Carmen (name)

Infobox Given Name Revised
name = Carmen


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pronunciation= kär'mĭn
gender = male/female
meaning = "garden" and "song"
region = Italy, Romania, English- and Spanish-speaking countries
origin = Hebrew and Latin, respectively
related names = Carmelita, Carmelito, Carmelina, Carmelino, Carmella, Carmela, Carmelo, Carmel, Carmina, Carmine, Carmo, Carme, Karmin
footnotes = The "garden" origin is from Hebrew "karmel", the "song" origin is from Latin "carmen"; the two origins are unrelated

Carmen is a unisex given name that represents two names taken as one. Its first (and original) root is Italian and Spanish, used as a diminutive nickname for "Carmel" and "Carmelo" (respectively), from Hebrew "karmel", "garden". The second (and more recent) origin is from Latin "carmen", which means "song", "tune", or "poem". In early 20th century slang, it referred to train conductors. While in English the name is unisexual, in Italian and in Spanish it is generally female.

panish name

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 vision of Mary the mother of Jesus on 16 July 1251 by Simon Stock, head of the Carmelite order.

Presence in Literature

Carmen was a poetically allusional name in Nabokov's Lolita. In this book, he often called his young lover "Carmen", a surprisingly appropriate allusion considering that the book refers to a hotel called "The Enchanted Hunters," a foreshadowing that he would be "Hunting Carmen" near the end. Here is an excerpt of its subtly misleading poem:

:"O my Carmen, My little Carmen!":"Something, something, those something nights,":"And the stars, and the cars, and the bars, and the barmen--":"And O my charmin', our dreadful fights.":"And the something town, which we so gaily, arm in":"Arm, we went, and our final row,":"And the gun I killed you with, O my Carmen,":"The gun I am holding now."

Related

*femme fatale