I would like to know what the meaning of the name Minante is. It would
also be great to know origins of the name, such as roots in language,
or possible origin countries.

Greetings Melkbrood,

In researching your answer, I visited many translation sites and I
have located many answers.

According to Alta Vista's Babelfish translator at
http://babelfish.altavista.com/, 'minante' means mining (French).

Translating the word from Filipino (Tagalog) to English at
http://www.stars21.com/index.html?pname=asian&aname=asiantrans reveals
the word as meaning 'heritage' and there is a city in the Philippines
named Minante (http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=1164004731&men=gcis&lng=en&des=gamelan&dat=200&geo=-171&srt=npan&col=aohdfimq&pt=c&va=x).

Using the Latin to English translation software at
http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran?url=http%3A%2F%2F&type=text&text=minante%0D%0A&from=ltt&to=eng
the suggestions returned are battlements, parapets, threats, and
menaces.

So, possible answers are
mining (French)
heritage (Tagalog)
battlements, parapets, threats, menaces (Latin)

If you know someone who possesses this name, it might be helpful for
me to know the person's ethnic background. If you will post a
clarification with that information, I'll be happy to conduct further
research from that point of origin.

Best regards,
journalist-ga


SEARCH STRATEGY:

online translation software

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Request for Answer Clarification by melkbrood-ga on 29 Nov 2006 13:08 PST

Thank you for your speedy answer Journalist.

The person I know with this name is of European origin, living in
Southern Africa. It may be helpful to look into french or dutch
origins. The name does not run in her family, but was adopted from
another family though so that point is uncertain.

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Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 30 Nov 2006 09:47 PST

Thanks for the clarification, Melkbrood. 

In checking Dutch translations, I discovered nothing related to
minante, but a quick search of the word coupled with Africa did
produce results referencing minante (in French).

It may be that the name is a result of the French African colonial
influence in Africa.

"In Senegal in West Africa, the French began to establish trading
posts along the coast in 1624. In 1664, the French East India Company
was established to compete for trade in the east. Colonies were
established in India in Chandernagore in Bengal (1673) and Pondicherry
in the Southeast (1674), and later at Yanam (1723), Mahe (1725), and
Karikal (1739) (see French India). Colonies were also founded in the
Indian Ocean, on the Île de Bourbon (Réunion, 1664), Île de France
(Mauritius, 1718), and the Seychelles (1756)."
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_colonial_empires

The majority of results returned for a simple search of the word come
up in French, so mining or miner would seem to be the predominant
meaning. I was unable to locate any African dialect translation
programs.

How would you like me to proceed from here?

Best regards,
journalist-ga

SEARCH STRATEGY:

french africa settled
dutch minante
french africa minante
french mining africa

Thank you for a quick and detailed response.