Tag Archives: Akkadian names

Famous Name: Adam

29 Wednesday Jan 2014

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14Goodes2501_Hero

On Australia Day, the Australian of the Year for 2014 was announced, and it was AFL footballer Adam Goodes, who plays for the Sydney Swans.

Adam is a distinguished player who has experienced a great deal of success in his field, and is very active in the Sydney Indigenous community, providing leadership and guidance to troubled Indigenous youth, including those in youth detention. He has also started an Indigenous football academy, and he and his cousin Michael O’Loughlin founded the Goodes O’Loughlin Foundation which focuses on education, employment and healthy life choices. Adam plans to use his profile as Australian of the Year to help raise awareness of the push for constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians.

Adam is well known to almost everyone, even those with no religious background, as the first human mentioned in the Bible. He was created by God out of earth, and placed in the paradisical Garden of Eden with his companion Eve. However, they were expelled from the Garden after disobeying God’s commands, and went on to become founders of the human race. Adam is also seen as the first human in Islam, which regards Adam as a prophet, and the first Muslim.

In Hebrew, āḏām is the word for “human”, and the creation story in Genesis uses this word for “mankind”, “humanity”, “a man”, and the person named Adam, in an ambiguous and complex play of meaning. The word comes from a Semitic root meaning “red, fair, handsome”, and is also the masculine form of the Hebrew word adamah, meaning “ground, earth”, related both to the word for “red”, and the word for “blood”. In Arabic, Adam means “made from the earth”.

Putting this all together, the impression one gets from the name is that Adam is a signifier for all men, and all humans, a handsome man created from the red earth, the colour suggesting that of life-giving blood (the clay become flesh), and perhaps even implying that his skin tone was meant to be a coppery, reddish-brown – which seems reasonable given the story’s Middle Eastern origins.

Genesis emphasises Adam’s connection to the earth, for God set Adam to work on the land, to get his hands dirty, scratched by thorns in order to eat and survive. God’s curse was From dust you were made and to dust you will return, meaning that humans were condemned to mortality (still echoed in the funeral service, ashes to ashes, dust to dust). Adam is separated from nature by his humanity, yet inextricably part of nature and still tied to the earth and his earthy instincts – a succinct précis of the human condition.

The first historical person named Adam we know of is an Assyrian king named Adamu, who lived more than 4000 years ago (it is probably worth mentioning that the Babylonian creation story, many centuries older than Genesis, has the same main features, and there the first man is named Lullu, meaning “man, human being”; when the Assyrians copied the story, they called the first man Adami, possibly from the Akkadian for “to make”).

The name Adam came into common use in Britain in the Middle Ages, and became more popular after the Protestant Reformation. It has particularly strong ties to Scotland, perhaps because it was used to Anglicise the Irish name Áedán (an older form of Aidan), traditional amongst the royal houses and nobility of medieval Scotland.

Although in rare use early in the twentieth century, Adam only began charting in Australia in the 1940s. It raced up the charts during the 1950s to make #51 for the 1960s. It peaked in the 1980s at #10, and is still in the Top 100. It is #66 nationally, #55 in New South Wales, #57 in Victoria, #99 in Queensland, #44 in Western Australia, #84 in Tasmania, and #60 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Adam is a modern classic, yet it is an ancient name – the oldest name in the Book! Brief, strong and primal, it is earth and blood, flesh and bone, birth and death, innocence and guilt: the most human of all names, with its hands buried in the soil and its soul yearning for paradise. Adam is all man and all men; we are all Adam and the children of Adam; and yet Adam is still too archetypal to ever become an Everyman name.

It will always remind us of the first man in one of the oldest stories we know. A man whose descendants have continued to live and die and toil and survive – and remember paradise.

POLL RESULT
Adam received an approval rating of 64%. 30% of people saw it as strong and handsome, but 14% thought it was too common.

The People’s Choice of Boys Names

22 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by in Name Themes and Lists

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3 kings

A selection of boys names that have been searched for several times to reach the blog. I chose names from different backgrounds that aren’t on the Top 100.

