Waltzing With … Mars

13 Sunday Mar 2016

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astronomical names, celebrity baby names, fictional namesakes, mythological names, name history, name meaning, names from songs, names of businesses, rare names, surname name, unisex names, US name popularity

Music legend David Bowie passed away early this year, with fans both grief-stricken and shocked at the news, as he had kept his final illness private. I covered the name Bowie last year because of his touring exhibition, which we now know was his way of saying goodbye.

At the time, there were many tributes to David Bowie taking place, with radio and TV stations taking the opportunity to play his music (my local radio station kept playing Starman non-stop, as if this was the only Bowie record they owned).

My favourite was from Weatherzone, who put out a weather report for the planet Mars, so that we could see what “life on Mars” was actually like.

Having already covered Ziggy and Bowie, there was no choice but to cover the name Mars in the month named after it.

Name Information
In Roman mythology, Mars was the god of war, and second only to Jupiter in importance. He represented military power as a method towards peace, rather than a destructive force, and was a father to and guardian of the Roman people themselves. His worship was central to Roman society, and he was an important symbol of the Roman Empire.

Mars was also an agricultural deity. Masculine, aggressive, and virile by nature, he was equally adept at defending soldiers from attack, and protecting crops. He is described as wild and savage, with a connection to woodlands, and may originally have been a god of the wilderness that needed to be mollified lest he destroy farmland. The animals sacred to Mars were wild ones, like the wolf, bear, and woodpecker, but the list also includes the domestic goose.

In art, Mars was either depicted as a youthful warrior, or as a handsome mature man with a beard, the dignified general who has won many victories. He is often nude or semi-nude to show that he is brave enough to enter battle with little to protect him. Mars is nearly always shown with a helmet and a spear, to symbolise warfare. However, when his military victory brings peace, his spear is draped with laurel.

The origin and meaning of the name Mars has been debated, with no agreement being reached. Two suggestions are that it is related to the Etruscan god Maris, or to the Hindu gods the Marutas, but both sides rubbish the opposing theory. We know that the worship of Mars was very ancient, because one of his hymns was in such archaic language that the Romans could no longer understand it, so it is safe to say that the meaning of the name Mars is lost in antiquity.

More certain are the words derived from Mars, such as martial, meaning “of war”, the month of March, which was sacred to Mars, and names such as Marcus and Martin.

The Romans named the fourth planet from the Sun after Mars: they were not the first to associate the planet with a god of war, which had been traditional ever since the Babylonians. It is speculated that the red colour of Mars brought to mind bloodshed – if so, the ancients were not far wrong, because the iron oxide that gives Mars its distinctive colour is the same thing which makes our blood red.

The planet Mars has captured the human imagination for years, and as soon as we had telescopes able to view the surface of it, we began seeing things. Astronomers thought they could see regular channels on the planet’s surface, which were called canals, and inspired a belief in intelligent life on the planet. Sceptics correctly identified this as an optical illusion caused by using a 19th century telescope which wasn’t good enough – nobody can see the “channels” today using modern instruments.

Astronomers of the 19th and early 20th centuries also thought they might have received radio signals from Mars, and even a mysterious bright light appearing to emanate from the planet was considered to be some sort of message. The idea that there were intelligent Martians, and they wished to contact us, was an idea humans had trouble shaking.

In science fiction, Mars is sometimes a Utopia, and sometimes a source of menace (most notably in H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds). It is often a place of adventure and exploration, such as in the John Carter stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Later on, when it was accepted that Mars was uninhabited, sci-fi focused on the possibility of Mars becoming colonised by Earth, so that the Martian population was actually human.

Mars has been used as an English name since the 18th century. When director Spike Lee chose the name Mars for his character in She’s Gotta Have It, he took it from his own family history – Mars was the name of his great-great-grandfather, a freed slave and successful farmer. Mars was the kind of mythological name often given to slaves in America, but records show both white and black people with the name Mars.

In some cases it may not necessarily have been inspired by the god or the planet. Mars is also an English surname, a variant of Marsh: it’s most famous from Frank Mars who developed the chocolate Mars bar, which is still owned by the Mars family. The singer Bruno Mars (born Peter Hernandez) took his stage name as a symbol of being “different”. The name Mars has been more commonly used in Scandinavia and Central Europe, a variant or contraction of the name Marius.

Despite the ultra-masculine vibe of the god Mars (the symbol for the planet ♂ is the same as the one for male), Mars was sometimes given to girls, right from the start. Perhaps the surname was more influential, although girls are also given Mars-type names, such as Martina and Marcella – Mars even looks as if it might be short for Marsia or Marsha.

Recently two American celebrities have given Mars publicity as a girl’s name. Singer Erykah Badu welcomed a daughter named Mars in 2009, and comedian Blake Anderson in 2014. Two pop culture aids to seeing this as a girl’s name are TV girl detective Veronica Mars, and Sailor Mars from the Sailor Moon anime series (in the show, Sailor Mars is named after the planet and associated with fire and passion, as the planet Mars is in Japanese culture).

This is, and has always been, a rare name. In the US in 2014, 34 boys were given the name Mars, and less than 5 girls (we know there must have been at least one!). In the UK Mars does not show up in the data at all as a baby name.

Mars is an out of this world baby name, but it has millenia of history, taking in a god of protection and a red planet that has loomed in our imagination since time immemorial. Granted, there’s some teasing potential due to the Mars bar, and the fact your child would literally be a Martian, but there could be life in this name yet (in the middle for those worried about the curiosity factor). At least Mars is distinctive and will be easy to recall. Totally.

POLL RESULTS

Mars received an approval rating of 57%. 31% of people thought it was okay, although only 6% actually loved the name.

Famous Names: Bowie and Pluto

20 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

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astronomical names, Disney names, dog names, english names, famous namesakes, Gaelic names, Greek names, historical records, Irish names, middle names, mythological names, name trends, names of weapons, nicknames, rare names, Scottish names, slave names, stage names, surname names, UK name popularity, unisex names, US name popularity

Names in the News
On July 14 this year NASA’s New Horizons space probe made its closest encounter with the dwarf planet Pluto. Australia was the first place on Earth to receive images of Pluto from New Horizons, at the CSIRO’s Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla. The CDSCC has been tracking New Horizons since it was launched in 2006, and it will take more than a year to receive all the data.

Two days later, the David Bowie Is touring exhibition opened at Melbourne’s Australian Centre for the Moving Image, and broke all records for ticket sales before anyone stepped inside the doors. First staged at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, it has already been seen by more than 1 million people around the world. The show includes costumes, video, photographs, and items from Bowie’s own collection, including notes and sketches.

David Bowie has a special significance in Melbourne. His first Australian tour was in 1978, and the biggest concert of his career to that point was at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. People queued for three weeks to buy tickets, and the fact that it poured with rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of 40 000 fans. His experiences in Australia in the 1970s inspired the music video for Let’s Dance, filmed in Sydney and outback Carinda).

Besides having key Australian events at around the same time, there isn’t an obvious connection between Bowie and Pluto. Except that Bowie has had so many references to space in his music – Space Oddity, Ashes to Ashes, Ziggy Stardust, Moonage Daydream, The Stars (Are Out Tonight), Life on Mars?, Star Man – that it doesn’t seem too much of a stretch to cover these names together.

BOWIE
Scottish surname derived from the Gaelic nickname Buidhe, meaning “yellow”, to denote someone blond or fair haired. It has also been used to Anglicise the Irish surname Ó Buadhaigh, meaning “son of Buadhach”, with Buadhach meaning “victorious”, although more commonly that’s Anglicised to Boyce. In rare cases it may be a variant of the English surname Bye, from the Old English for “bend”, referring to someone who lived on a river bend.

The Bowie surname originates from Kintyre in western Scotland, and the Bowie family were early colonists to America, with John Bowie Snr one of the founders of Maryland in the early 18^th century. He was the grandfather of James “Jim” Bowie, who played a prominent role during the Texas Revolution, and died at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.

The thick heavy blade known as a Bowie knife is named after Jim, who carried a hunting knife with him and had a reputation as a skilled knife fighter. His brother Rezin Bowie is supposed to have been the creator of the Bowie knife, although Bowie family history relates that it was Rezin’s blacksmith who created the knife.

