If you enjoyed that article, you may like to read about unisex Breton names here. Brittany is the first producer in France for vegetables (green beans, onions, artichokes, potatoes, tomatoes). 20 Breton Names | Nameberry [87] .bzh is an approved Internet top level domain for the Breton culture and languages. [60] The population in Region Brittany had grown by 0.9% between 1999 and 2000, and the growth rate reached more than 1% in Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan. Brittany essentially lost all its special privileges that existed under the Duchy. There are two dialects of Breton: standard Breton and Vannetais. Another regional park encompasses the Monts d'Arre and the Iroise seacoast. Several Bretons have won the Tour de France: Bernard Hinault, Louison Bobet, Jean Robic and Lucien Petit-Breton as riders, and Cyrille Guimard as a directeur sportif. ", Briac- A 6th century Breton saint. Museums in Saint-Malo, Lorient and Douarnenez are dedicated to ships and maritime traditions and history. However, Bretons have a strong cultural identity. Thus, free schools were opened in almost every villages of Brittany. The Bretons won another war in 867, and the kingdom reached then its maximum extent: It received parts of Normandy, Maine and Anjou and the Channel Islands. The army recruited for Flavius Aetius to combat Attila the Hun at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains included Romans, Visigoths, Franks, Alans and Armoricans, amongst others. [36] The Second World War was also catastrophic for the region. At this time Brittany was also called Lydwiccum.[29]. 21% of the respondents over 65 considering themselves to be European first. Charles Armand Tuffin, marquis de la Rourie. Nantes, nicknamed "the city of the Dukes of Brittany", was also the permanent residence of the last dukes. So with that, lets get to the top female Breton and Celtic names, shall we? The Iroise Sea is also a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Brittany has a vibrant calendar of festivals and events. William's double-second cousin Alan Rufus and the latter's brother Brian of Brittany). The Museum of Fine Arts Pont-Aven is dedicated to the School of Pont-Aven. The Visigoths' version of events was that they had saved the Roman empire from a British invasion. The south coast, between Lorient and Pornic, enjoys more than 2,000 hours of sunshine per year.[42]. [45] The larger Breton mammals died out during the modern period, including the wolf. Bleuzen- Breton form of the Welsh Blodwen. Adeodat - meaning "given by god". Brittany also has some film festivals like the Three Continents Festival in Nantes. ", Neven- Borne by the first Duke of Brittany. Brittany is also the birthplace of many writers like Franois-Ren de Chateaubriand, Jules Verne, Ernest Renan, Flicit Robert de Lamennais and Pierre Ablard Max Jacob, Alfred Jarry, Victor Segalen, Xavier Grall, Jean Rouaud, Irne Frain, Herve Jaouen,[76] Alain Robbe-Grillet, Pierre-Jakez Hlias, Tristan Corbire, Paul Fval, Jean Guhenno, Arthur Bernde, Andr Breton, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor. It has also works by Pablo Picasso, Rubens, Peter Lely and Paolo Veronese. Some Pardons are reputed for their length, and they all finish by large meals and popular feasts. Breton Names - Behind the Name window.location=permalink+"?pintix=1"; Nowadays, however, pilgrims complete the circuit over the course of several years. Malle, Malys, Maliss- Feminine forms of Mal. Breton names are used in the region of Brittany in northwest France. [32] These included many sailors such as Armand de Kersaint and soldiers such as Charles Armand Tuffin, marquis de la Rourie. They are known as the "Seven founder saints": Other notable early missionaries are Gildas and the Irish saint Columbanus. Medieval Brittany was far from being a united nation. Breton remained the language of the rural population, but since the Middle Ages the bourgeoisie, the nobility, and the higher clergy have spoken French. Several tribes also belonged to an "Armorican confederation" which, according to Julius Caesar, gathered the Curiosolitae, the Redones, the Osismii, the Unelli, the Caletes, the Lemovices and the Ambibarii. The temperature difference between summer and winter is about 15 degrees, but it varies depending on the proximity of the sea. Derived from the feminine given name Bleuzenn. 1.Ael (male) or Aela for a girl, which means "rock" or "rampart". Wondering what life in France is really like? [30] Under the Ancien Rgime, Brittany and France were governed as separate countries but under the same crown, so Breton aristocrats in the French royal court were classed as Princes trangers (foreign princes). Brittany Language and Languages FamilySearch Argantlowen - From argant "silver" andlouuen "joyful, happy.". 