Help on J.R.R.T
 

Can anyone help! I'm looking for the origin of where the name REUEL come's from i'ts our son's middle name

Welcome to the Board. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] Sorry, I can't help you. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

It's a Biblical name, that's all I know. Sorry! [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

Here's what I found. It is a Hebrew name, meaning "friend of God".

The father of Moses’ wife Zipporah is named Reuel. (Exodus 2:18)

The Prof phil himself wrote:
"Of course there is always Reuel. This was (I believe) the surname of a friend of my grandfather. The family believed it to be French (which is formally possible); but if so it is an odd chance that it appears twice in the O[ld] T[estament] as an unexplained other name for Jethro Moses' father-in-law. All my children, and my children's children, and their children, have the name."

In the Tolkien clan it was a family name. J.R.R.'s father had the middle name of "Reul", too. As for where it comes from (aside from the Old Testament) I have no idea.

It could be German-derived - "Reue" means Repentance, and "to repent" is Reuen - maybe it came from that root. Probably not, but just a thought.

this is interesting!