David Bowie was born David Jones, and first performed as Davie Jones, which risked being confused with Davy Jones from The Monkees. He chose his stage name after seeing the movie The Alamo in 1963, with Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie; allegedly he wanted a name with a “cutting” feel to it, like Mick Jagger’s, and the Bowie knife gave it some edge. He deliberately chose the name of a famous American, as American music and culture had first inspired him.

Bowie has been used as a personal name since the 18^th century, and originated in Scotland. Mostly used as a middle name, it was first given as a family name, but in 19^th century America increasingly given to honour Jim Bowie: it was particularly found in the southern states. The name Bowie has been given to both sexes, but mostly to boys.

Jagger, Lennon, and Hendrix are reasonably common names, but even with the fame of David Bowie, the name Bowie is in rare use. It doesn’t chart in Australia, while in the UK there has been a smattering of Bowies on the charts since 2003; in 2013 there were 5 baby boys named Bowie. In the US last year, there were 59 baby boys named Bowie and 30 baby girls (numbers rose considerably for boys, but fell for girls).

It is slightly puzzling why Bowie isn’t used more. It sounds like familiar names like Beau, Bohdi, and Brodie, is a counterpoint to popular Archer, and as a knife it fits the trend for weaponry names like Blade.

One issue is that the pronunciation is slightly confused. In the US, Bowie tends to be said BOO-ee, the usual pronunciation of the surname and the Bowie knife. The British sometimes say the first syllable of David Bowie’s surname like the bough of a tree, whereas Bowie himself says it like bow and arrows.

PLUTO
In Greek mythology, Pluto is the god of the Underworld and the afterlife. His earlier name was Hades, but gradually this was used to mean the Underworld itself. Pluto is the Latinised form of the Greek Plouton, meaning “wealth, riches”, and the name is sometimes glossed as “giver of wealth”.

It makes sense that Pluto should be associated with wealth, because he has dominion over all the precious metals, gems, and resources under the earth, and all crops planted in soil. He was a god of abundance, and from early on was associated with agricultural fertility – which is why he was the natural husband for the agricultural goddess Persephone. Pluto and Persephone were revered as a divine couple with knowledge of the mysteries of birth and rebirth.

In the Christian era, there was often a horror of gods of death and the Underworld, who tended to be associated with Satan or demons. Pluto’s image, never a particularly cheerful one, became positively macabre, with Hades a place of torment. In Dante’s Inferno, Pluto rules the fourth circle of Hell, where those who have squandered their wealth are sent. Medieval English writers sometimes conflated Hades with Fairyland, giving Pluto a magical elf-king quality.

The dwarf planet Pluto was discovered in 1930 by a young astronomer named Clyde Tombaugh who had just started working at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. It was named by an eleven-year-old Oxford schoolgirl named Venetia Burney. She made the suggestion to her grandfather Falconer Madan, retired from the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. He had the connections to ensure that Venetia’s idea got to the right people, they unanimously agreed, and Venetia was paid £5 (around $450 in today’s money). A big help was that the first two letters were PL – the initials of Percival Lowell, who had founded the observatory.

When Walt Disney studios created a pet dog for Mickey Mouse in 1930, he was named Pluto – apparently after the planet, although nobody is able to confirm that. So Pluto went from being a god name to a dog name!

Pluto is a gloomy god, a dwarf planet, a cartoon dog … but the name has also been rarely used for humans. The name is first found in colonial America in the 18th century, as a slave name. Pluto can be found in Australian historical records (Pluto Riches and Pluto Surprise are two interesting finds), and was also given to Aboriginal servants. Overall, Pluto has mostly been used in the United States. Use of the name, always low, fell after 1930 and never recovered, although it isn’t clear whether parents were put off by the astronomical body or the Disney character.

Pluto is probably too much of a space oddity to use as a first name, but would make a memorable middle.

Two rare names from the stars: which one will rate better?

POLL RESULTS
The name Bowie received an approval rating of 50%. 42% of people weren’t keen on it, although 17% loved it.

The name Pluto was much less popular, with an approval rating of 15%. 46% of people weren’t keen on it, and only 7% thought it was a good name.

(Picture of David Bowie in 1973 by Masayoshi Sukita; photo from Urban Walkabout)

Suburbs of Adelaide and Hobart Which Could Be Used as Boys Names

26 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

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Anglo-Saxon names, aristocratic names, aristocratic surnames, astronomical names, car names, colour names, dated names, english names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, gemstone names, germanic names, honouring, locational names, middle names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names from movies, names of animals, names of ships, nature names, nicknames, Old French names, plant names, popular names, rare names, retro names, Roman names, royal names, saints names, Scottish names, surname names, tree names, unisex names, vocabulary names

Austin
Austins Ferry is a suburb of Hobart, named after convict James Austin. Austin and his cousin was transported to Australia in 1803, and after their sentences expired, were given small land grants on the River Derwent near Hobart. In 1818 they established a ferry service across the river, and became very wealthy. You can still visit James Austin’s original cottage. Austin is an Old French shortening of the name Agustin, the equivalent of the English Augustine, and the surname Austin has the same source. Austin was #108 in the 1900s, and left the charts in the 1950s. It returned in the 1990s at #196, the decade of the Austin Powers spy comedies with Mike Myers in the title role. Groovy, baby! It climbed steeply and joined the Top 100 in 2011. It is currently #61, and was the fastest-rising name in Queensland and a fast-rising name in South Australia last year. It was a fast-rising name in New South Wales in 2013 too, so this retro name is doing very well for itself, and is now more popular than it has ever been before.

Cornelian
Cornelian Bay is a suburb of Hobart, whose bay on the River Derwent provides anchorage for yachts; there are boathouses and a waterside restaurant along its foreshore. The first English navigator to explore the Derwent was Lieutenant John Hayes; he came ashore here in 1793, and named the bay after the semi-precious cornelian stones which he found on the beach. Cornelian (also known as carnelian) is a dark red mineral whose name is from the Latin for the cornel cherry, a flowering dogwood tree which has small dark red fruit just the colour of the gemstone. Cornelian was used in Roman times for signet rings used to seal important documents, as hot wax doesn’t stick to it. It was a gemstone often associated with courage and good luck. Cornelian has been in very rare use as a personal name since the 17th century, and overall has been given fairly evenly to both boys and girls. Not many gemstones work well as boys’ names, but this sounds very similar to Cornelius, yet seems much more up-to-date. This would also make a great middle name, and is suitable for both sexes.

Fitzroy
Fitzroy is an inner-city suburb of Adelaide, and an exclusive area overlooking the North Adelaide Parklands. The houses are mostly 19th century mansions along a few tree-lined streets, as this is where the upper class settlers lived in the city’s early days. It may have been named after Fitzroy in Melbourne, which is named after Sir Charles FitzRoy, the governor of New South Wales in the mid 19th century. Another suggestion is that it was named for historic Fitzroy Square in London, whose name comes from Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, an 18th century politician who was a distant ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales. The English surname Fitzroy (or FitzRoy) comes from the Old French for “son of the king”, and was traditionally given to illegitimate sons and daughters of a monarch, and could be inherited as a surname by their descendants. For example, the father of the 2nd Duke of Grafton was an illegitimate son of King Charles II by his mistress Barbara Villiers. Fitzroy has been used as a personal name since the 18th century, and was sometimes used to indicate a family relationship with illegitimate royalty. Roy- (and royal) names are on trend, and this is one you could consider that has Fitz or Fitzy as the nickname.

Hobart
Hobart is the capital of Tasmania; it is Australia’s second-oldest capital city after Sydney, and is our most southern capital city, serving as a hub for Australian and French Antarctic operations. It is located on an estuary of the Derwent River at the foot of Mount Wellington, and more than half of the city is taken up with bushland, so it contains much natural beauty. A small city with many historical buildings from its colonial past, Hobart has a great deal of charm. Hobart was named after Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire: Lord Hobart was the Colonial Secretary at the beginning of the 19th century. The surname Hobart is derived from the personal name Hubert, meaning “bright mind”. Hobart has long use as a personal name, and can be found often in historical records, with it being a bit of a favourite in Tasmania – indeed one example I found was Tasman Hobart. The Ho- at the beginning is rousing yet problematic, but you could use Bart or Barty as a nickname. A patriotic choice that may work better as a middle name.

