarberyMuriel Barbery is a French novelist and professor of philosophy.-Biography:Barbery studied at the Lycée Lakanal, entered the École Normale Supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud in 1990 and obtained her agrégation in philosophy in 1993...
, French novelist (born Morocco) - Muriel BoxMuriel BoxMuriel Box was a prolific English screenwriter and director in what at the time was basically a male industry, and is generally considered to be one of the most successful females in the history of British film....
, pioneer female screenwriter/film director (b. England) - Muriel BeaumontMuriel BeaumontMuriel Beaumont, Lady du Maurier was an English stage actress. She was the wife of the actor Gerald du Maurier and mother of the writer Daphne du Maurier. She retired from the stage in 1910.-Biography:...
, 19th century English actress - Muriel BrunskillMuriel BrunskillMuriel Brunskill was an English contralto of the mid-twentieth century. Her career included concert, operatic and recital performance from the early 1920s until the 1950s...
, British contralto - Muriel DayMuriel DayMuriel Day is an Irish singer. Born in Newtownards, County Down, she was the first singer from Northern Ireland to represent the Republic of Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest. She was also the first woman to perform for Ireland, which had been competing since 1965...
, Irish singer - Muriel DuckworthMuriel DuckworthMuriel Helen Duckworth née Ball, CM, ONS was a Canadian pacifist, feminist and social and community activist. She was a practising Quaker, a religious denomination committed to non-violence. Duckworth maintained that war with its systematic violence against women and children is a major obstacle...
(1908-2009), Canadian activist - Muriel RukeyserMuriel RukeyserMuriel Rukeyser was an American poet and political activist, best known for her poems about equality, feminism, social justice, and Judaism...
(1913–1980), American poet and political activist - Muriel PavlowMuriel PavlowMuriel Lilian Pavlow is a British actress. Her mother was French and her father was Russian.-Film career:She began work as a child actor with John Gielgud and the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, British film actress - Muriel SmithMuriel Smith (singer)Muriel Burrell Smith was an American singer. In the 1940s and 1950s, she was a star of musical theater and opera, and was also the off-film ghost singer in several hit movies...
, American mezz-soprano - Muriel SparkMuriel SparkDame Muriel Spark, DBE was an award-winning Scottish novelist. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:...
(1919-2006), British novelist - male namesake Muriel Gustavo BeckerMuriel Gustavo BeckerMuriel Gustavo Becker , is a Brazilian goalkeeper who plays for Internacional, from Brazilian Serie A.-Career:In 2009, Muriel has been loaned to Caxias and Portuguesa...
, Brazilian footballer
List of fictional characters with the given name
- Muriel, a wise old goat in George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's famous novel Animal FarmAnimal FarmAnimal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II... - Muriel, hotel maid who was a recurring character in the family sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
- Muriel Bagge, a main character in Courage the Cowardly DogCourage the Cowardly DogCourage the Cowardly Dog is an American animated television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network. Its central plot revolves around a somewhat anthropomorphic dog named Courage who lives with his owners, Muriel and Eustace Bagge, an elderly, married farming couple in the "Middle of...
- Muriel Heslop, lead character in the 1994 iconic Australian film Muriel's WeddingMuriel's WeddingMuriel's Wedding is a 1994 Australian-French romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by P. J. Hogan. The film, which stars actresses Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths, Sophie Lee, and Bill Hunter, focuses on the socially awkward Muriel whose ambition is to have a glamorous wedding and improve...
- Muriel McComber, teenage lead role in the Eugene O'Neill play Ah, Wilderness!Ah, Wilderness!Ah, Wilderness! is a comedy by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 2 October 1933.-Plot summary:...
(1933) - Muriel Pritchett, character in the Anne Tyler novel The Accidental TouristThe Accidental TouristThe Accidental Tourist is a 1985 novel by Anne Tyler that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction...
(1985) - Muriel Rush, female lead role in the sitcom Too Close for ComfortToo Close for Comfort (TV series)Too Close for Comfort is an American television sitcom which ran on the ABC network and later in first-run syndication from November 11, 1980 to September 27, 1986. It was modeled after the British series Keep It in the Family, which debuted nine months before Too Close for Comfort debuted in the U.S...
- Muriel Stacy, Anne's teacher in Anne of Green GablesAnne of Green GablesAnne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book...
, which had a big influence upon the development of the main character - Chandler Muriel Bing, one of the male lead roles in the US TV sitcom FriendsFriendsFriends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
(1994-2004)