 El Dulce nombre de María or The Sweet Name of Mary by Cristóbal de Villalpando. | |
| Gender | Feminine |
|---|---|
| Language(s) | English via Latin |
| Origin | |
| Meaning | sweet |
Dulcie is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin dulcis, meaning sweet. It has been in use in the Anglosphere since the 1800s. It was a recreation in a new form of Douce or Dowse, an older English name in use since the Middle Ages that was derived from the same Latin source word. Dulcia was a form of the name in use in the Later Roman Empire.[1] [2] Dowsabel or Dousabel, or Dulcibel or Dulcibella in modern English, was derived from the Latin dulcis in combination with bellus, or beautiful, and also had the connotation of sweetheart.[3] Dulce is a Spanish form of the name[4] that is often used in combination with the name Maria. Dulce María is a title used by Catholics for Mary, mother of Jesus that is sometimes translated into English as Blessed Mary or Blessed Virgin Mary.[5] Dulcinea is a Spanish elaboration of the name popularized by its use by Miguel de Cervantes for an idealized imaginary female character in his novel Don Quixote.[6] Dulcinée is the French version of this name.
Usage
Dulce, the Spanish form of the name, has ranked among the top 1,000 names for newborn girls in the United States since 1990.[7] Dulce María has been among the top 100 names for newborn girls in Mexico since 2020.[8]
It may refer to:
People
- Dulcie Cooper (1903–1981), Australian actress
- Dulcie Deamer (1890–1972), Australian novelist, poet, journalist and actor
- Dulcie Foo Fat (born 1946), British-born Canadian landscape painter
- Dulcie Gray (1915–2011), British actress
- Dulcie Hartwell (1915–2012), South Africa trade union leader
- Dulcie Holland (1913–2000), Australian composer and music educator
- Dulcie Howes (1908–1993), South African ballet dancer
- Dulcie Markham (1914–1976), Australian prostitute and associate of gangland figures
- Dulcie Ethel Adunola Oguntoye (1923–2018), English-born Nigerian jurist who was the country's second female judge
- Dulcie Mary Pillers (1891–1961), English medical illustrator
- Dulcie September (1935–1988), South African anti-apartheid political activist who was assassinated
- Dulcie Wood, former South Africa and Southern Transvaal Test cricketer
Fictional characters
- the title character of Defining Dulcie, a young adult novel by Paul Acampora
- the title character of Dulcie's Adventure, a 1916 American silent film
- a computer in Dulcie and Decorum, a science fiction short story by Damon Knight
- Dulcie Collins, one of the main characters in the Australian series Deadloch
- Dulcie Duveen, a character and the future Hastings' wife in The Murder on the Links detective novel by Dame Agatha Christie
- Dulcie Maes, a character in the film adaptation of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas musical
- Dulcie Wintle, a character in the 1957 children's novel Wintle's Wonders by Noel Streatfeild
See also
- Dulcie Ranges National Park, national park in the Northern Territory, Australia
- Dulce (disambiguation)
Notes
- ↑ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 81. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.
- ↑ Nickerson, Eleanor (25 May 2013). "Dulcie: Name of the Week". britishbabynames.com. British Baby Names (blog). Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ↑ "Dowsabel". grandiloquentwordoftheday.com.com. Grandiloquent Word of the Day. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ↑ Campbell, Mike. "Dulce". behindthename.com. Behind the Name. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ↑ "María, Oh Dulce Virgen/María, O Blessed Virgin by Rodolfo López, Estela García-López". www.ocp.org. Oregon Catholic Press. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ↑ Campbell, Mike. "Dulcinea". behindthename.com. Behind the Name. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ↑ Campbell, Mike. "Popularity in the United States". behindthename.com. Behind the Name. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ↑ Campbell, Mike. "Popularity in Mexico". behindthename.com. Behind the Name. Retrieved 17 June 2023.