Holden
Holden Hill is an inner-city suburb of Adelaide. It was named after a road extension called Halden’s Hill in the mid 19th century, as the land the road ran through was owned by a Mr Halden. The name was corrupted into Holden Hill. Holden is an English surname after a small village in Lancashire; it comes from the Anglo-Saxon meaning “deep valley”. Its most famous literary namesake is Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. It’s quite likely that Salinger named the character after a friend called Holden Bowler he met while they were both working on a ship. Mr Bowler went on to run his own advertising business and was godfather to singer Judy Collins. In Australia Holden will remind people of the car company, its name coming from South Australian manufacturer Sir Edward Holden (although it is owned by General Motors). Sadly, Holden will cease production in Australia in 2017. A very uncommon name in Australia because of the car.

Jupiter
Jupiter Creek is a semi-rural suburb of Adelaide which was once part of a gold-mining area, and still a place to go fossicking. Its name was given by gold-miners, possibly after a bull named Jupiter who was fond of running away to graze there. In Roman mythology, Jupiter is king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder, the equivalent of the Greek god Zeus. Ruler of the heavens, he was a divine witness to oaths and the protector of the state and justice; his symbols were the oak tree, the eagle, and the thunder bolt. His name is from an ancient root meaning “O Father Sky-god”, so his name is an invocation: to speak the name of Jupiter aloud is to call upon the god. The Romans named the largest planet in the solar system after Jupiter, and believed those born under its influence to be especially fortunate. As Juno is a hip name for girls, and so is Juniper, Jupiter for boys doesn’t seem too strange. A possible issue is the movie Jupiter Ascending, which has Mila Kunis as a heroine named Jupiter.

Linden
Linden Park is an affluent suburb of Adelaide. It was named after a house and estate which was built by Sir Alexander Hay in 1861. Linden trees (Tilia) are also called lime trees, although they are not closely related to the tree which produces lime fruit. They are tall, shady trees that have great significance in Germany and Eastern Europe, where they were seen as sacred; in German folklore, the linden is said to be the tree of lovers. Lindens have often featured in stories and poems, often as a symbol of love, protection, or resurrection. In Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way, the narrator dips his madeleine cake into a cup of lime-flower tea, which opens up a flood of memories. The word linden is from an ancient Germanic root which may mean “mild, soft”: the timber of the linden tree is soft and easily worked, making it ideal for carving. Linden has been used as a name since the 18th century, overwhelmingly for boys, and is found in Australian records quite often, mostly from around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, although I know a few men around my age named Linden. I haven’t seen it on a young child, but this is a handsome, soft-sounding tree name, not so different in sound from popular Lincoln.

Montrose
Montrose is a northern suburb of Hobart. It is named after Montrose House which was built in 1813 by a Scottish settler named Robert Littlejohn, a renowned painter, botanist and teacher. It is the third oldest house in the state, and is named after Montrose, on Scotland’s east coast. A picturesque resort town, it is regarded as a cultural centre, and known for its sculpture. The town’s name is usually thought to be from the Gaelic monadh, meaning “moor”, and ros, meaning “peninsula”. Folk etymology understands it as “mount of roses”, and the town’s Latin motto is Mare Didat, Rosa Decorat, meaning “the sea enriches, the rose adorns”. Montrose is also a surname, and the Duke of Montrose is a title in the Scottish peerage, held by the Graham family. Montrose has been used as personal name since the 18th century, and first used by the Grahams. It has been used for both sexes, but is more common as a male name. Scottish and aristocratic, this is like a cross between Montgomery and Ambrose, and has Monty as the obvious nickname.

Sorell
Sorell is a historic market town north-east of Hobart, now a dormitory suburb of the city. It is named after William Sorell, the state’s third Lieutenant-Governor. William Sorell did a good job of cleaning up the colony, which he had found in a fairly lawless and untidy position. The English surname Sorell is from the Old French nickname Sorel, meaning “chestnut”, and given to someone with reddish-brown hair. It has been in rare use since the 19th century, and is given to both sexes, although more common overall as a male name. It may be known from Sir Julian Sorell Huxley, biologist and brother of Aldous Huxley. An interesting, intelligent name that may sound too close to the word sorrow for some parents.

Stuart
Mount Stuart is a suburb of Hobart on a ridge with the wonderful name of Knocklofty. The suburb is named because of Mountstuart Elphinstone, a Scottish statesman and historian who was Governor of Bombay (now Mumbai). A ship named in the governor’s honour as the Mountstuart Elphinstone visited Hobart in 1836, bringing the welcome news that the cruel and unpopular Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur was ordered to return to London. In celebration of getting rid of him, two roads were named Mount Stuart Road and Elphinstone Road, and eventually the area became known as Mount Stuart. Mountstuart Elphinstone was probably named after Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute in Scotland, the seat of the Stuarts of Bute. They are descended from Robert II of Scotland, the first of the Stuart kings (the Elphinstones are related to the Stuarts). The name of the Stuart dynasty comes from Stewart, the Scottish form of steward, meaning a governor. The first of this surname was Walter Stewart of Dundonald, High Steward of Scotland. The Stuart dynasty ended up ruling Great Britain for more than a century, and it’s because of them that Stuart was used as a personal name. Stuart was #135 in the 1900s, joined the Top 100 in the 1940s and peaked in 1969 at #31. It left the Top 100 in the 1990s and hasn’t charted since 2010. Stewart was less popular, never reached the Top 100, and hasn’t charted since the early 2000s.

POLL RESULTS
People’s favourite names were Linden, Austin and Holden, and their least favourite were Montrose, Jupiter and Hobart.

(Photo shows Hobart)

Famous Name: Atlas

01 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

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astronomical names, Berber names, famous namesakes, Greek names, historical records, locational names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names of mountains, scientific names, UK name popularity, US name popularity

Name in the News
A Sydney publisher has put Australia (and the rest of the world) on the map after bringing out the world’s largest atlas. The happily-named Gordon Cheers first dreamed up the atlas 25 years ago, after seeing the huge Klencke Atlas at the British Library, presented to King Charles II in 1660.

The Earth Platinum atlas weighs 150 kg, is 1.8 metres tall and 2.7 metres across when it is open; it is 128 pages long, and each page needs two people to turn it. There are 61 pages of maps compiled by a team of 88 cartographers, showing maps of the continents and oceans, and very detailed regional maps.

As well as a double-page layout of the world’s flags, there are 27 photographic image of famous locations. One of them also broke the record for the world’s largest image in a book – it’s a picture of the Shanghai skyline made from over 12 000 photos. Last year the Earth Platinum atlas was recognised by the International Map Industry Association, and it has also entered the Guinness Book of World Records.

Only 31 copies of the limited edition atlas were produced, each one costing $100 000. One copy belongs to the British Library, who plans to exhibit it for six days each year. Officially launched on June 26, the only copy of Earth Platinum in Australia can be seen at the State Library of New South Wales until July 19.

Name Information
In Greek mythology, Atlas was one of the Titans, the ancient gods who preceded the Olympians, and who were the children and grandchildren of the earth goddess Gaia, and the sky god Uranus. The younger generation of gods, led by Zeus, waged war against their elders, and eventually prevailed, gaining dominion over the world.

Atlas was one of the leaders of the Titans during the war, and was given a special punishment – for all eternity, he was condemned to stand at the western edge of the earth (Gaia) and hold up the heavens (Uranus) on his shoulders, so that the twain should never meet.

Once the sky was able to lie upon the earth each night and mate with her, and from these couplings were born the Titans: now Zeus demanded that Atlas keep them separated forever, so that they could conceive no further gods. In other words, Atlas was to be used as a contraceptive device for deities.

Another tale tells of a giant named Atlas who tried to drive away the hero Perseus, fearing that he would steal the golden apples from Atlas’ garden. For this he was turned to stone by the head of the Medusa, becoming the Atlas Mountains in northern Africa.

This contradicts another story, where the hero Heracles had to fetch the golden apples from Hera’s garden, which was tended by Atlas’ daughters, the nymphs called the Hesperides. Heracles asked Atlas to fetch him the apples, offering to hold the sky up while he ran the errand. Atlas tried to trick Heracles into taking on the job permanently, but Heracles asked Atlas if he could just hold up the sky for a few minutes while he arranged his cloak as padding for his shoulders. Once Atlas took the heavens again, Heracles grabbed the golden apples and hoofed it, leaving Atlas holding the baby.

