Mavis

Mavis

Mavis is a female name. Its usage was initiated by Marie Corelli's 1895 novel The Sorrows of Satan1 which featured a character named Mavis Clare whose first name is said to be "rather odd" but suitable for Miss Clare as "she sings quite as sweetly as any thrush".[1] Corelli patently was utilizing the common noun mavis2 which refers to the song thrush and was long obsolete by the 19th century but known from its poetic use as in Robert Burns' Ca' the Yowes ("Hark the mavis evening sang/ Sounding Clouden's woods amang") written in 1794[2]; also the popular love song Mary of Argyle, written circa 1850 by lyricist Charles Jefferys features the line: "I have heard the mavis singing its love-song to the morn."[3]

Mavis had its height of popularity in between the 1920s and 1940s since when its usage has decline with the name being rather unfashionable since the 1960s. [4]

  • 1The British politician Mavis Tate was born in 1893 but only assumed the first name "Mavis" as an adult, her actual first name of birth being Maybird.
  • 2<Old French mauvis<?

Notable persons with the first name Mavis include:

Notable fictional characters with the first name Mavis include:

  • Mavis, a diesel locomotive character from The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry
  • Mavis, a character from the BBC comedy Open All Hours
  • Mavis Anderson, secondary character in Dallas (TV series), best friend to Miss Ellie
  • Mavis Beacon, typing instructor
  • Mavis Bramston, from The Mavis Bramston Show (1964–1968), Australian TV satire
  • Mavis Buckey, anthropomorphic animal character from Funny Farm (webscomic) series
  • Mavis Clare, a popular author who resists the temptation of the Devil in The Sorrows of Satan by Marie Corelli
  • Mavis Cruet, an obese young fairy incapable of flight, from the British children's animated series Willo the Wisp (1981/2005)
  • Mavis Davis, a pseudonymous singer in the British comedy film Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis (1997)
  • Mavis DeVere, one version of the actual name of Bubbles DeVere, a character in the BBC comedy series Little Britain
  • Mavis Freestone, a singer, from the In Death series of detective novels
  • Mavis Madling, a character in the situation comedy series Designing Women
  • Mavis Ming, title character in Michael Moorcock's The Transformation of Miss Mavis Ming, one of his Dancers at the End of Time series of novels
  • Mavis Munro, office manager in the comic book series: Supernatural Law and Supernatural Law Secretary Mavis
  • Mavis Neff, a girlfriend of Andy Griffith in The Andy Griffith Show
  • Mavis Rae, main character in the situation comedy Whoopi
  • Mavis Pike, character in the British situation comedy Dad's Army
  • Mavis Wartella-Depew, an elementary school student in Rockett's New School, a video game
  • Mavis Wilton, a character in Coronation Street
  • Mavis (DC Comics), two fictional characters who first appeared in the DC Comics' universe
  • Mavis (The Apprentice), a controversial personification of viewers of daytime shopping television, made by Katie Hopkins of The Apprentice series 3. Mavis is said to have had an ample bosom and to be single and lonely, among other things.
  • Dark Mavis, recurring character in British band Mansun's debut album Attack Of The Grey Lantern

See also

References


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Synonyms:
, (Turdus musicus)


Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mavis — f English: not found before the last decade of the 19th century, and apparently one of the small class of female given names taken from vocabulary words denoting bir s. Mavis is another word for the song thrush, first attested in Chaucer. It is… …   First names dictionary

  • Mavis — Ma vis (m[=a] v[i^]s), n. [F. mauvis, Arm. milvid, milfid, milc hhouid, Corn. melhuez.] (Zo[ o]l.) The European throstle or song thrush ({Turdus musicus}). [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • mavis — song thrush, c.1400, mavys, from O.Fr. mauvis, of unknown origin; related to Sp. malvis. Breton milfid is a French loan word …   Etymology dictionary

  • mavis — [mā′vis] n. [OFr mauvis < ?] SONG THRUSH …   English World dictionary

  • Mavis — Asteroid (1607) Mavis Eigenschaften des Orbits (Simulation) Orbittyp Hauptgürtelasteroid Große Halbachse 2,551  …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • maviş — sf., hlk. Ak tenli, mavi gözlü olan (kimse) Atasözü, Deyim ve Birleşik Fiiller maviş maviş bakmak …   Çağatay Osmanlı Sözlük

  • mavis — Song Song (s[o^]ng; 115), n. [AS. song, sang, fr. singan to sing; akin to D. zang, G. sang, Icel. s[ o]ngr, Goth. saggws. See {Sing}.] 1. That which is sung or uttered with musical modulations of the voice, whether of a human being or of a bird,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Mavis Staples — Background information Birth name Mavis Staples Born July 10, 1939 (1939 07 10) …   Wikipedia

  • Mavis Fan — 范曉萱 Born February 27, 1977 (1977 02 27) (age 34) Origin Republic of China (Taiwan) Occupations Singer, Actress Instruments flute and …   Wikipedia

  • Mavis Gallant — Mavis Leslie Gallant Born Mavis Leslie Young August 11, 1922 (1922 08 11) (age 89) Montreal, Quebec Notable award(s) Order of Canada Mavis Leslie Gallant, CC, née Mavis Leslie Young (born 11 August 1922) is a Canadian wr …   Wikipedia

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