Ari

This little name has several origins. It is a Hebrew name meaning “lion”, an Armenian name meaning “brave”, a Scandinavian name from Old Norse, meaning “eagle”, an Albanian name meaning “bear”, a Maori name meaning “clear, visible”, or an Indian name meaning either “sun-like” or “free from sin”. It is also a Finnish form of Aaron and Adrian, a Kurdish short form of the name Arian, meaning “Aryan”, and is commonly used as a short form of any name begining with Ari-, such as Aristotle. There have been quite a few characters named Ari in popular culture, starting way back in the 1950s, with Ari Ben Canaan as the hero of Leon Uris’ novel Exodus, about the founding of the state of Israel; based on Israeli military leader Moshe Dayan, in the movie he was played by Paul Newman. This simple multicultural name is rising like other Ar- names such as Archer, Arlo and Arthur, and is #135 in Victoria.

Balthazar

Variant of Belshazzar, the Hebrew form of the Akkadian name Bel-sarra-usur, meaning “Ba’al protect the king”. Ba’al is a Semitic title for any god, meaning “lord, master”, and in the Old Testament, the early Hebrews used the term to apply to the God of Israel. Later the term became seen as a heretical one, with a clear divide drawn between the Hebrew Yahweh and the Phoenician Ba’al. In Christian legend, Balthazar is the name given to one of the Magi – the three wise men who followed a mysterious star to visit the baby Jesus, bringing him gifts. The story appears in the New Testament, but no name (or even number) is ascribed to the Magi in the Bible. According to some traditions, Balthazar was an Arabian or Ethiopian scholar who brought the gift of frankincense to symbolise Christ’s role as a high priest. He is usually depicted as middle-aged and dark-skinned. One story is that Balthazar later converted to Christianity and was ordained a bishop; like the other Magi, he is regarded as a saint. Usually pronounced BAL-ta-zar in Australia, this is a seriously cool Christmas name.

Dragan

Slavic name meaning “precious, dear one”. It is usually pronounced DRAH-gahn, although I have heard people give it the same pronunciation as the word dragon. This reminds me that there is a sympathetic character named Dragan in the novel, Girl With a Dragon Tattoo; in the American film version, he is played by Croatian actor Goran Višnjić. Dragan Roganović is the real name of award-winning Serbian-Australian DJ Dirty South, and unfortunately the name has had a bit of bad publicity in Australia due to accused Serbian-Australian war criminal Dragan Vasiljković “Captain Dragan”, currently imprisoned in Australia awaiting extradition to Croatia. Despite this, Dragan is an attractive heritage choice with a very sweet meaning.

Kalani

Unisex Hawaiian name meaning “the sky, the heavens”. It’s a name often connected with surfing, because of Hawaiian surfers Kalani Robb, Kalani Chapman, Kalani Vierra and Kalani David, and young Australian surfer Kalani Ball. Mark Gasnier, former NRL player for the St George Illawarra Dragons, welcomed a son named Kalani two years ago. These are all guys, but surfer Kalani Miller, girlfriend of Kelly Slater, is a reminder that it’s a girl’s name as well – in fact, Kalani seems more common as a girl’s name in Australia, making #570 for girls in Victoria and not ranking as a boy’s name. Then again, Victoria is not famous for its surf culture – in northern New South Wales or Queensland, boys named Kalani may be more common. It’s a great name for either sex.

Leander

Greek name meaning “lion man”, featured in the tragic tale of Hero and Leander. Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite who lived in a tower in Sestos, on the European side of the Dardanelles, while her lover Leander was from Abydos, on the other side of the strait. Leander swam across the Hellespont every night to be with Hero, while she lit a lantern at the top of her tower to guide his way. Their love affair lasted all through the summer nights, but winter weather proved an obstacle to swimming. Desperate to be with his sweetheart, Leander braved the icy waters and was drowned during a storm, while the savage winds blew out Hero’s lantern. The distraught Hero plunged from her tower into the waves to join him in his watery grave. The story has inspired many writers, including Ovid, John Donne, Christopher Marlowe, and John Keats. Lord Byron recreated the swim by crossing from Sestos to Abydos, a distance of just over 1 km, which he turned into a poem; although he did it in May, according to his poem it was still difficult and he ended up with a chill. Leander was obviously made of sterner stuff. This is a handsome and romantic name with a very masculine meaning.

