I passed a hearse parked in front of a church today. The name in the window said 'Anderson'. Of course, since this is northern Illinois, that could be the name of both the funeral home AND the deceased. It got me thinking, though, about that particular surname.
Anderson, of course, means 'son of Anders', just like 'Larson' and 'Nelson' refer to sons of Lars and Nels. And Anders is a perfectly ordinary male Christian name in Scandinavian societies. But if my memory of high-school German is correct, 'ander' means 'other' in modern German. Since an older, proto-German is the ancestor of both modern German and all the Scandinavian languages, does that mean that the name originally meant 'other'?
How does 'other' get to be a first name? I envision a couple of Viking chiefs meeting, and one of them saying 'So Rolf, I guess introductions are in order. This is my first-born, my pride and joy, my son Gunnar...and, oh yes, this is my other son.'
Funny where your mind can wander when you're supposed to be thinking about something else.
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