Which baby names contain the letter-pair WH?
It’s an uncommon combination, but I’ve tracked down a few dozen options for you in this post!
Before we get to the names, though, let’s learn…
Where did WH- come from in English?
Anglo-Saxons pronounced many words with an initial aspiration (i.e., a brief puff of air before the first consonant). In writing, this aspiration was denoted by the letter H, which can be seen in Old English words like hwæl (“whale”), hlud (“loud”), hnutu (“nut”), and hræfn (“raven”).
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, the ruling class of England spoke Anglo-Norman French. And French-speaking scribes, over time, removed the letter H from the beginning of English words.
In the case of HW-words, they simply transposed the two letters to create WH — a combination that may have reminded them of familiar digraphs like CH, PH, SH, and TH.
The initial aspiration of WH-words is still retained in a handful of Modern English dialects, but has vanished from the others.
Now, on to the names!
Names with WH
Below are names that feature the letter-pair WH. Most of these names come directly from the U.S. SSA’s baby name data.
- Lawhitney
- Whalen
- Whaley
- Wharton
- Wheaton
- Wheelan
- Wheeler
- Wheelock
- Wheelwright
- Whelan
- Whelen
- Whendy
- Whilma
- Whip
- Whiskey
- Whisper, Whysper
- Whit, Whitt
- Whitaker, Whittaker
- White, Whyte
- Whitefield
- Whitelaw
- Whiteoak
- Whitfield, Whittfield
- Whitford
- Whiting
- Whitley, Whitlee, Whitleigh, Whitli, Whitlie, Whitlei, Whitly, Whittley
- Whitman
- Whitmore
- Whitnay
- Whitney, Whitnee, Whitni, Whitnie, Whitnei, Whitny, Whitne, Whitnye, Whittney, Whittni, Whittnie,
- Whitson
- Whittany, Whiteny
- Whitten, Whitton
- Whyatt
- Whynter
Some of the above are non-traditional spellings of more common names such as Wendy, Wilma, and Wyatt.
Which of the WH names above to do you like most? Let me know in the comments!
P.S. The digraph DG was similarly invented by medieval French scribes…
Sources:
- Stroud, Kevin W. “Episode 87: The First Spelling Reformers.” The History of English Podcast 7 Dec. 2016.
- Wiktionary
- SSA
Image: Adapted from Megaptera novaeangliae (15194165793) by Christopher Michel under CC BY 2.0.
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