Mandela

The surname of inspirational world leader Nelson Mandela, his surname the name of his grandfather, the son of a king. Mandela was a lawyer and prominent campaigner against the apartheid government when he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against the state. He served more than 27 years, released in 1990 after an international campaign had lobbied the South African government on his behalf. He joined negotiations to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections, becoming South Africa’s first black president. Deeply loved in his own country, where he was called Tata, or “father””, he was a respected figure on the world stage. He received more than 250 awards and honours during his lifetime, including the Nobel Peace Prize; he was appointed Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia in 1999. His passing this month at the age of 95 after a long illness has only highlighted the global reverence he attained. This is a worthy namesake whose name I have seen given to a boy – a name that Africa has given to the world.

Oisin

Anglicised form of Oisín, an Irish name translated as”young deer”. In Irish mythology, Oisín was a warrior and the greatest poet in Ireland. He was the son of the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill, and a woman named Sadbh, who had been turned into a deer by a malevolant druid. Fionn caught Sadbh as a deer, and she turned back into a human; all was well until the druid caught up with her and made her a deer while she was still pregnant. Sadhbh returned to the wild, and gave birth to Oisín while in deer form – hence his name. Eventually Fionn got to meet his son, and Oisín joined dad’s band of warriors. Oisín’s most famous adventure is when he fell in love with a fairy queen named Niamh, who took him to live in the Land of Youth. Although he thought he only lived with her for three years, three centuries passed in Ireland during his absence. Acording to some tales, Oisín lived long enough to meet Saint Patrick and tell him of his exploits. Oisín, or Ossian, is the narrator of the famous poem series by Scottish author James Macpherson, who made the Gaelic myths so popular in the 18th century. Pronounced OSH-een or USH-een, this a popular name in Ireland and would be well-received in Australia.

Remy

Anglicised form of Rémy, French form of the Latin name Remigius, meaning “oarsmen”. Saint Remigius was a 5th century Gallo-Roman bishop, a highly-educated man of noble blood. According to tradition, he converted and baptised Clovis, the King of the Franks. Clovis was baptised on Christmas Eve; such was his status that 3000 Franks were baptised that day with him. Because of this story, Saint Remigius is credited with France becoming a Christian country, and there are numerous places named Saint-Rémy his honour, as well as Saint-Rémy being a French surname. The name can also be spelled Rémi, and in France the second one is more popular. In Australia, both Remy and Remi are unisex, and roughly even for both sexes (Remy – 19 girls and 14 boys in Victoria; Remi – 11 boys and 7 girls). Although some get upset about Remy and Remi being used for girls, the names could just as easily be short forms of Remigia – the feminine form of Remigius. In Australia, they are usually pronounced RAY-mee or REH-mee.

Wyatt

English surname derived from the personal name Wyot, the medieval form of the Old English name Wigheard, meaning “brave in battle”. The Wyatt family were a prominent one in Britain; the Tudor poet Thomas Wyatt was one of their number. Sir Francis Wyatt was another, and he became Governor of Virginia, so the surname became well known in the United States as well. As a first name, Wyatt is famous because of Western lawman Wyatt Earp, who was Deputy Marshal of Tombstone in Arizona, and is known for the Gunfight at the O.K. Corall, in which three outlaw cowboys were killed. Wyatt was never injured in a gunfight, adding to his mystique, and after his death he gained legendary status as the toughest and deadliest gunman in the West. The name had a boost from popular culture through the television series Charmed, where Wyatt Halliwell was the son born to Piper and her White-Lighter husband Leo; the baby was named from his father’s earthly surname, and seems like a play on the word white, in the sense of “good, angelic”. Wyatt is #252 in Victoria.

Zayd

Arabic name meaning “abundance, growth, increase”. This name is important in Islam, because Zayd ibn Harithah was from an Arabian tribe, and after being abducted, sold into slavery while only a young boy. He was eventually sold to one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, and when she married, she gave Zayd to Muhammad as a wedding present. The Prophet became very fond of Zayd, even calling him “the beloved”. One day Zayd’s grieving family managed to track him down, and Muhammad asked him to choose his fate; Zayd told his family he did not want to leave his owner. Zayd’s family accepted his choice, and Muhammad legally adopted him as a son, making him a free man. After Muhammad received his divine revelations from the angel Gabriel, Zayd was one of the first converts to Islam, the only one of Muhammad’s companions who are mentioned by name in the Qur’an, and the first Muslim to be killed fighting for Islam on foreign soil. The name can also be spelled Zaid, and elaborated as Zayden or Zaiden – which fits right in with the -ayden trend. Zayd is #650 in Victoria, while Zaid is #648.