There is a nicer ending to the story, where Heracles built the Pillars of Hercules, the peaks flanking the Strait of Gibraltar near Spain; one of the pillars is the Rock of Gibraltar. Heracles told Atlas that from now on, the Pillars would hold up the heavens, liberating Atlas from his burdensome task.

It is not certain what the name Atlas means. The Roman poet Virgil translated it as related to “enduring”, possibly because he knew that a local name for the Atlas Mountains was Douris. Etymologists tend to interpret it as meaning “uphold, support”, although the name may actually be pre-Greek. The name of the Atlas Mountains is thought to be derived from a Berber word simply meaning “mountain”.

The Atlantic Ocean is named after Atlas, because it was seen as the western edge of the world. The mythical doomed Atlantis, vaguely located beyond the Pillars of Hercules in the Atlantic Ocean, means “island of Atlas”.

Plato says that the first king of Atlantis was named Atlas (not the Titan, but a son of Poseidon), and some believe that he based him on a legendary North African king named Atlas, a skilled astronomer and inventor of the first celestial globe, which mapped the constellations. The connection with North Africa and the heavens suggests the legendary king was inspired by the Titan.

It was 16th century geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator who first used the word atlas to mean a collection of maps, dedicating his own atlas to honour King Atlas, the legendary African astronomer. However, he conflated the king with the Titan Atlas, and even before that it had become traditional to show Atlas holding up the celestial spehere on early maps. Because of the connection with maps, we sometimes think of Atlas as holding up a globe of the world, although it is a puzzle how Atlas could stand on the earth while holding up the world.

Atlas has further connections to the heavens, because it is a star system in the constellation of the Pleiades, which is often called the Seven Sisters. The Titan Atlas was the father of seven sea-nymphs, and after he was sent off to carry the heavens, there was nobody around to take care of his daughters. The girls were pursued by the hunter Orion, so Zeus first turned them into doves, and then into stars so their father might see them in the sky and be comforted.

Another story is that the sisters committed suicide in despair at their father’s fate, and were immortalised as stars. Because astronomy places Atlas in the constellation as well, it seems he truly was liberated by Heracles, and can now be with his daughters for all time, protecting them from Orion, who you may still see pursuing the sisters across the night sky.

One of Saturn’s moons is named Atlas, because it appears to hold up the rings of Saturn, as if carrying them on its shoulders. It was decided that the major moons of Saturn would be given the names of Titans, as Saturn is the Roman name for Cronos, the head of the Titans. The name Atlas has also been given to one of the craters on our own moon (it’s right near Hercules).

Atlas has been used as a personal name since the 18th century, and became more common in the 19th century, especially in the United States. There are quite a few Atlases in Australian records, both male and female, and used as a first and middle name fairly equally.

Atlas made a couple of appearances on the US Top 1000 in the 19th century, and began charting again in 2013; it is currently #646 and rising. Actress Anne Heche welcomed a son Atlas in 2009, which seems to have increased interest in the name. In 2013, 12 baby boys were named Atlas in the UK, the name rising steeply since 2011. There is evidence that the name Atlas is growing in popularity in Australia too, although like the UK, still in rare use.

Atlas is a powerful, indeed a Titanic name, reminding us of famous strongman Charles Atlas. It suggests the brawn to hold up the heavens, and the fortitude to carry a load on his shoulders without complaining. However, not only are mythological names on trend, we are more comfortable now bestowing big names on little babies, and giving them something to aspire to.

And Atlas isn’t just a dumb muscle man – he’s a philosopher king who studied the cosmos, and glittering stars in one of the most familiar of our summer constellations. The name Atlas has also been chosen for several comic book and video game characters, giving it a bit of geek chic.

In short, if you are among the growing number of parents who are drawn to Atlas, you will be getting a strong yet simple name with a mountain of history, a world of legend, and an ocean of science behind it. Not to mention one heck of a lot of geography!

POLL RESULTS
Atlas received a decent approval rating of 65%. 17% of people thought it was too closely associated with the book of maps, but 16% saw it as strong and powerful, and another 16% as cool and different.

Famous Name: Laniakea

10 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

American names, astronomical names, Hawaiian names, locational names, name history, name meaning, nicknames, polynesian names

Do you remember being very young and beginning to discover how where you lived fit into the world? Maybe you realised the number on your front gate was part of your address, or found that the street you lived on was one of many streets in a suburb, and that suburb was in a city with thousands or even millions of people. Perhaps you saw Australia on a world map for the first time, and could see its relation to other countries – didn’t it look far away from anywhere else?

In time you learned that you were on a planet called Earth, and when you were taught about the solar system, discovered that the Earth was really quite small, and a long, long way away from other planets. And that we all revolved around a Sun which was a star, not a very big one, and one of around 100 thousand million in the Milky Way – one of more than a 100 billion galaxies in our universe.

I don’t know about you, but when I learned all this in astronomy class, it totally blew my mind. The same way it blew my mind when I was a toddler and began to gradually understand that our farm was one of many in our hamlet, and that we were all part of a town 25 km away, and the regional centre was 50 km away, and the state capital 300 km away, and the nation’s capital a great distance, and the next country even further than that, across the sea. It made me feel very small and a long way from everything.

And when you were little, did you ever write down your address in this fashion: My Bedroom, 11 Acacia Road, Seaforth, Manly, Northern Beaches, Sydney, Cumberland County, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania, Southern Hemisphere, The Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way, The Universe? Now there’s an another element to add to the address.

Astronomers have known for ages that the Milky Way is part of a larger cosmic structure, but it was too hard to figure where one group of galaxies ended and the next began. Recently a team of astronomers at the University of Hawaii, led by Brent Tully, have gathered measurements allowing scientists to define superclusters of galaxies. Their work, published this month in Nature, describes the vast group of galaxies to which the Milky Way belongs.

The name of our particular galactic supercluster is Laniakea, which is 520 million light years in diameter, and contains one hundred million billions Suns spread across 100 000 galaxies. The Milky Way is right on the fringes of Laniakea, on the edge of a vast empty region of space known as the Local Void, but we are constantly pulled towards a gravitational force in Laniakea’s centre which scientists have dubbed The Great Attractor.

Within the Laniakea Supercluster, we are part of the Virgo Local Supercluster, and beyond it are the neighbouring superclusters of Hercules, Coma, and Perseus-Pisces. Just as with the original problem of defining the edges of galaxies, it is not yet clearly known where the edges of Laniakea end and the edges of these other superclusters begin.

One surprise was that the Laniakea Supercluster is being pulled by a larger concentration of galaxies called the Shapley Supercluster, so we may be part of even greater structures that are yet to be discovered. Thus our universe expands as knowledge and comprehension grows.

Brent Tully, who has helped create our new map of the Milky Way’s environs, says: Seeing a map gives you a sense of place. For me, having that sense of place and seeing the relationship of things is very important in terms of understanding it. Thanks to Tully and his team, we have gained another insight into our place in the universe – and how small we are, and what a long way from everything.

The name Laniakea was suggested by Nawa’a Napoleon, associate professor of Hawaiian Language at Kapiolani Community College. The Hawaiian name can be translated in a number of ways, including “open skies”, “wide sky”, or “wide horizons”, but in this case it is understood as “immeasurable heavens”. The name was chosen to honour Polynesian navigators who studied the heavens in order to navigate the Pacific Ocean.

Laniakea is pronounced LAN-ee-uh-KAY-uh in the video from Nature I watched, although I have seen it written as la-NEE-uh-KAY-uh. It is well known in Hawaii, as it is the name of a surf beach famous for its sea turtles, and the name has been used for numerous businesses in the area. It does get very occasional use as a personal name, and although it is technically unisex, seems to have only been given to girls. Lani, Nia, and Kea are the obvious nicknames.

This is an elaborate Polynesian name which is unusual, but seems very usable in Australia, which has a significant Pacific Islander population, and where several Polynesian names are familiar. The short forms are very much on trend here.

