Irish, Scottish and English, Anglicized form of Brighid, the Celtic fire goddess or from Old French Brigitte.
Brigitta was used in old documents in Latin for these names. Search on Brigitt* to allow for Latin case endings.
A correspondent [LG] has evidence of Elizabeth or the pet name Betsy being used for Bridget in a family of Irish extraction:
"My ancestor in the early 19th century was recorded as Bridget on some statutory records and as Elizabeth on others. For some years I actually thought I was looking for two separate individuals. Having an unusual surname for this area helped. I later discovered most of the Bridgets in my family (1819-1930), although registered as Bridget, were known as Elizabeth or Betsy. These names might be a family quirk but perhaps it could happen in other families of Irish extraction."
Several correspondents in the US have noted that Delia is a common pet name for Bridget, being a shortened form of its variant Bedelia. |