POLL RESULT: People’s favourite names were Ari, Leander and Remy, and their least favourite were Dragan, Kalani and Mandela.

(Picture shows the Magi travelling to see the infant Jesus)

Famous Name: Abel Tasman

19 Wednesday Sep 2012

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Last Wednesday, September 12, commemorated the founding of the colony of Tasmania. Although it doesn’t seem to be celebrated in Tasmania, I thought we’d look at the man who gave his name to the state. I chose this topic several months ago, but unfortunately this recent story in the news is giving Abel Tasman a somewhat controversial image at present.

I feel like a mother who has just sent out 300 cards announcing her new daughter’s name as Sahara, then opens the paper to read with horror the headline: Murder at Sahara strip club provides clue to cocaine ring: our paper investigates the seedy underworld of the Sahara, knowing that for months the name Sahara is going to be associated with some very shady dealings. This happens to the best of parents, and possibly even the best of bloggers. However, let us continue.

Abel Tasman was the first known European to reach Tasmania and New Zealand. A Dutch seafarer, he undertook his voyages as an employee of the United East India Company (VOC) – the first multinational corporation in the world, and the first to issue stock. They were based in Batavia, now known as Jakarta, in Indonesia. This company despatched Tasman on a mission to obtain knowledge of “all the totally unknown provinces of Beach”.

That was his first problem: Beach didn’t exist. It was supposedly the northernmost part of Terra Australis, and that didn’t exist either. In fact, they had misread Marco Polo’s handwriting, which said Lohach, and referred to south Thailand, which Polo had assured all and sundry was a kingdom rich with gold. Sent off to find a non-existent kingdom of gold on an imaginary continent with faulty maps based on a vital error, Abel Tasman did the best he could under the circumstances.

On December 3 1642, he formally claimed Tasmania, which he dutifully named Van Diemen’s Land, after Anthonie Van Diemen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, and Tasman’s patron (Diemen is a homophone of demon). Battling against very rough seas, he managed to reach New Zealand ten days later, which he thought was connected to Argentina (the map’s fault again). A second voyage gave him the chance to map the north coast of Australia, which he called New Holland, and make observations of the land and its people.

From the point of view of the VOC, Tasman’s voyages were a failure. He hadn’t found Beach, located tons of gold, met anyone to trade with, or discovered new shipping routes. Although the Dutch had discovered Australia in 1606, they weren’t sufficiently impressed to follow it up, and so it was free for the British to claim many years later.

Abel Tasman did manage to make it to Thailand a few years later, although I’m sure he never realised he’d arrived in “Beach” after all. The lack of gold, it’s being called Siam, the way he was only there as a courier to deliver letters to the king – all these things helped disguise the fact he had reached his dream destination after all.

Abel was the second son of Adam and Eve in the Old Testament, and described as a shepherd, while his older brother Cain was a crop farmer. Famously, Abel is the first person in the Bible to die, while his brother Cain becomes the first murderer. The Bible doesn’t provide a motive for Cain’s actions, but it is usually assumed to be jealousy, since God was pleased by Abel’s offering from his flock, while not having a high regard for Cain’s produce. This story tends to irk vegetarians, and does make God seem rather like a capricious judge on Masterchef, but there is more to the story than meets the eye.

The archetypal simplicity of this tale of brother against brother has made an enormous impact, and been dramatised in modern stories, such as John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Something in it speaks straight to our bones – primal emotions of rage, envy and betrayal; a deep sense of the fundamental injustice of the universe; the uneasy knowledge that those closest to us are the ones most likely to hurt us, even harm us.

Scholars believe the tale represents conflict between nomadic shepherds and settled farmers in the Middle East, at a time when agriculture was beginning to take over from hunter-gathering (this probably did sometimes end in bloodshed). Sadly, the story also serves as a commentary on the violence and hatred that has existed between religions who worship the same God, as Cain and Abel did (this still ends in bloodshed).

The name Abel is derived from the Hebrew name Hevel, often translated as “breath, vapour”, with connotations of “waste”, to indicate the transient nature of Abel’s existence. However, the name may simply mean “herdsman” to indicate his role in the story; a similar word still exists in modern Arabic. Another theory is that is based on the Akkadian word for “son”, which seems more likely as a person’s name, and fits in with modern scholarship identifying the story as based on a Sumerian myth.

