The meaning of the name Amerigo has been often discust,
the only thing certain being that it is one of those names
of Teutonic origin, like Humberto, Alfonzo, Grimaldi, or
Garibaldi, so common in northern Italy, which testifies to the
Gothic or Lombard conquest. Americ, which occurs as early as
744 A.D., is probably a contracted form of the name
Amalaric, borne by a king of the Visigoths who died in 531. A
Bishop Emrich was present at the Council of Salisbury, in 807,
and an Americus Balistarius is mentioned in the Close Rolls
(thirteenth century). It has been conjectured that the stem is
im, from which we get the name of Emma. The meaning of this is
not known with certainty, tho Ferguson thinks it may denote
“strife” or “noise.” Since, however, the name is probably of
Gothic origin, and since the Amalungs were the royal race of the
Ostragoths, it is more likely that the stem is “amal,” which
was formerly thought to mean “without spot,” but is now more
plausibly connected with the old Norse “aml,” labor, work. The
suffix “ric,” cognate with rex, reich, and rick, means “rich” or
“powerful,” and, therefore, the most probable signification of
Amerigo is “strong for labor.”--ISAAC TAYLOR, _Notes
and Queries_.
(83)
=American Citizenship=--See IGNORANCE.