![]() Our Lady of Mount Carmel sculpture from Beniaján, Spain. | |
Pronunciation | /ˈkɑːrmən/ [1] |
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Gender | Unisex, predominantly female |
Name day | 16 July |
Origin | |
Word/name | Hebrew and Latin, respectively |
Meaning | Song, Truthful, Poetry |
Region of origin | Mostly Spanish-speaking countries, Portuguese, Romania, Moldova, Italy, Scandinavia, the Low Countries, English, French, and German |
Other names | |
Nickname(s) | Carm, Carmie, Carcar |
Related names | Carmella, Carmela, Carmelita, Carmelo, Carmel, Carme, Carmina, Karmen, Karmin, Carman |
The "vineyard of God" origin is from Hebrew karmel; the "song" origin is from Latin carmen (3rd decl subst). The two origins are unrelated. |
Carmen is a feminine given name in the Spanish language. It has two different origins, with its first root used as a nickname for Carmel, from Hebrew karmel meaning "vineyard of God", [2] which is the name of a mountain range in the Middle East. The second origin is from Latin carmen , which means "song" and is also the root of the English word "charm".
The name of the Roman goddess Carmenta based on this root comes from the purely Latin origin, as is the fragment of archaic Latin known as "Carmen Saliare". The name is generally female in Spanish (Carmen), Portuguese (Carmo), Catalan (Carme), and French and Romanian (Carmen).[ citation needed ]
As a Spanish given name, it is usually part of the devotional compound names María del Carmen, Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Our Lady of Carmen), or Virgen del Carmen (in English, Our Lady of Mount Carmel), stemming from the tradition of the vision of Mary, mother of Jesus on 16 July 1251 by Simon Stock, head of the Carmelite order. [3]