While Laniakea has had some use as a Hawaiian name for girls, Hawaii has shared the name with the whole planet, and it now belongs to all of us. It’s not just a beautiful beach on the shores of a great ocean, but a multitude of galaxies whirling through the immensity of space, the “immeasurable heavens”. And it is our home.

POLL RESULTS
Laniakea received a very good approval rating of 72%. People saw the name Laniakea as beautiful or pretty (21%), having a cool cosmic connection (20%), and having a fantastic meaning (19%). However, 15% of people thought it was too long and complex. Only one person thought the astronomical background made the name Laniakea seem geeky.

Girls Names from Australian Children’s Literature

17 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists, Requested Names

≈ 10 Comments

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astronomical names, Babylonian names, Biblical names, classic names, english names, Etruscan names, fictional namesakes, flower names, French names, Greek names, hebrew names, Irish names, Italian names, Latin names, Median names, middle names, month names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, name trends, names from television, nature names, nicknames, plant names, popular names, retro names, Roman names, royal names, Semitic names, Shakespearean names, underused classics, underused names, unisex names

This week it is Children’s Book Week, which is run by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Librarians and teachers everywhere will be thinking up exciting new ways to encourage children to read, while the CBC has awarded prizes to the best new Australian children’s books. I thought it would be fun to join in the celebrations, and many of the books chosen are classics and award winners.

Amaryllis
I know two characters with this name. One is Amaryllis “Ryl” Mereweather, from H.F. Brinsmead’s Pastures of the Blue Crane (1964), about a teenage girl who inherits an old shack in northern New South Wales. (Name nerd bonus info: H.F. Brinsmead stands for Hesba Fay – Hesba is derived from the Greek hesperus, meaning “western”). The other is in Sally Odger’s fantasy Amy Amaryllis (1992), about an ordinary Australian girl named Amy Day who switches identities with a girl named Amaryllis Loveday, from a magical world named Ankoor. Amaryllis is a Greek name meaning “to sparkle”, perhaps to suggest sparkling eyes. In Virgil’s pastoral poems, The Eclogues, Amaryllis is a beautiful shepherdess, and the poet makes a play on words to suggest that her name comes from Latin amor, “love”. The amaryllis flower is often known as “Easter lily” in Australia; it is named after the literary character, so this is not just a simple flower name. Unusual and lovely, Amaryllis comes with a host of possible nicknames, including Amy, Ryl, Rylla, Lily, Lissy, and Mary.

Beatrice
In Playing Beatie Bow (1980) by Ruth Park, Beatie Bow is a local legend, a game that children play to frighten each other. But when teenage loner Abigail watches the game, she is brought to the Sydney of one hundred years earlier by a strange girl named Beatrice “Beatie” Bow. This classic is a YA time-travel historical mystery adventure with a dash of romance, and so firmly grounded in The Rocks area of Sydney that you can follow every step of Abigail’s journey. (Name nerd bonus info: Abigail’s parents named her Lynette, but when her parents separate, she chooses Abigail for herself, because it’s an “old witch” name). Beatrice is the Italian form of Beatrix, very famous because of the beautiful muse in Dante’s Divine Comedy. The name has been used in England since the Middle Ages, including by royalty; Princess Beatrice of York was named after a daughter of Queen Victoria, but itwas used in the royal family long before. It’s also a Shakespearean name, because in the comedy Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice is the witty heroine. Beatrice was #50 in the 1900s, and left the Top 100 in the 1930s; by the 1960s it had left the charts. It made a modest comeback in the 1990s, after the birth of Princess Beatrice, and has remained around the 500-600 level. This is an elegant retro name which has long remained underused. Bea is the usual nickname, although Beatrice Prior from the Divergent series goes by Tris.

Blossom
Little Ragged Blossom is one of the main characters in May Gibbs‘ Snugglepot and Cuddlepie series (1918-40), featuring her plump “gum nut babies”. Blossom is a poor little gum-blossom girl, alone in the world until she gains the friendship and protection of gum-nut boys Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. From then on, she is part and parcel of their adventures, and not infrequently plays the role of damsel in distress, such as when she needs rescuing from the wicked Banskia Men. Even now, I cannot see a gum tree in bloom without imagining the flowers as little blossom girls … The word blossom is used for flowers that grow in masses and clusters, especially on trees, and evokes spring and freshness. Blossom has been used as a girl’s name since the 18^th century, and is probably more common as a nickname, such as aviation engineer Maxine “Blossom” Miles, or a middle name, such as jazz singer (Margrethe) Blossom Dearie. On television, Blossom was one of the Powerpuff Girls, and Blossom Rosso the floppy-hatted heroine of sitcom Blossom. Ultra-feminine, quirky and cool, could Blossom be the ultimate flower name?

Celia
Feeling Sorry for Celia (2000) is Jaclyn Moriarty’s side-splittingly comic début epistolary YA novel. Private school girl Elizabeth spends most of her time fretting over her best friend Celia, whose life is one self-caused drama after another. However, a pen-pal programme with the local public school teaches Elizabeth how real friendship works. Celia is the feminine form of Caelius, a Roman family name traditionally derived from caelum, Latin for “heaven”. However, the Caelii traced their ancestry to the Etruscan hero Caeles Vibenna, so the name probably isn’t Latin in origin. It may come from Cel, the Etruscan earth goddess who is the equivalent of Gaia; her name means “honoured”, and the Etruscans named the month of Celi (September) after her. I like the idea of an earthy goddess becoming connected with heaven. Shakespeare used the name for an attractive, serious character in As You Like It, and Ben Jonson wrote the poem Song to Celia, which became Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes. These writers sparked interest in Celia as an English name in the 17^th century. This literary name is both rare and traditional, and doesn’t seem out of place next to popular names like Olivia and Sienna.

Dot
Ethel C. Pedley’s posthumous novel Dot and the Kangaroo (1899) is about a five-year-old girl named Dot who wanders off into the bush and gets lost. She is befriended by a kangaroo who has lost her joey, and gives Dot some magic berries that allow her to understand the speech of animals. It has a strong conservationist message in regard to our native flora and fauna, which is still very much needed. The book was the first to show Australian animals in a genuine Australian setting, and became an immediate favourite. Dot is a short form of Dorothy which dates to medieval times, and has been used as an independent name at least since the 17^th century. This adorably pert little name could honour a Dorothy, and also works well in the middle.

Esther
Ethel Turner’s Seven Little Australians (1894) is the only Australian book to be continuously in print for more than a century. Featuring a family of mischievous, lovable army brats who live in Sydney’s outer suburbs, it is surprising how little it has dated. Blended families, teen rebellion, obsession with body image, schoolgirl crushes, and discipline problems … all topics of interest more than a hundred years ago too. The seven little Australians are Meg, Pip, Judy, Nell, Bunty, Baby, and The General; their father is stern Captain Woolcot and stepmother (The General’s mother) is Esther. Esther is beautiful and sweet, but barely older than her eldest step-children, and incapable of really mothering them. Hilarious, heart-warming, and tragic, this is one of Australia’s best-loved children’s books. In the Bible, Esther was a Jewish queen of a Persian king; her story is the basis for the Jewish holiday of Purim. The meaning of Esther is much debated. It may be from a Semitic word meaning “star, morning star”, or a Median word meaning “myrtle” (the translation of her Hebrew name, Hadassah). Another theory is that it comes from the Babylonian fertility goddess Ishtar (Ishtar also represents the morning star, Venus). Esther was #73 in the 1900s, and left the charts in the 1920s. It reached its lowest point in the 1950s and ’60s at #379, but has climbed since then, and isn’t far outside the Top 100 in Victoria. This underused classic is very much on trend at present.

Harriet
Harriet, You’ll Drive Me Wild (2000) is a picture book written by kidlit doyenne Mem Fox, illustrated by Marla Frazee. Harriet Harris is a toddler who doesn’t mean to be naughty, but trouble follows in her wake without her even trying. Harriet’s mother is a calm woman who doesn’t like to yell, but Harriet pushes her to breaking point. The book helps explain to littlies why parents lose their cool. (Name nerd bonus info: Mem Fox’s full name is Merrion, but she has always gone by Mem). Harriet is the English form of Henriette, the feminine form of French Henri, and thus a feminine form of Harry. Harriet was #122 in the 1900s, and left the charts in the 1930s. It returned in the 1970s, and has been climbing ever since. Last year it was one of the fastest rising names of 2013, and joined the Top 100 at #89. Cute and spunky, it can be shortened to Hallie or Hattie – Hattie is a hen in Mem Fox’s Hattie and the Fox (1986).