214 Male Breton and Celtic names - Snippets of Paris It is not itself a Celtic language. It was imported to Western Armorica during the 5th century by Britons fleeing the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. [16] One of the oldest hearths in the world has been found in Plouhinec, Finistre. Because of their origins and practice, Breton and Gallo can be compared to Scottish Gaelic and Scots language in Scotland[citation needed]. Among all these towns, only Nantes, Rennes and Vannes, which were the biggest ones, could really pretend to the capital status. The region is notable for its biscuit factories, many towns having their own: Quimper, Lorient, Pont-Aven, Saint-Brieuc, BN and LU in Nantes, La Trinitaine in La Trinit-sur-Mer, and Galettes Saint-Michel in Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef. It hosts some of France's biggest contemporary music festivals, such as La Route du Rock in Saint-Malo, the Vieilles Charrues in Carhaix, the Rencontres Trans Musicales in Rennes, the Festival du Bout du Monde in Crozon, the Hellfest in Clisson and the Astropolis in Brest. Tourism is particularly important for the seacoast and Brittany is one of the most visited regions in France. The activity employs around 15,000 people, and more than 2500 firms work in fish and seafood processing. Breton literature includes 19th-century historical novels by mile Souvestre, travel journals by Anatole Le Braz, poems and novels by Charles Le Goffic, the works of the singer-songwriter Thodore Botrel and of the maritime writer Henri Quefflec. Daniel Giraudon lists korventenn as one of the Breton words for whirlwind and mentions the prevalent folk beliefs that connected whirlwinds with sorcery and the clergy. The French Renaissance occurred when Brittany lost its independence. Procopius, in History of the Wars, viii, 20, 6-14. Male, Female, Eso, and Good Breton names for Elder Scrolls However, several institutions have backed the reunification, such as the regional council of Brittany since 2008 and the Loire-Atlantique council since 2001. On one hand, the region, due to its long coastline, has a rich oceanic fauna, and some birds cannot be seen in other French regions. However, Colbertism, which encouraged the creation of many factories, did not favour the Breton industry because most of the royal factories were opened in other provinces. The Breton language has several dialects which have no precise limits but rather form a continuum. The Gulf of Morbihan is a vast natural harbour with some forty islands that is almost a closed sea. French, the only official language of the French Republic, is spoken today by the vast majority in Brittany, and it is the mother tongue of most people. } else { The kingdom lost its eastern territories, including Normandy and Anjou, and the county of Nantes was given to Fulk I of Anjou in 909. Morvan - A 9th century king of Brittany. [65], Breton political parties do not have wide support and their electoral success is small. Some of these lords were powerful rivals. Before them, Brittany had also been visited by Academic and Romantic painters like Jean Antoine Thodore de Gudin and Jules Achille Nol who were looking for dramatic seascapes and storms. A bientt! The most famous are Ar Men, Phare d'Eckmhl, La Vieille and La Jument. It was also borne by a4th century Breton saint who appears in Cornish as. According to popular traditions, Anne of Brittany was hunting with her court when she saw a white ermine who preferred to die than to cross a dirty marsh. Vannes, on its side, was the seat of the Chamber of Accounts and of the Parliament until the union with France. In 1969, the University of Rennes was divided between the University of Rennes 1 and the University of Rennes 2 Upper Brittany. The free peasants lived in small huts, whereas the landowners and their employees lived in proper villae rusticae. ", Tanguy - From tan"fire, frenzy" and ki "hound.". [citation needed], During the protohistorical period, Brittany was inhabited by five Celtic tribes:[19], Those people had strong economic ties to the Insular Celts, especially for the tin trade[citation needed]. The history behind such an establishment is unclear, but medieval Breton, Angevin and Welsh sources connect it to a figure known as Conan Meriadoc. In Lower Brittany, the medieval style never totally disappeared. The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. As with Cornish and Manx, Breton names are gaining in usage in recent decades. During the 19th century, Brittany remained in economic recession, and many Bretons emigrated to other French regions, particularly to Paris. At the same time, the local economy collapsed and many farming estates were abandoned. Brittany lost 240,000 men during the First World War. Without Loire-Atlantique, the other dpartements would not form an efficient region any more, and would have to integrate neighbouring regions such as the Centre-Val de Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine. In the 1960s, several Breton artists started to use contemporary patterns to create a Breton pop music. [citation needed]. The performers sing calls and responses while dancing. It declined during the 18th century, mostly because Nantes was flourishing with the Atlantic slave trade and paid no attention to its cultural institutions. But one of the main Celtic languages is left -- Breton. The modern Breton from is Beuzec. 