even though the names we receive at our birth nowadays are just the kind of name our parents though sounded nice, i still think its a good idea to find out what our names are based on. now, most names contain some kind of hint that is based on ones character. for example, the following words are based on character traits, and can usually be found at the end of your name:
>bald, bod, boud, baud, bad, bold, ect. means brave.
usually found at the end of ones name, as in Radboud, Theudobod, ect. sometimes it is combined with another trait. for example, see baldwin, boudewijn, bodwin ect.
>Win, Vin, Wen, Ven, wine, ect means friend.
another word usually -though not exclusively, found at the end of a name. lets look at baldwin again. this means brave (bald) friend (win).
>rik, rick, ric, rich, ry (as in henry), meaning mighty or powerful.
found in names like gotrik, alaric, roderick ect. usually found at the end of a name, not sure if it can also be found elsewhere.
>bert, means beautiful or handsome.
found in names like aethelbert, dilbert ect. not to be confused with ber, as used in bernhard, this means something like bear.
>al, aethel, au, ad, a, aud,
means noble, as found in aethelbert (handsome noble), aethelwulf, (noble wolf), adolf (also noble wulf).
>ing, ling means son of- or in some cases father
usually found in last names, comparable to -son, the ynglings dynasty for example, got it's name because they were the sons of yngvar. can also be found in words like duckling, wolfling ect. these are a few elements i can think of right now of the top of my head, if anyone else knows other good examples, post them in this thread. also, feel free to discuss your name. pic not really related