Back in June, I mentioned Abel as a name I had encountered on a baby during the autumn, and considered it a rare sighting. Well, I have to eat my words, because over winter I met or heard of three new babies named Abel, and have seen a few more in birth notices. Clearly it’s a name on the rise, and in the US Abel is #237, jumping 56 places last year. With Old Testament names for boys growing in popularity, Abel is a solid, underused choice, and one that connects directly to early Australian history.

Tasman is a Dutch form of the German surname Tessmann, derived from both Slavic and German. Slavonic personal names such as Techmir, meaning “consolation”, become Tess in German. The -mann part of the name usually means “servant of”. So Tasman means “servant of Techmir”. English forms include Tesmond or Tessyman.

In Australia, Abel Tasman has given his name to the state of Tasmania, and also the Tasman Sea, which is the stretch of ocean between the east coast of Australia and the west coast of New Zealand (affectionately known as “The Ditch“). The Maori name for it is Te Tai-o-Rehua, which means “the sea of Antares”, the star Antares being associated with the height of summer, and considered a god of kindness and enjoyment. Many more places bear Abel Tasman’s name in New Zealand.

The name Tasman has a long history of use in Australia, and is most common in the state of Tasmania, which naturally feels a strong connection to it. It is turning up regularly in birth notices at the moment, and may be receiving more attention because there is currently a TV advertisement for Uncle Toby’s instant oats, with the little blond boy in the commercial being named Tasman.

This makes a fantastic name for a family which has one side from Australia and the other from New Zealand, with a baby Tasman joining both sides. The name is considered masculine in Australia, but feminised forms such as Tasmyn are thought suitable for girls. Usual nicknames are Tas, Taz or Tazzy.
UPDATE: I’ve just been informed that the reason the name Abel is skyrocketing is because of the TV show, Sons of Anarchy, where someone has a baby named Abel – thank you Twitter.

UPDATE: Thank you to blog reader Madelyn, who tells me that American actress Amy Poehler has a son named Abel.

(The picture shows a view of the Tasman Sea from Tasman National Park in southern Tasmania, on the other side of the bay where Abel Tasman claimed Tasmania; photo from There’s Nothing Like Australia)

Boys Names from Stars and Constellations

18 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by in Name Themes and Lists

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It is only a few days until the Christmas holidays, or the holidays have already begun. Although the stars seem more crisp and vivid in winter, and some constellations of spring and autumn are spectacular, it is summer I connect with star-gazing. The warm nights and long lazy Christmas holidays seem to go with lying in your backyard looking upwards, or watching the night sky glittering above you on camping trips. Little wonder that the stars of summer are often the first we learn to identify, and the first we yearn towards as we gaze into infinitude.

This is the companion list to Girls Names from Stars and Constellations, and should be read in conjunction with it. Need a super quick guide to the southern skies? Go here! The picture used is a Christmas card created by Thomas Le, a refugee from Vietnam. He donated this artwork to help other migrants, and it is on show at the Museum of Victoria.

Altair

Altair is the common name for Alpha Aquila, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila (“The Eagle”), and one of the brightest overall. Altair is a translation of the Arabic for “the flying eagle”, and the identification of the star with an eagle goes back to the Babylonians and Sumerians, who called Altair “The Eagle Star”. The Kulin people of central Victoria also saw the star as an eagle; it is Bunjil, their creator, who was blown into the sky by a great wind and became a star. Other peoples of southern Australia saw Altair as a hunter; it is his Boomerang thrown across the sky which became the constellation in which Gemma can be found. This cool star name can either be said al-TAH-yir, or al-TARE, and is also on the list Boys Names from Video Games. You can see Altair from Australia in winter and spring, and it’s in the north of the Milky Way.

Asterion

Asterion is the common name for Beta Canes Venatici, the second-brightest star in the constellation Canes Ventatici. This constellation began as the club of the constellation Boötes (“The Herdsman, The Ploughman”). However, due to a number of errors in translation from Greek to Arabic to Latin, “club” became “dogs”. Having invented these dogs, astronomers had a good squint and decided that the constellation looked like two greyhounds. It’s never explained why a herdsman would have hunting dogs rather than herding dogs. Astronomers named one star Chara (“dear”) and the other Asterion (“starry”) – then they swapped the names around to create further confusion. In Greek mythology, Asterion was the personal name of the Minotaur, a bull-headed monster who was the product of an unnatural coupling between a queen of Crete and a bull. It’s a flamboyant name, but it is actually a star name with a starry meaning; it’s said as-TEH-ri-on. Canes Ventatici is visible in the autumn from Australia, but its stars are not bright or easy to see.