Josie
Josephine Alibrandi, known as Josie to her friends, features in Melina Marchetta’s breakthrough YA novel, Looking for Alibrandi (1992). A coming of age story, its smart-mouth heroine is in her last year of school, dealing with boys, family, exams, mean girls, and her father, who left when she was a baby and has suddenly reappeared in her life. Looking for Alibrandi was an instant success upon publication, and has been called “the most stolen library book”. Josie is a short form of Josephine, used as an independent name since the 16^th century. It has sometimes been given to boys, as a short form of Joseph or Josiah. Josie first ranked in the 1920s at #291, and left the charts in the 1940s. It returned in the 1970s, and climbed before peaking in 2009 at #175. This is an underused retro name which doesn’t sound old-fashioned, but sassy and stylish.

Liesel
Liesel Meminger is the young girl in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief (2005), set in Nazi Germany during World War II, and narrated by Death himself. Liesel is illiterate at the start of the story, but through learning to read, discovers a lifelong love of words, and finds solace in stealing books to share with others. Against a backdrop of fear and horror, the story shows that books can feed the soul even in our darkest hours. The story does end up having an Australian connection, and a specific Australian setting is used in a very unexpected way. Liesel is a German pet form of Elisabeth, pronounced LEE-zel. Although it’s never charted in Australia, this charming name is very familiar because of Liesl from The Sound of Music, and swimmer Leisel Jones.

Norah
Norah Linton is the heroine of Mary Grant Bruce’s Billabong series (1910-42). Making her début in A Little Bush Maid at the age of twelve, Norah lives at Billabong Station in northern Victoria. She’s a hardy, spirited tomboy who loves horse-riding, camping, and fishing, and is a total daddy’s girl. The books haven’t aged too well, but Norah is an ancestor of other feisty, independent Australian heroines, such as Ryl Merewether and Josie Alibrandi. Norah is a variant of Nora, a pet form of names such as Honoria and Eleanor. It’s often thought of as particularly Irish, and records show many Norahs of the 18^th century were born in Ireland. Hip and arty, Norah is fast growing in popularity in both the UK and US, and already popular in Europe, but almost unknown in Australia. It deserves serious consideration by those keen to get ahead of the trends.

Thank you to Manday for suggesting the name Liesel be featured on Waltzing More Than Matilda, and for recommending The Book Thief be added to this list.

POLL RESULTS
The public’s favourite names were Beatrice, Harriet and Norah, and their least favourite were Josie, Blossom and Dot.

(Picture shows cover of Harriet, You’ll Drive Me Wild, from Mem Fox’s website)

Celebrity Baby News: Artistic Babies

05 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by A.O. in Celebrity Baby News

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

astronomical names, Australian Aboriginal names, celebrity baby names, name meaning

Alternative country-rock singer Henry Wagons, and his wife Melvis Crawford, welcomed their daughter Casper Henrietta eight months ago. Henry refers to his daughter as “Casper the friendly girl”. Henry is the front man for Melbourne band Wagons, who are about to release their sixth studio album, and are on an Australian tour. Melvis was once a DJ on the Team Disgusting radio show on Life FM in the UK, which included alternative comedian Noel Fielding.

Artist Bindi Cole, and her husband Daniel Chocka, welcomed a baby boy named Eli earlier this year. Bindi is an award-winning Melbourne artist who works principally with photography, and her works have been exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia, Gallery of Modern Art, Art Gallery of Western Australia, and Horsham Regional Art Gallery. Many of her works explore Indigenous culture and heritage, and also her Christian faith. Bindi’s name has been covered on the blog, and it is worth mentioning that her father ascribes the meaning “morning star” to it.

(Photo of Henry, Melvis, and Casper from Melvis Crawford’s Facebook page)

Names of Australian Birds for Boys

06 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

animal names, astronomical names, Biblical names, bird names, colour names, english names, fictional namesakes, German names, Greek names, historical records, Irish names, Latin names, modern classics, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names of rivers, nature names, nicknames, Roman names, saints names, scientific names, Scottish names, surname names, unisex names

Aquil
Aquila is the scientific name for eagles; large, powerful raptors found all over the world which are often used as symbols of kingship and empire. The eagle was the bird sacred to Zeus, and it is recognised as a Christian symbol of strong, enduring spirituality. Australia’s best known eagle is the Wedge-tailed Eagle, one of the largest birds of prey in the world. Easily recognised by its size and diamond-shaped tail, Wedge-tails can weigh up to almost 13 kg (28 lb), and wingspans have measured more than 250 cm (over 9 feet). Fierce defenders of their territory, Wedge-tails have been known to attack small aircraft. The Wedge-tail Eagle is an emblem of the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Service, the New South Wales Police Force, the Northern Territory Correctional Services, La Trobe University, and the Royal Australian Air Force. Aquila is a Latin name meaning “eagle”; it was fairly common amongst the Romans, and was also the name of the Roman military standard. Aquila is mentioned as one of the early Christians in the New Testament, and he is regarded as a saint. I have seen Aquil a few times as a boy’s name, perhaps because Aquila might be misunderstood as feminine, and it can be said uh-KWIL or uh-KEEL. It’s a strong, masculine name after a noble bird.

Callum
Columba is the scientific name for pigeons and doves; the word comes from the Greek for “dive, swim”, because pigeons make a swimming motion in the air as they fly. Australia has many native pigeons, but only one of them belongs to the Columba genus, and that is the White-Headed Pigeon. There are several saints named Columba, most notably the Irish missionary credited with spreading Christianity in Scotland. Columba is a Latinisation of his Irish name Colm Cille, meaning “dove of the church”. In Scotland, his name became Calum, and the variant Callum is a common name. Callum first charted in Australia in the 1960s, and first ranked in the 1970s at #467. It soared to make the Top 100 in the 1990s and peaked in the early 2000s at #56; it has just left the Top 100. However, it is a handsome modern classic with a lovely meaning, and is one of the softer boy’s names.

Cygnus
Cygnus is the scientific name for swans; large, graceful water birds which often feature in myth and legend. Helen of Troy was born from a swan’s egg after her mother was seduced by Zeus in the disguise of a swan, while the sun god Apollo drove a chariot drawn by swans. Irish and Australian Aboriginal legends both tell of people transformed into swans, and Hans Christian Anderson wrote about an “ugly duckling” who discovered he was really a beautiful swan. Swans are seen as holy in Norse mythology, and in Hinduism are revered as sacred. It was a belief in classical literature that the swan would sing beautifully upon death (hence the phrase “swan song” to mean a final performance), and the poet Juvenal sarcastically said that a good woman was as rare as a black swan. Of course, in Australia, black swans are not rare at all, although that doesn’t mean good women are more common here. The black swan is the state emblem of Western Australia, and Perth’s river is named the Swan in its honour. There are several characters from Greek mythology named Cygnus, many of which were turned into swans: one was a musician who was placed among the stars as the constellation Cygnus. This is an unusual bird name that sounds a little like Sidney and Silas, and as swans are symbols of love and fidelity, has attractive associations.

Finch
There are many small Australian birds named finches, although they are unrelated to the finches of the northern hemisphere. One of the most common is the Zebra Finch, found across the continent in drier areas; they live in large flocks, mostly in grasslands. Zebra Finches are grey with black and white stripes, hence their name, and males can be distinguished by a chestnut patch on their cheek. Male Zebra Finches are loud, boisterous singers, with each male having a unique song, which he learns from his father, and then gives it his own variation, so that there are recognisable similarities between the songs of bloodlines. Their singing is used as part of courtship, and the uniqueness of their songs has made them a popular subject for scientific research. Their singing also makes Zebra Finches popular as pets. Finch has been used as a boy’s name since the 16th century, and the surname has probably been of significant help. Current use may be inspired by Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird, a worthy namesake.

