Dorothea

Dorothea is a Latinized form of the Greek name Dorothea, composed of the elements doron, meaning gift, and theos, meaning god, making the name roughly equivalent to Theodora with its components reversed. The name was borne by Saint Dorothea of Caesarea, a Christian martyr whose veneration helped spread the name throughout medieval Europe. It has been used consistently in German, Dutch, and English-speaking cultures, and appears prominently in literature, notably as the idealistic heroine of George Eliot's Middlemarch. Related forms include Dorothy, Theodora, and the short forms Thea and Dora.