Atlas

Atlas is the common name for 27 Tauri, a triple-star system in the constellation Taurus and part of the Pleiades cluster. As well as the Seven Sisters, which include Maia, the Pleiades cluster contains their parents, Atlas and Pleione. Atlas was one of the Titans, and after warring against the Olympians, he was sentenced to hold up the heavens on his shoulders (before this, the Sky and the Earth, parents of the Titans, were free to lie together in a lingering embrace, so Atlas is basically being used as a birth control device for deities). He has come to be a symbol of superhuman strength and stoic endurance. The name is so ancient that its meaning is very uncertain, but it may mean “endure”, “support”, or “sea”. Atlas has given his name to the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the word for a book filled with maps. The name is starting to have a mild vogue here. You will be able to see Atlas in the Pleiades during summer in Australia.

Garnet

The star Mu Cephei is commonly known as Herschel’s Garnet Star, because when astronomer William Herschel described it, he wrote that it was “a very fine deep garnet colour”. Indeed it is, being a red supergiant that is one of the largest in the Milky Way. It’s in the constellation Cepheus, which represents Andromeda’s father. Without doubt he is the dullest creature in the whole Andromeda drama, but I guess since they put the sea monster in the sky, it would have seemed rude to leave him out. You may recall that the aliens in TV comedy 3rd Rock From The Sun came from a planet in a galaxy on the Cepheus border. Unfortunately, Cepheus is only visible in the northern hemisphere, so we cannot see the Garnet Star from here. The colour garnet is named for the red gemstone; its name is said to be derived from the (also red) pomegranate fruit which means “seeded apple”. It’s a unisex name, but historically better known as masculine in Australia.

Keid

Keid is a common name for Omicron2 Eridani, or 40 Eridani, a triple star system in the constellation Eridanus consisting of two red dwarfs and a white dwarf. Eridanus represents a great river, and is meant to be the water pouring from the jar of the Water Bearer, the constellation Aquarius. In ancient times, it was said to be the path of souls. Eridanus can be easily seen from Australia; it is virtually overhead during the summer months. You can see one of the red dwarf stars in Keid with the naked eye; however the other two stars can only be viewed through a telescope. In the TV series Star Trek, 40 Eridani is the location of the planet Vulcan, home of Mr Spock. Eridanus is also a system of planets in the video game Halo, so it’s got sci-fi credentials galore. Keid is from the Arabic word for “eggshells”, and can be pronounced KYED or KEED. I prefer KEED, but KYED sounds like popular Kai (maybe too much, as people will no doubt confuse the two names).

Kio

Kio (KEE-oh) is the ancient Chinese name for Spica, the common name for Alpha Virginis, a blue giant binary star and the brightest in the constellation Virgo. While Spica means “ear of wheat” in Latin, Kio comes from the Chinese for “horn, spike”, as it was seen as “the horn of Jupiter”. Spica was the star used to discover the precession of the equinoxes, and the constellation Virgo contains the spring equinox point (autumn equinox in the northern hemisphere). The constellation has represented a goddess holding sheaves of grain from the earliest beginnings of astronomy in Babylonia. Not only is Kio one of those perky three-letter names that appeal to many people, but the Chinese saw Spica as a “lucky star” – what could be more positive than being named after a lucky star? The constellation Virgo can be seen throughout autumn and winter in Australia, and the very brightness of Spica makes it easy to find.

Leo

Leo is a familiar constellation, because it is one of those in the zodiac. It’s already in the list Boys Names From the Top 100 of the 1930s, however I think it is worth revisiting from an astronomical viewpoint. The constellation’s name means “lion”, and seems to have been pictured as a lion by many ancient civilisations. I’m not sure if there was a single original Lion in mythology, but the Babylonians had many leonine protective gods, and a winged lion was the symbol for the city of Babylon. The Ancient Greeks identified it with the Nemean lion, a monstrous beast, both fierce and cunning, which was killed by Heracles as the first of his twelve labours. Its hide was impervious to attack, so Heracles wore it as his armour. The constellation Leo is truly majestic, and contains many bright stars. The chief of these is Regulus, also called The King Star, and The Heart of the Lion. Leo can be seen for most of the year, but is easiest to view in late summer to early autumn from Australia.

