MINNIE PLUMMER

Pet form of Wilhelmina, at its peak of popularity in the latter half of the 19th century, when several names were introduced into Britain from Germany in the wake of Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, whom she married in 1840. It lost favour in the 20th century, partly because German names in general became unacceptable in Britain during the First World War, and later perhaps also because of association with cartoon characters such as Minnie Mouse (in Walt Disney's animations) and Minnie the Minx (in the Beano children's comic). More recently, however, it has made a modest recovery, influenced perhaps by the British actress Minnie Driver (b. 1970 as Amelia Driver).

English: 1. occupational name for a worker in lead, especially a maker of lead pipes and conduits, from Anglo-Norman French plom(m)er, plum(m)er ‘plumber’, from plom(b), plum(b) ‘lead’ (Latin plumbum). 2. variant of Plumer 1, 3. 3. occasionally, a habitational name from a minor place name, such as Plummers in Kimpton, Hertfordshire, which was named with Old English plum ‘plum(tree)’ + mere ‘pool’. The name is also established in Ireland, taken there from England in the 17th century.