Innocent

Innocent
This interesting and long-established surname belongs to that sizeable group of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. These nicknames were originally given with reference to a variety of personal characteristics, such as physical attributes or peculiarities, and mental and moral characteristics. The derivation in this instance is from the Middle English "innocent", ultimately from the Latin "innocens", a compound of "in", not, and "nocens", the present articiple of "nocere", to hurt, harm, used to denote a simple-hearted, guileless person, or one incapable of doing evil. Innocent may also have been given as a baptismal name to a child born on December 28th, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, kept in the West from the 4th Century in honour of the children of Bethlehem who were massacred by Herod the Great following the announcement of Christ's birth. Several early popes, including Innocent 11, elected February 14th 1130, and Innocent 111, elected January 8th 1198, chose this name, and they may, in part, have contributed to its popularity throughout Italy, and the rest of Europe. One Maud Innocent was recorded in the 1402 Close Rolls of London, and in 1505, a John Incent was entered in the Oxford University Register. On March 13th 1684, Katharine Innocent and Joseph Hull were married at St. James', Duke's Place, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Innocent, which was dated 1371, in the "Issue Rolls of London", during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Surnames reference. 2013.

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  • innocent — innocent, ente [ inɔsɑ̃, ɑ̃t ] adj. et n. • 1080; lat. innocens, de nocere « nuire » 1 ♦ Qui n est pas souillé par le mal. ⇒ pur; immaculé. Vie innocente, simple et vertueuse. Spécialt Qui ignore le mal, est pur et sans malice. ⇒ candide.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • innocent — innocent, ente (i no san, san t ) adj. 1°   Qui ne nuit point, qui ne fait point de mal. L agneau est un animal innocent. •   Mais, seigneur, épargnez un enfant innocent, VOLT. Orphel. III, 2.    Il se dit des choses dans le même sens. Un remède …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • Innocent VI — Pape de l’Église catholique Nom de naissance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Innocent XI —     Pope Innocent XI     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope Innocent XI     (Benedetto Odescalchi)     Born at Como, 16 May, 1611; died at Rome, 11 August, 1689. He was educated by the Jesuits at Como, and studied jurisprudence at Rome and Naples …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • INNOCENT° — INNOCENT°, name of 13 popes. INNOCENT II (Gregorio Papareschi), pope 1130–43. His was an uncanonical election because the majority of the cardinals voted for anacletus ii (Pietro Pierleoni). The Jews of Rome supported Anacletus, whose opponents… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Innocent I —     Pope Innocent I     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope Innocent I     Date of birth unknown; died 12 March, 417. Before his elevation to the Chair of Peter, very little is known concerning the life of this energetic pope, so zealous for the… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Innocent II —     Pope Innocent II     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope Innocent II     (Gregorio Papereschi)     Elected 14 Feb., 1130; died 24 Sept., 1143. He was a native of Rome and belonged to the ancient family of the Guidoni. His father s name is given as …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Innocent X —     Pope Innocent X     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope Innocent X     (Giambattista Pamfili)     Born at Rome, 6 May, 1574; died there, 7 January, 1655. His parents were Camillo Pamfili and Flaminia de Bubalis. The Pamfili resided originally at… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Innocent IV —     Pope Innocent IV     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope Innocent IV     (Sinibaldo de Fieschi)     Count of Lavagna, born at Genoa, date unknown; died at Naples, 7 December, 1254. He was educated at Parma and Bologna. For some time he taught… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • innocent — in·no·cent / i nə sənt/ adj: characterized by innocence Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. innocent I …   Law dictionary

  • innocent — INNOCENT, [innoc]ente. adj. Qui n est point coupable. Il est innocent du crime dont on l accuse. il en est innocent. deffendre, proteger les innocents. persecuter les innocents. opprimer, accabler, condamner l innocent. il fut absous. & reconnu… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

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