Nash

Nash is a common name for Gamma Sagitarrii, an orange giant binary star in the constellation Sagittarius. Sagittarius depicts a centaur, said to represent the wise teacher and healer Chiron. The Milky Way is at its densest in Sagittarius, as this is where the centre of the galaxy lies, so it contains many star clusters and nebulae. In Australia this impressive constellation is easy to find, and we also get the best view of it, being able to see the Milky Way so much more clearly. Look in the west part of the sky in the early evening, halfway between the horizon and the point directly overhead. Its brightest stars form a recognisable shape which is called The Teapot; Nash is the spout of this teapot. Sagittarius is most visible in the middle of winter, and bright enough that you can see it even if there is a moon. The name Nash is from the Arabic for “arrowhead”, for this star is the tip of the archer’s arrow, which points toward the star Antares, in Scorpius. It’s also a surname derived from the word for “ash tree”.

Orion

Orion is a constellation representing a character from Greek mythology. This gigantic hunter seems to be a bawdy folk hero – larger than life and twice as natural. It is lusty Orion who pursued the Pleiades, so that Zeus had to turn them to stars for their protection. One version of his ending is that Orion boasted of being able to kill any animal on Earth, and so the Earth goddess, in her displeasure, created the Scorpion to sting him to death. Both Orion and the Scorpion were placed in the sky as constellations. Orion contains many brilliant stars, such as Betelgeuse, Rigel and Bellatrix, and even the astronomical novice can locate the three stars forming Orion’s Belt; I was taught these were The Three Sisters (a South African name). Orion is clearly visible in the summer from Australia, and because it is positioned differently in the southern hemisphere, we sometimes call this constellation The Saucepan. The name Orion is from the Akkadian for “heaven’s light”.

Perseus

Perseus is a constellation representing a character from Greek mythology; he was a hero, the son of Zeus and a mortal princess. Perseus led an extremely exciting life, part fairytale, part soap opera, but he is probably best known for killing the Gorgon Medusa, a woman who had snakes on her head, and thus had a permanent bad hair day of epic proportions. Perseus had nifty flying sandals to zip around on, although much later people liked to imagine him riding the flying horse Pegasus (this never actually happened in the legends). Perseus rescued and married Princess Andromeda, and the constellation has his hand reaching up to Andromeda’s foot, to show the moment of deliverance. The star Algol in Perseus is called The Demon Star, and represents the head of Medusa. We can see the constellation in late spring and summer from Australia, and the meaning of Perseus is not certain; it may mean “to destroy”. Percy is the obvious nickname, and the one used in the novel series Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan.

Phoenix

Phoenix is a minor constellation in the southern sky named after the mythical bird. The Phoenix can be found in the mythologies of many lands, from Egypt to China to Russia, and is famous for being able to renew itself in fire, which made it a popular symbol of resurrection in Christianity. Its name is from the Greek for “crimson”. Phoenix has become a popular name lately; it’s unisex, but used more for boys. It’s hard not to connect it to The Order of the Phoenix in the Harry Potter books; Fawkes the phoenix is the loyal pet of Albus Dumbledore. A phoenix is also a major character in the children’s book The Phoenix and the Carpet by Edith Nesbit. The constellation Phoenix can be seen from Australia during the summer, however it is faint and only possesses two stars bright enough to be seen with the naked eye.

Sirius

Sirius is the common name for Alpha Canis Majoris, a binary star which is the brightest in the constellation Canis Major (“Great Dog”), and the brightest in the sky, being almost twice as bright as Canopus, the second-brightest. Canis Major is seen as one of the dogs following the hunter Orion, with Sirius representing its doggy nose. However, Sirius was considered to be a dog in his own right, and is called The Dog Star. In the northern hemisphere, Sirius rises in summer, and so the very hottest time of year is called “the dog days”. Although Sirius rises in the winter here, we don’t call the coldest time of year the dog days, although strictly speaking, we should! In July, you can see Sirius both evening and morning. Almost every culture in the world has connected Sirius with dogs or wolves, but the Boorong people of Victoria saw it as part of a constellation representing the Wedge-Tailed Eagle – one of the most important of the spirit elders. The Sirius was also the flagship for the First Fleet to Australia, giving it another Australian connection. Its name comes from the Greek for “burning, scorching”.