Jaeger
The Skuas are a group of sea birds resembling large, dark gulls. They are strong, agile fliers, and aggressive in defending their nests. The American term for the three smaller species of Skua is Jaeger, which is a German word meaning “hunter”. In Australia, we seem to use the American term rather than the British Skua. Jaegers hail from the Arctic and tundra, but come to the southern hemisphere during the northern winter, when their homelands are covered in snow and ice. It’s quite exciting to see one, if only because they have travelled such a vast distance to be here. The Jaeger is pronounced YAY-ger in English, although the German word is said more like YEH-ger. However, Jaeger is a common surname too, and many people pronounce it JAY-ger (quite a few people say the bird the same way). Not only is the English form of Jaeger, Hunter, a popular name for boys, but when said JAY-ger, it doesn’t sound too different from Jagger. Although deciding on pronunciation could be an issue, this is an interesting choice that isn’t as unusual as it might first appear.

Kestrel
The Kestrel is a small, slender bird of prey which is found in many parts of the world. The Australian Kestrel, also called the Nankeen Kestrel, is amongst the smallest of the falcons, and one of the rare raptors which can hover over its prey. Kestrels are found all over Australia, and are in the top ten of the most common Australian birds; its adaptability to a wide variety of environments is the key to its continued success. Kestrel has been used as a personal name since the 19th century, and the earliest record I can find for it is from Australia, used as a man’s middle name. It has been used fairly equally for both sexes, and because kestrels are quite dainty falcons, seems just as good for a girl as for a boy.

Peregrine
The Peregrine Falcon is a bird of prey found all over the world; it is the most widespread raptor, and one of the most widely found bird species. It is faster than any other creature on the planet when it is diving towards its prey, reaching speeds of over 320 km (200 miles) per hour. Peregrines have been used as hunting birds for thousands of years, and during the Middle Ages, was considered the bird most appropriate for a prince to hunt with. The Peregrine Falcon can be found all over Australia, although it isn’t common, and it often nests on cliffs – it will even nest on high buildings in cities. The name Peregrine comes from the Latin for “to wander, to travel”, perhaps because Peregrines can travel widely, or because their nests are difficult to find. Peregrine is also the English form of the Latin name Peregrinus, meaning “wanderer, traveller”. There have been several saints named Peregrine, who no doubt chose the name because it can be understood as “pilgrim”. This is an aristocratic boy’s name that has the charming Perry as its short form.

Philemon
Philemon is the scientific name for the Friarbirds, which are native to Australasia. The most conspicuous of them is the Noisy Friarbird, which as its name suggests, can kick up a heck of a racket. Noisy Friarbirds are not considered beautiful, being dull brownish-grey with a bald black head, a little horn on its bill, and bright red eyes. They are often considered to be pests because of their constant cackling, and voracious love of fruit. Yet I love their comical ugliness and gregarious chatter. I even enjoy sharing our fruit with them, because they prefer the old fruit rotting on the ground, on which they become hilariously tipsy: it’s always a party with the Friarbirds. Philemon is a Greek name which means “loving, affectionate”, and in a fable by the Roman poet Ovid, Philemon was a old man of Ancient Greece. He and his wife Baucis showed great hospitality to the gods, despite their poverty, and as reward, were granted their dearest wish, which was to die together. When they did, they were transformed into two trees, which intertwined in a show of affection. There are two saints named Philemon, one of whom was a church leader in the New Testament. With Philomena and Phillipa hip names for girls, why not Philemon for a boy?

Robin
Australasian Robins look slightly similar to, but are not closely related to the European Robin, or to the American Robin (which is a thrush). Some Robins have a red or pink breast, like their northern hemisphere namesakes, while others are yellow, grey, or white-breasted. They are fairly common in suburbia, and charming because of their small size and bright colouring. Many are inquisitive and confident around humans, and will become quite tame. Robin was originally used as a pet form of Robert, and given to boys: it is well known because of the English folk hero Robin Hood, Batman’s sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder, and Winnie-the-Pooh’s friend, Christopher Robin. It can be given to both sexes after the bird. Robin charted as a unisex name in Australia from the 1920s to the 1970s without reaching the Top 100 for either sex, but was markedly more popular for boys. It peaked for both sexes in the 1950s. Although it stopped charting for girls in the 1980s, it only left the charts for boys in the late 2000s. I have seen a few baby boys named Robin in recent birth notices, and this is a traditional, yet somewhat whimsical, name.

Teal
Teal are ducks found in several different areas in the world. There are two species of Teal native to Australia, and they can be found in wetlands, freshwater lakes, and marshes. Teal is also a blue-green colour, named after the Eurasian Teal which has this greenish colour around its eyes. Teal has been used as a personal name since the 18th century, and has been used for males and females in almost equal numbers. It was originally much more common for boys (I noted an Australian named Teal Wang on the blog, but don’t know whether it was a man or a woman). Ducks are charming and lovable birds, and teal is a beautiful colour – I think this is a nice, simple name for either sex.

POLL RESULTS
The public’s favourite names were Callum, Peregrine and Robin, and their least favourite were Aquil, Cygnus and Philemon.

(Photo shows a Wedge-tail Eagle in flight)

The People’s Choice of Girls Names – 2

15 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 11 Comments

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African names, American names, Arabic names, astronomical names, British names, celebrity baby names, created names, Creek names, Disney names, Dutch names, english names, epithets and titles, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, French names, germanic names, Greek names, hebrew names, honouring, Indian names, Italian names, Latin names, locational names, Maori names, middle names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names from ballet, names from films, names of rivers, Native American names, nicknames, Old Norse names, Persian names, Roman names, royal names, saints names, Sanskrit names, scandinavian names, screen names, Shakespearean names, surname names, Tibetan names, Tiv names, unisex names, virtue names, vocabulary names, Welsh names

Here are ten names for girls which have been often searched for to reach my blog. I chose names that aren’t in the Top 100, and come from a range of origins.

Anouk

Dutch and French short form of Anna. A famous namesake is celebrated French actress Anouk Aimée; she was born Françoise Dreyfus, and took the name Anouk from the first character she portrayed on film. The name became better known in the English-speaking world after the publication of the award-winning 1999 novel Chocolat, by British author Joanne Harris, in which there is a little girl named Anouk. The character of Anouk is based on the author’s daughter Anouchka, whose name is another pet form of Anna. The book was made into a movie in 2000. Actor and author Andrew Daddo has a daughter named Anouk, born a year after the film was released. Pronounced a-NOOK or an-ook, this exotic name doesn’t have an obviously “French” sound to it, and seems quite sophisticated.

Blythe

Variant of Blithe, an English virtue name meaning “cheerful, merry” which is first found in 16^th century Norfolk, stronghold of the Puritans. Although the name began as a girls name, it has been given to boys as well, particularly in the United States, and overall is fairly evenly divided between the sexes, although more common for girls. In the case of boys, the name probably comes from the surname, which is derived from any of the places called Bligh, Blyth or Blythe; they get their name from the River Blyth in Northumberland, the River Blythe in Warwickshire, or the River Blithe in Staffordsire. The names of the rivers simply come from the word blithe, so in either case the name has the same pleasant meaning. A famous namesake is American actress Blythe Danner, mother of Gwyneth Paltrow; her name is a middle name of Gwyneth’s daughter, Apple. This is a fresh, sprightly name which has a modern feel despite its long history.

Cordelia

Cordelia is a princess in William Shakespeare’s King Lear, a loyal daughter who is disowned by her father because she will not make flattering speeches to him, with tragic results. The character is based on Queen Cordeilla, a legendary queen of the Britons who appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of Britain. According to Geoffrey, Cordelia ruled Britain as queen, but came to grief because the rule of a woman was deemed unacceptable. Cordelia is also mentioned in Edmund Spenser’s epic poem, The Fairie Queene, where her role as heroic British queen was probably a compliment to Queen Elizabeth I. The first Cordelias were born around the time The Faerie Queene was published, and were from upper-class families. There is a popular but unsubstantiated theory that Geoffrey of Monmouth based the name Cordeilla on that of Creiddylad (said cree-THIL-ahd), a character in Welsh Arthurian legends who was the daughter of the god Lud, and considered the most beautiful girl in Britain. Another idea is that Geoffrey may have based the name on that of Saint Cordula, a legendary companion of Saint Ursula whose name is from the Latin for “heart” (Cordeilla is also found spelled Cordoyla, which offers this some support). Still another is that it may be derived from the Roman name Cordus, meaning “late born”, with the implication that as Cordelia was King Lear’s youngest daughter, he had her late in life. Although all these suggestions are attractive, the last one may appeal most to older parents. If you are a fan of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne books, you will remember that the heroine wished her name was Cordelia – because it is “perfectly elegant”. This literary name still seems refined, and can be pronounced cor-DEE-lee-uh, or cor-DEEL-yuh.