50% of the older respondents considered themselves belonging first to France. TER Bretagne also manages coach lines and connections between Rennes and Nantes. However, the number of children attending bilingual classes has risen 33% between 2006 and 2012 to 14,709.[68][69]. 53% of them considering themselves to belong first to Brittany. More Filters Alan m English, Scottish, Breton, French The meaning of this name is not known for certain. Main page; Contents; Current events; Random article; About Wikipedia; Contact us; Donate Boiteux French, Breton. Changes in sea levels and climate led to a strong erosion and to the formation of more sedimentary rocks. [73], The most powerful folk figure is the Ankou or the "Reaper of Death". Loire-Atlantique now belongs to the Pays de la Loire region while the other four departments make up the Brittany region. An extension of the LGV Atlantique, which stops at Le Mans, was completed in 2017, bringing the line to Rennes. The largest cities in Region Brittany as of 2017 were Rennes, with 216,815 inhabitants, Brest 140,064, Quimper 62,985, Lorient 57,149, Vannes 53,352, Saint-Malo 46,097 and Saint-Brieuc 44,372. They replaced or absorbed the Neanderthals and developed local industries, similar to the Chtelperronian or to the Magdalenian. Famously, signs in schools read: "It is forbidden to speak Breton and to spit on the floor" ("Il est interdit de parler Breton et de cracher par terre").[34]. Their only original feature was a distinct culture, called "Colombanian". Nantes and its dpartement, Loire-Atlantique, raised concerns because they were off-centered, more integrated with the Loire Valley than with the Breton peninsula. A bientt! Gaelic football is also a growing sport in the region,[77] with club teams and a 'county' GAA team representing Brittany against other European 'counties' such as Galicia. After the last glacial period, the warmer climate allowed the area to become heavily wooded. [14], Breton-speaking people may pronounce the word Breizh in two different ways, according to their region of origin. PDF Breton Patronyms and the British Heroic Age - University of Wales [25] Their petty kingdoms are now known by the names of the counties that succeeded themDomnone (Devon), Cornouaille (Cornwall), Lon (Caerleon); but these names in Breton and Latin are in most cases identical to their British homelands. The Kan ha diskan is the most common type of singing. Brittany had 3.2million inhabitants in 1962 and the growth was mainly due to Loire-Atlantique and the steady growth of Nantes. The 19th-century composer Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray was one of the first western European composers to be influenced by what is now known as world music. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed. Soldat Louis is the main Breton rock band,[citation needed] and Breton singers include Gilles Servat, Glenmor, Dan Ar Braz, Yann-Fach Kemener, Denez Prigent, Nolwenn Korbell and Nolwenn Leroy. The Court and the government were also very mobile, and each dynasty favoured its own castles and estates. Bretons - Wikipedia Government policies in the 19th and 20th centuries made education compulsory and, at the same time, forbade the use of Breton in schools to push non-French speakers into adopting the French language. This extension is known as the LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire. The most impressive castles can be seen along the border with France, where stand the Chteau de Fougres, the Chteau de Vitr, the Chteau de Chteaubriant and the Chteau de Clisson. The Loire-Atlantique and Ille-et-Vilaine councils have also been held by the left since 2004. In addition, popular Gaelic names like Mal or Gwen and their many variations, have become gender-neutral and can be used for Breton-influenced males or females. Sometimes a skeleton wrapped in a shroud with the Breton flat hat, sometimes described as a real human being (the last dead of the year, devoted to bring the dead to Death), he makes his journeys by night carrying an upturned scythe which he throws before him to reap his harvest. Allons-y! The dish is usually made with a combination of chicken, leeks, onions, carrots, flour, cider, crme frache, Dijon mustard, oil, butter, salt, pepper, parsley, and thyme. Possibly from mor"sea" or mawr"great" anduuan "assault. Go behind closed doors for fun anecdotes and the unvarnished truth on those intriguing French habits ;). It derives from the Breton bud"victory.". Although Muscadet and Gros Plant white wines are produced south of the Loire, the traditional drink of Brittany is cider. Polls show that 58% of the Bretons and 62% of the inhabitants in Loire-Atlantique favour the reunification.