NORMA SHELDON

Apparently invented by Felice Romani in his libretto for Bellini's opera of this name (first performed in 1832). It is identical in form with Latin norma ‘rule, standard’, but there is no evidence that this word was the source of the name. In recent times, it has come to be taken in England and the Scottish Highlands as a feminine equivalent of Norman.

English: habitational name from any of the various places so called. The main source is probably the one in Derbyshire, recorded in Domesday Book as Scelhadun, formed by the addition of the Old English distinguishing term scylf ‘shelf’ to the place name Haddon (from Old English hǣð ‘heath(er)’ + dūn ‘hill’). There are also places called Sheldon in Devon (from Old English scylf ‘shelf’ + denu ‘valley’) and Birmingham (from Old English scylf + dūn ‘hill’).