My father's first name was Odril. I have never heard of anyone with that name, but someone on the site?

Question

once told me that it is a common name in Russia. How and why in the world did a dirt poor farm boy in the post-Civil War South end up with a Russian name? I know that it may be impossible to figure out. No one still living as any idea. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I would say its close to Oden,father God of the nordic people of the Vikings.Thus Scandenavian.someone would look for a name similar ,when their ancestors came from there.Sweden borders Russia,Norway borders Sweden.There was a great shift of peple crowding eachother way back,where Germans were displaced to France by the Scandinavians,French went into the Brittish Isles,Scotland,Ireland,Brittain,cause was famine ,crop failures.I have a 1st name of Keenan,its a Irish last name;Im predominently Irish on ma s side with some French,& Norwegian thrown in on her side,Norwegian great granddad,was Ollie Heie!Pleubets bible dictionary lists Kenan as same as Canaan,later became known as Israel,same as Jacob did.

Answer 2

It could have been a name that's been in the family for generations. Or maybe his mother was really bad at spelling and it was supposed to be something else. There wouldn't have been many Russians in America in 1860, but there were Finns and Norwegians. They had ties to Russia. So it's even possible that the name came over through one of those countries. It's even possible that his parents even made it up. They did that then just the way women make up names today. It's hard to know for sure unless you do more research on his parents and grandparents to find out more about them.

Answer 3

Nearest I can find to Odril is Odrin :

Odrin  

First name origin & meaning:

Irish: Pale green

First name variations: Odren, Odron, Odryn, Odran

Found it !

Russian

Odril (male) -- variant of : Ostroil : Ostrivoi.

http://heraldry.sca.org/paul/o.html

He was possibly of Russian descent ?

Answer 4

Looking for speculation?  Maybe your grandma read a book that had a character called Odril.  Or maybe she made it up; we have lots of people in our family with made-up names (Feodor Violet is my favorite).

Maybe there was a traveling theater group and a character called Odril was in it?  Or just a passing stranger your grandparents liked?

Answer 5

who cares???....