Evelyn Claire Real Name: Kellie Erin Paulsen-Nail (Origin/Meaning Analysis)

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Evelyn Claire’s real name is Kellie Erin Paulsen-Nail. Historic analysis with help from The Internet Surname Database concludes the origin and meaning translates to “Small Nail-Making Peace Warrior”.

The first name, Kellie, symbols the Irish-Gaelic origin part of the name, meaning “descendant of Ceallach” and “warrior” (from Old Irish “ceallach”, means war; battle; strife). It describes a warrior woman; lively; aggressive; and bright-headed.

The middle name, Erin, translates to “peace” and is a Hiberno-English derivative of Irish word “Éirinn”, the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland, “Éire”, genitive “Éireann”, the dative being used in prepositional phrases (“go hÉirinn” “to Ireland”, “in Éirinn” “in Ireland”, “ó Éirinn” “from Ireland”). In Welsh, Erin is a name for Ireland and a top-20 most popular girls’ name in Wales.

As for the surname, on the mother side we have Paulsen (son of Paul), of Roman origins, with multiple spelling forms throughout the Christian world, including Paul, Paule, and Pawle in England, Paolo and Paulo (Spain & Portugal), Pauli and Polo (Italy), Palle (Germany), Pabel (Czech) and Pal (Hungary), as well as patronymic and diminutive forms such as Paulson, Pauly, Paolozzi and Pavek. The name derives from Latin - “paulus”, meaning small, which became a baptismal term of endearment, as in ‘small person’. St Paul, formerly Saul, adopted the name after converting to Christianity, triggering popularity of the name throughout Europe due to his missionary work. In medieval times, ‘Crusaders’ returning from unsuccessful expeditions to free the Holy Land from the Muslims, called their children by biblical names in honor of their fathers prowess. In time these became surnames. Early examples include John Paul (1292) in the charters called ‘The Subsidy Rolls’ of the city of London. This was during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as “The Hammer of the Scots,” 1272 - 1307. In Germany, the first known recording is that of Ludolf Pauli, given as being a Burger of Stettin, in the year 1325.

On the father side, Nail (also Naile, Nailer, Nayler, and Naylor) is an English occupational surname. It describes a nail maker, from the 13th century, when this was a separate guild of specialized makers. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th century word “naegel”. The medieval nail-maker was a vital member of the ship building and construction trade, the majority of houses being built of wood. Job-descriptive surnames denoted the occupation of the name bearer, and later became hereditary. For example, William Nayl of Berkshire in 1255, James le Nayler in the Hundred Rolls of Yorkshire in 1273, and John le Naylere of Northumberland in 1292. Thomas Naylor was an early emigrant to the American colonies, being recorded as resident in Virginia in 1622. The first recorded spelling of the family name in any form is believed to be that of Stephen le Nailere. This was dated 1231, in the “Calendar of the Patent Rolls”, in the city of London, during the reign of King Henry 111rd of England, 1216 - 1272.