Dulcie
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.
 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 |
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.