Arthur m
Of Celtic origin. King Arthur was a British king of the 5th or 6th century, about whom virtually no historical facts are known. He ruled in Britain after the collapse of the Roman Empire and before the coming of the Germanic tribes, and a vast body of legends grew up around him in the literatures of medieval Western Europe. His name is first found in the Latinized form Artorius and is of obscure derivation. The spelling with -th-, now invariably reflected in the pronunciation of the English name, is not found before the 16th century, and seems to represent no more than an artificial embellishment. The name became particularly popular in Britain in the 19th century, partly as a result of the fame of Arthur Wellesley (1769–1852), Duke of Wellington, partly because of the popularity of Tennyson's Idylls of the King (1842–85), and partly because of the enormous Victorian interest in things medieval in general and in Arthurian legend in particular. This interest also accounts for its adoption as a given name in France and elsewhere in Western Europe.
First names dictionary. 2012.