[38]. The Seiz Breur movement, created in 1923, permitted a Breton artistic revival[35] but its ties with Nazism and the collaborationism of the Breton National Party during World War II weakened Breton nationalism in the post-war period. The Route nationale 137 provides connections between Saint-Malo, Rennes and Nantes and terminates in Bordeaux. Young artisanal brewers are keeping a variety of beer types alive,[79] such as Coreff de Morlaix, Tri Martolod and Britt. As a result of the Mad War, the Duke Francis II could not have his daughter Anne married without the king of France's consent. The best soils were primitively covered by large forests which had been progressively replaced by bocage during the Middle Ages. For instance, the name of the region in that language can be written Bertayn in ELG script, or Bertgn in MOGA, and a couple of other scripts also exist.[15]. Breton history is one long struggle for independence first from the Franks (5th-9th century), then the Counts of Anjou and the Dukes of Normandy (10th-12th century), and finally from England and France. Nantes, which was at the time the biggest French harbour, received a theatre, large avenues and quays, and Rennes was redesigned after a fire in 1720. After living in Paris over 10 years, I can tell you all about it! Nonetheless, French was not widely known before the 19th century, and two regional languages exist in Brittany: Breton and Gallo. It is around 34,030km2 (13,140sqmi) and stretches toward the northwest and the Atlantic Ocean. Metamorphism is responsible for the distinctive local blue schist and for the rich subsoil of the Groix island, which comprises glaucophane and epidote. It was a quite indefinite region that extended along the English Channel coast from the Seine estuary, then along the Atlantic coast to the Loire estuary and, according to several sources, maybe to the Garonne estuary. It has a changeable, maritime climate, similar to Cornwall. While most of the metropolitan areas are growing, the cities themselves tend to stagnate or regress, such as for Brest, Lorient, Saint-Brieuc and Saint-Malo. Architecture from the 20th century can be seen in Saint-Nazaire, Brest and Lorient, three cities destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt afterwards, and in the works of the Breton nationalist architects like James Bouill and Olier Mordrel. Bollor Breton. Most of these birds breed on isolated islands and rocks and thus are hard to observe. The Brest Bretagne Airport is the second airport in Brittany. TER Pays de la Loire operates trains between Nantes and smaller towns in Loire-Atlantique. Because of its distinct culture and natural landscape, Brittany has inspired many French artists since the 19th century. The Cornish form is Corentyn, and can be found commemorated in the parish of Cury. Breton is a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Brittany. It was used in Brittany at least as early as the 6th century, and it possibly means either "little rock" or "handsome" in Breton. In 2017, the largest metropolitan areas were Nantes (934,165 inhabitants), Rennes (733,320 inhabitants), and Brest (321,364 inhabitants). A mayor eventually asked the university to be relocated to Rennes, more devoted to culture and science, and the faculties progressively moved there after 1735. Brittanys were developed in the Brittany province of France. Only 4.6% favoured independence, and 9.4% were undecided. [50], A bilingual approach has also been implemented in some state schools after 1979, and some Catholic schools have done the same after 1990. var query = window.location.search.substring(1); The French government and local politicians also feared that Nantes, because of its population and its former Breton capital status, would have maintained a harmful competition with Rennes to get the regional institutions and investments. On one hand, children were not allowed to speak Breton at school, and were punished by teachers if they did. A nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within the French Republic, or independence from it.