What's In A Name: Elmer, Ellen

Elmer-This is a name from England, originally a family name, which began as "Aethelmaer," with "aethel" meaning noble (see Word History below) and "maer" meaning "famous, renowned." This name contracted to "Aylmer," then to "Elmer." Not a common name anymore, but a next door neighbor many year's ago was named Elmer, and one of his sons was named after him.

Ellen-This name is really a form of "Helen," which goes back to Greek "Helene," and seems to have had to with "bright, shining." "Ellen" was the more common spelling in English until the 1600s, when "Helen" became more common, likely from the influence of Latin and French.

I consulted the following, so for more information on any of the names see: 1) "A World Of Baby Names" by Teresa Norman, published by Perigee/Penguin Group, New York, 2003. 2) "A Greek-English Lexicon," by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Roderick McKenzie, and Eric Arthur Barber, published by Oxford/Clarendon Press, 1940. 

WORD HISTORY:
Noble-This word, distantly related to "know" and "can" (the verb), both original English words of Germanic derivation, and to Latin-derived "notice," a word borrowed by English by way of French, goes back to Indo European "gn(oh)/gn(eh)," which meant, "to know." This gave Latin "gnoscere," meaning, "to come to know." This gave Latin the adjective "nobilis," meaning, "well known, renowned;" thus, "famous," with the further implication of "of good and high quality birth." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "noble," with the "of good and high quality birth" meaning becoming primary, and also, "having outstanding qualities." English borrowed the word in the early 1200s, and the noun for a man of high social rank "seems" to have been derived from that a few decades later, but likely with reinforcement by French, and probably by Latin, too. "Noble" replaced the native English word "aethel," which had become "athel." Close relative German still has "Adel," meaning "nobility," and "Edelmann" and "Edelfrau" meaning "nobleman" and "noblewoman," respectively.

What's In A Name? Albert, Alberta, Helen, Helena

The male name "Albert" is the form of a name that goes back to German "Adalberht," a compound of "adal" (meaning 'noble,' the Old English form was 'aethel') and "beraht" (meaning 'bright,' the Old English form was "beorht'),* The Old English form of the name was "Aethelbeorht." Both German and English had variant forms, where the "r" preceded the vowel(s): German "Adalbreht," which became more modern "Albrecht," and English had "Aethelbriht," a name which eventually became "Albright." The Germanic tribe the Franks conquered and settled in much of what is modern France** and they too had a form of the name. It is unclear to me whether the shortened form "Albert" was done in German or French, but apparently the Normans carried the form "Albert" to England, where it gradually replaced the native "Aethelbeorht." The 1800s saw England's Queen Victoria marry German Prince Albert, bringing a marked rise in the usage of the name in English. "Alberta" is simply the female form of the name. German uses both "Albert" and "Albrecht," and the slightly altered spelling "Adelbert" is still around, too, although more limited in usage. There are various forms in other languages, as the name has proven to be quite popular: Alberto/Adelberto (Italian, Spanish and Portuguese), Aubert (French).

The female name "Helen" goes back to Greek "Helene," which seems to have had to do with "bright, shining." Latin borrowed the name as "Helena," which gave French "Helene." English likely took the name from both Latin and French, as it was the name of a Christian saint, Helena, who died circa 330 A.D. and the form "Helena" is also used in English.

I consulted the following, so for more information on any of the names see, (1) "A World Of Baby Names" by Teresa Norman, published by Perigee/Penguin Group, New York, 2003. (2) "A Greek-English Lexicon," by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Roderick McKenzie, and Eric Arthur Barber, published by Oxford/Clarendon Press, 1940.

* For the history of the word "bright," see: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2008/12/hodgepodge.html

**  The Franks' very name became the name of the country "France," and their language became the name of the national language, "French." The German word for France is still "Frankreich;" that is, "Empire of the Franks," dating back to the time when indeed the area was known as the Frankish Empire. The language name should not be confused, however, with French being a Germanic language, as the Frankish language eventually lost out to the already present Latin-based speech of the region's population, although it took several hundred years to transpire, and many Germanic words became part of the French vocabulary.  

WORD HISTORY:
Humble-This word, closely related to both "humility" and "humiliate," goes back to Indo European "dheghum," which meant "earth (the soil and physical components). This gave Latin "humus," with the same meaning, and by extension, "ground." This then produced Latin "humilis," which meant "low, small," from the notion "close to the ground;" thus also, "meek, modest." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "humble" ("meek, modest, unassuming") and English borrowed the word in the 1200s.