VERA LEWIS

(Russian) name, meaning ‘faith’. It coincides in form with the feminine form of the Latin adjective verus ‘true’. It was introduced to Britain at the beginning of the 20th century and was popular in the early decades, notably borne by the singer Vera Lynn, ‘The Forces Sweetheart’ (b. 1917 as Vera Welch), but has since gone out of fashion.

English (but most common in Wales): from Lowis, Lodovicus, a Norman personal name composed of the Germanic elements hlod ‘fame’ + wīg ‘war’. This was the name of the founder of the Frankish dynasty, recorded in Latin chronicles as Ludovicus and Chlodovechus (the latter form becoming Old French Clovis, Clouis, Louis, the former developing into German Ludwig). The name was popular throughout France in the Middle Ages and was introduced to England by the Normans. In Wales it became inextricably confused with 2.