[10][11]. The Muse national de la Marine has a large annex in Brest and a submarine is opened to visitors in Lorient. The region became part of the Roman Republic in 51 BC. Three years later, the area became a centre of royalist and Catholic resistance to the Revolution during the Chouannerie. Gallo was simply felt to be an incorrect way of speaking French rather than a separate language. Major churches include Saint-Pol-de-Lon Cathedral, Trguier Cathedral, Dol Cathedral, Nantes Cathedral and the Kreisker chapel. Main url = url.replace( /#/, "" ); An extensive network of cycle paths and recommended cycle routes has opened up all over the region. [44], Among the invertebrates, Brittany is notably home to the escargot de Quimper, the freshwater pearl mussel and the white-clawed crayfish. Cycling has always been one of the main sports of Brittany, but leisure cycling and the infrastructure to support it have been growing extremely rapidly. In Loire-Atlantique, where Gallo is not promoted at all by the local authorities, many people do not even know the word "Gallo" and have no idea that it has writing systems and publications. [78] Breton cider is traditionally served in a bowl or a cup. The Gallic deities continued to be worshiped, and were often assimilated to the Roman gods. They can be accompanied by Breton buttermilk called lait ribot. Brittany's wildlife is typical of France with several distinctions. The Caletes are sometimes also considered Belgians, and Lemovices is probably a mistake for Lexovii (Lower-Normandy). Several towns also organise historical re-enactments and events celebrating local traditions, such as the Filets Bleus in Concarneau which celebrates fishing. It is the only one that does not take part to the annual bagado competitions. Duchy of Brittany - Wikipedia [48] The transfer was interrupted by the French Revolution, and all the French universities were dissolved in 1793. This account was supported by the Counts of Anjou, who claimed descent from a Roman soldier[b] expelled from Lower Brittany by Conan on Magnus's orders. Breton language, alphabet and pronunciation - Omniglot Until the end of the 20th century, Brittany had been characterised by a strong Catholic and conservative influence. From the Old Celtic brig "high, mighty" Budoc, Budog - St Budoc was bishop of Dol, who was venerated as a saint in both Brittany and Devon. The GDP of the Loire-Atlantique dpartement is around 26billion euros, and the GDP of the five historical Breton dpartements would be at around 108billion euros. [citation needed], At the beginning of the medieval era, Brittany was divided among three kingdoms, Domnonea, Cornouaille and Brorec. Av - meaning "hail". From the Old BretonIedechael "generous lord.". Brittany also has a dish similar to the pot-au-feu known as the kig ha farz, which consists of stewed pork or beef with buckwheat dumplings. Brittany has more than 40,000 farms, mostly oriented towards cattle, pig and poultry breeding, as well as cereal and vegetable production. The biggest Breton airport is Nantes Atlantique Airport. Homo sapiens settled in Brittany around 35,000 years ago. Professional footballers coming from the region also form the Brittany national football team which sometimes plays with national teams. St Ivo ofKermartin was a patron saint of Brittany. [43], Like Cornwall, Wales and Ireland, the waters of Brittany attract marine animals including basking sharks, grey seals, leatherback turtles, dolphins, porpoises, jellyfish, crabs and lobsters. Agan - meaning "little fire". [71], Gallo is also threatened by the Breton language revival, because Breton is gaining ground in territories that were not previously part of the main Breton-speaking area, and most of all because Breton appears as the national language of Brittany, thus leaving no place for Gallo. var e=document.createElement('script');e.setAttribute('type','text/javascript');e.setAttribute('charset','UTF-8');e.setAttribute('src','https://static.typepad.com/.shared//js/pinmarklet.js?r='+Math.random()*99999999);document.body.appendChild(e); The name Breton is boy's name of French origin meaning "from Brittany". However, these figures remain under the French national rate (9.9% at the same period). In the modern era it was popularized by a character from Dinah Craik's novel John Halifax, Gentleman (1856). Fromgwen, uuin"white, fair, blessed" and tal "brow. [61] Loire-Atlantique's population is more rapidly growing than Region Brittany's and it is the 12th most populated French dpartement. [33], During the 19th century, the Breton language started to decline precipitously, mainly because of the Francization policy conducted under the Third Republic. KLT speakers pronounce it [brjs] and would write it Breiz, while the Vannetais speakers pronounce it [br] and would write it Breih. Brittany as a political entity disappeared in 1790, when it was divided into five dpartements. The French king maintained envoys in Brittany, alliances contracted by local lords often overlapped and there was no specific Breton unity. Others smaller airport operates domestic flights in Quimper, and Lannion. The Breton subsoil is characterised by a huge amount of fractures that form a large aquifer containing several millions square meters of water. [41], Brittany lies within the north temperate zone. 4. Primary Breton identity is at its lowest among the respondents over 65: 58% consider themselves to belong first to France, with European identify secondary. [85] Since the 1920s, the flag has become very popular and it is flown from a large number of institutions.