My Name

Raido - raɪ̯dō

Meaning

Raido is derived from the name of an Elder Futhark rune: ᚱ, called Raidō in its native Proto-Germanic language.

Raidō was also a Proto-Germanic word, which meant "ride" or "journey", and this interpretation is often still used when Elder Futhark runes are used in runic divination in modern neopagan practices.

There are a few paragraphs from a book on modern neopagan rune divination that I read: "The Book of Rune Secrets" by Tyriel, that were part of the inspiration that originally led me to choosing this name.

Raidho means 'to ride', as in to journey. The journey is more important than the destination, and it is no good living our lives in order to achieve our happiness 'someday'. We must also move past mistakes and leave obstacles behind, never carrying with us the baggage we accumulate because of error and frustration. Centering our lives around the present moment while taking that next necessary step every day is a core secret we can take away from Raidho.

– Tyriel, "The Book of Rune Secrets"

The above passage covers the essential meaning I found so appealing. It's a reminder to live life to its fullest, to enjoy the present moment, and to always keep moving forward, keep improving, keep taking action toward the version of myself that I want to be.

Raidho represents the essential psychological narrative form. It is why our dreams and our experience seems to string together into a story form that can be retold. But Raidho is not merely the desire to retell a story. Raidho is the pressure within all of us to live a life rather than watch life from a distance as it passes us by. Ansuz tells the stories, Raidho lives them.

– Tyriel, "The Book of Rune Secrets"

Raidō, to me, is the essence of what differentiates living life from the simple passing of time, or from the history we've already left behind.

Following one's heart and exploring oneself and the world is also a great aspect of this rune. It represents the journey we undertake to find ourselves, to know our loves in life, to follow our dreams, and to leave our roots -- and baggage -- behind. Raidho leaves the words and representations of Ansuz behind and states boldly that "actions are louder than words." Its principles are understood in action, in movement. It is the point at which simple reactions and reflexes give way to authentic, spontaneous action directed by our will. It is powerful, mobile and liberating.

– Tyriel, "The Book of Rune Secrets"

Raidō is a reminder of the journeys of self-discovery I've already taken, and the journeys I no doubt still have to take. It's a reminder of why I've gone through the pain I have to try to live authentically. It's a reminder of my goal to someday physically move somewhere that I truly love, and leave behind Utah and its bitter memories in my past as I go on to better things.

Interpretation

The name Raido is deliberately archaic for modern Germanic languages and even medieval Germanic languages like Old English and Old Norse.

This archaic sound and meaning is meant to convey a sense of mystery and a connection to ancient magic and tradition.

It is this strong connection and commitment to some ancient and mysterious magic that is meant to explain why such an archaic form of a word known to have evolved linguistically many times throughout the evolution of Germanic languages doesn't evolve (significantly) in this use case.

Spellings, Pronunciations, and Evolutions

ᚱᚨᛁᛞᛟ (Raidō)

This is the original, official name. It is the name of the Elder Futhark ᚱ rune, also known as Raidō, which would have meant "ride" or "journey" in Proto-Germanic.

Raidō is an ō-stem vowel in Proto-Germanic, which are strongly feminine. As such, Raidō would likely have been an exclusively female name at the time.

Although it's unknown whether this was actually used as a given name in this time period, this name follows linguistic patterns of Proto-Germanic and, given to a woman, this would probably not have been an unusual name.

In Elder Futhark, this name would be spelled "ᚱᚨᛁᛞᛟ"

Listing out the runes by name instead, this is spelled: Raido Ansuz Isaz Dagaz Othala.

Using IPA, this is pronounced "raɪ̯dō", or simplifying to English words: "rye-doe"

Although linguistic evidence suggests that the vast majority of given names throughout Germanic linguistic history have been dithematic, having two words joined in a compound to form a unique name, there are known instances in more recent languages like Old Norse of monothematic names, like "Ulf" (meaning "wolf"), and it is plausible that this was done, likely infrequently, in Proto-Germanic culture as well. If those assumptions are true, Raidō would obviously stand out as a name that breaks this common convention, but wouldn't actually break any linguistic rules if it served as a given name.

Also from linguistic evidence, it seems like the most important element of a female given name in Proto-Germanic was that the name end with a feminine noun. Raidō is a feminine noun, and as such, fits this convention.

ᚱᛅᛁᚦᚢ (Raiðo / Raiðu)

Old Norse did not use Elder Futhark anymore, and instead used several simplified alphabets known as Younger Futhark. Additionally, over the many centuries between Proto-Germanic, Proto-Norse, and eventually Old Norse language, many sounds evolved such that the original spelling and pronunciation of Raidō would no longer make as much sense.

To Viking-era speakers of Old Norse, any time they read, heard, or spoke a "d" between two vowels, they would likely have spoken or written it as "ð" instead (equivalent to "th" in "the" or "there"). I personally believe that change would have been so natural and wouldn't have strongly changed the interpretation of the name.

There are other elements of the name Raidō that would have been somewhat unusual for Old Norse names: the "ai" diphthong, and the "ō" ending.

Let's start first with the "ō" ending, as that would have been one of the most archaic and unusual elements of the name. Whereas in Proto-Germanic this ending made the name strongly feminine, in Old Norse the gendered word endings were primarily as follows:

As such, a preserved "-ō" ending would have been unusual, and may not have given a strong impression of gender either way. However, since the "-ō" ending sounds vaguely close to the "-a" ending in weakly feminine names, it's plausible that this name would also have been presumed to be female.

Additionally, in the Proto-Norse language, the "ō" would have changed to a "u" (IPA ū, like "oo" in too), which might have also been how Old Norse speakers would have pronounced it. This could be reinforced by the fact that anybody writing down the name in Younger Futhark would be more likely to use the typical "u" rune ᚢ (Úr) than the typical "o" rune ᚬ (Ás) when the sound was at the end of a word.

Moving on to the "ai" sound, the "ai" (IPA ai; pronounced like "I", or the "y" in "try") would have shifted to "ei" (IPA ā; pronounced like "ay" in "say"), and so Old Norse speakers, especially those less familiar with the name, might have a tendency to hear, say, or write the name as Reiðo.

Given the context that the name is intended to sound ancient even to Old Norse speakers, because it is ancient even then, I prefer not to have the elements that make it stand out as archaic change in an Old Norse context. Especially as a given name, those markers are what make the name unique, and seem likely to have been retained.

However, the more natural shifts in pronunciation that result in a much less drastic change to the name and don't diminish its archaic nature as much seem very likely to have been widely used and even accepted by the one being called by the name.

As such, my preferred Old Norse rendering of the name is "Raiðo", being spelled in Younger Futhark (Long Branch) as "ᚱᛅᛁᚦᚢ" (transliterated as "Raiþu", "Raiðu", or "Raithu").

Listing out the runes by name, this is spelled: Reið Áss Íss Þurs Úr.

In this context, using IPA, the name would be pronounced "raɪ̯ðō", or using English words: "rye-though"

Raido

This is the modern, Anglicized spelling of this name, as you would expect it to be rendered for use in English speech and writing today.

Using IPA, this is pronounced "raɪ̯dō" (identically to the original Proto-Germanic version), or using plain English words, "rye-doe".