Bat

BAT

A short medieval nickname most often used for Bartholomew.

Meaning

In the 1884 and 1880 name books, Bat appears as a familiar short form used for Bartholomew, alongside related pet forms like Bate, Batty, and Bartle. Those sources connect it indirectly to Bartholomew, the New Testament name traditionally understood as 'son of Tolmai' or 'son of Talmai.'

Origin

Fun fact

19th-century registers sometimes treated Bat as a distinct everyday name even when the official baptismal name was Bartholomew.

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Confidence: mixed. Sources: History of Christian Names, Praenomina; or, the etymology of the principal Christian names of Great Britain and Ireland, Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature, A list of Christian names, their derivatives, nicknames and equivalents in several languages.

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