Dennis = Ephraim!?

[lethargic_man]

One of the nice things about the age we live in is that sometimes I will remember something I heard years ago, think "I wonder if that is really true," and be able to find out in moments on Wikipedia (subject, of course, to the usual caveats about accuracy on Wikipedia).

In this case, I remember reading somewhere that the name of Dionysius Exiguus (the monk who invented the BC/AD year numbering) meant Dennis the Short. I didn't know that Dennis derived from Dionysius (which is a strange name for a monk to have, being derived from the Greek god Dionysos), so I went off to Wikipedia to check it, and indeed it does.

The article also gave a list of equivalents of "Dennis" in other languages, including אפרים (Ephraim) in Hebrew. (This change was made by user Ganadenimagearchive, and is the only edit they have made to Wikipedia.) I can't see any basis for connecting these two names, but I'm not an Israeli; it's possible also that people called Dennis traditionally have the Hebrew name אפרים. (My grandfather didn't, but then Dennis was only the name he was known by; his real name was David.)

Can anyone provide any evidence for linking the two names, or ought this to be deleted?

Comments

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

At least put a {{cn}} tag by the claim.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

Actually, I've deleted it. All the other names in the list were very clearly cognates or derivatives of Denis, and on the whole it's the job of the person adding the information to add supporting evidence for claims that aren't entirely obvious.