Giselle

Derived from the Germanic name Gisela, meaning “pledge, hostage”. Although the word hostage has rather alarming associations today, in the past it was common for political treaties to be accompanied by the exchange of political hostages, as a guarantee of good faith and to maintain peace. Often the children of the ruling classes, even princes and princesses, would be handed over to be raised and educated by a foreign court, with hopes of greater cultural understanding between nations. Gisela and Gisèle (the French form) were popular names amongst medieval nobility and royalty. The name received a huge boost in the 19^th century, because of the romantic ballet, Giselle. It tells of an innocent village girl named Giselle who dies of a broken heart after being betrayed by her lover. However, as a sign of her forgiving nature, after her death she protects the man she loves from the spirits of vengeance, and saves his life. Another fictional Giselle is the sweet peasant girl who makes a happy-ever-after transition from cartoon fantasy land to gritty real world in the Disney film, Enchanted. Graceful and fairytale, Giselle is usually pronounced ji-ZEL in Australia, and is #161 in Victoria.

Ingrid

Derived from the Old Norse name Ingríðr, meaning something like “beloved of Ing, beauty of Ing, delight of Ing”. Ing is an older name for the Norse god Freyr – perhaps his true name, because Freyr means “lord” and is his title. Freyr was a phallic fertility god who brought peace and pleasure, and was associated with sacred kingship, male sexuality, prosperity, and sunshine. In Norse legend, Ing is the god followed by the Germanic peoples of the area which is now Denmark and its surrounds, and he is claimed as the first king of Sweden, as well as the progenitor of the Anglian kings. Ingrid is a traditional name amongst Scandinavian royalty and nobility, and there is a young Princess Ingrid of Norway, who is expected to one day be queen. A famous namesake is beautiful Swedish-born movie star Ingrid Bergman, who starred in many Hollywood movies, including Casablanca. Ingrid has a strong and chiselled beauty, and is #481 in Victoria.

Piata

Maori name meaning “shine, glisten”. It isn’t unusual in New Zealand, and is still given to girls today; it can also be found as a surname. It’s not common in Australia, but I think it would work well here, and has a pleasingly cross-cultural feel, since it is similar to Italian Pia and Pieta. I believe it is pronounced pee-AH-ta.

Soraya

Persian form of the Arabic name Thurayya, meaning “the Pleiades”. The Pleiades is the familiar group of stars in the constellation Taurus, sometimes known as The Seven Sisters. The name became better known in the west because of two royal Sorayas. Soraya Tarzi was a liberal Muslim and feminist who married into the monarchy of Afghanistan and became queen; she appeared in public alongside her husband as an equal and together they tried to modernise their country. Afghanistan wasn’t quite ready for it, and the couple went into exile in Rome in 1929. Even more influential was Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, who was Queen of Iran as the second wife of the last Shah. Very attractive and western-educated, Soraya and her husband were forced to divorce in 1958 because she was apparently infertile. She also went into exile, under the name Princess Soraya, and lived in France, where her story evoked much sympathy. Her divorce inspired a song, I Want to Cry Like Soraya, and a variety of sunflower was named in her honour. A beautiful star name, Soraya is similar to familiar names like Sarah and Zara, and in Australia is usually pronounced soh-RAY-uh.

Tallulah

A place name of Native American origin, this probably means “town” in the Creek language. Tallulah Falls is a small town in Georgia, in the United States, which has attracted tourists since the late 19^th century. Parts of the film Deliverance were filmed there, so you may even have seen it on screen. Tallulah has been used as a girls name since the 19^th century, and records show that the name originated in the southern states, with most Tallulahs born in Georgia. The most famous namesake is flamboyant actress and party girl Tallulah Bankhead, who was from Alabama, and named after her grandmother. Despite being a name of American origin, Tallulah has never charted in the US, and is far more popular in the UK. Tallulah Bankhead was a huge celebrity in 1920s London, and her name is very fashionable in England, chosen as a baby name by the upper classes and minor royals. Spunky, sexy and fun to say, this fits in with familiar names such as Tully and Tahlia, and comes with cute nicknames like Lula and Lulu.

Uma

This Indian name is one of the epithets of the benevolent mother goddess Parvati, the wife of Shiva. Its original meaning is “mother (goddess, wife of) Shiva”. Because Parvati is a goddess of light, the name Uma also came to be understood as meaning “light, radiance”. In a previous incarnation, the goddess (then called Sati) committed suicide by throwing herself on a sacrificial fire, and her ashes became the sacred spice turmeric; because of this the name Uma came to be understood as meaning “turmeric”. The meaning of Uma is also glossed as “O child, do not (practice austerities)!”, because as a young girl Parvati’s mother chided her for the extreme ascetisim she practicised in order to please her future husband, Shiva. By coincidence, uma is literally translated as “flax” in Sanskrit, although this doesn’t seem to have any connection to the goddess. The most famous namesake is American actress Uma Thurman, whose name is said to have a different origin. Uma’s father was the first westerner to become a Buddhist monk, and the term uma chenpo means “Great Middle Way” in Tibetan – one of the guiding principles of Buddhism. In modern Hebrew, uma means “nation”, and in Israel Uma is a patriotic unisex name. In the Tiv language of West Africa, the name Uma means “life”, and can be used for both sexes. Simple yet multi-layered, this is a fascinating cross-cultural name which isn’t common in any country of the world.

Xanthe

Ancient Greek name meaning “yellow, yellow-brown”, often translated as “blonde, fair-haired”. There are several figures from Greek mythology with the name. Xanthe was one of the Oceanides, the three thousand daughters of the Titan sea gods Oceanus and Tethys. The Oceanides were nymph-like goddesses who were responsible for the world’s fresh water, and were often pictured married to river gods. In some sources, Xanthe is imagined as presiding over the yellow clouds that can be sometimes be seen at sunrise or sunset. Xanthe is also given as the name of one of the Amazon warriors, and Hesiod mentions Xanthe as being the mortal wife of Asclepius, the god of medicine. Actress Madeleine West welcomed a daughter named Xanthe last year. This quirky, stylish name is usually pronounced ZAN-thee in Australia, and comes with the cool nickname Xan or Zan. The name is #469 in Victoria.

POLL RESULT: People’s favourite names Blythe, Cordelia and Xanthe, and their least favourite were Giselle, Piata and Uma.

(Photo shows a scene from the ballet Giselle, performed by the Queensland Ballet)

Names of Fictional Characters for Girls

10 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 18 Comments

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Arrietty

Arrietty Clock is a teenage “borrower” from Mary Norton’s classic children’s fantasy book series, The Borrowers. The borrowers are tiny people who live by “borrowing” everyday items from the Big People, who they call “human beans”. Because of the spirited Arrietty’s curiosity, she and her family end up having far more adventurous lives than the average borrower. In the UK issue of the Japanese animated film Arietty’s World, inspired by the books, Arrietty is voiced by Saoirse Ronan; in the US issue, by Disney actress Bridgit Mendler. Like everything else they own, the borrowers’ names have also been “borrowed”, and used in new ways. Arrietty is reminiscent of the word arietta, meaning “little song, a small aria” in Italian. However, it is also very similar to the name Harriet, and the short form Etty. As Aria and Harriet are quite popular, and Etta very hip, Arrietty is one of those invented names which we are half-surprised wasn’t used before the books’ publication.

Arwen

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings, Arwen Undómiel is an Elven princess, said to be the most beautiful of the last generation of the High Elves. She is the lover of the hero Aragorn, and because she is an immortal, Arwen must sacrifice a great deal to be with her love. In the Peter Jackson films, she is played by Liv Tyler. In the Elvish Sindarin language created by Tolkien, Arwen is said to mean “noble maiden”. However, Tolkien did not invent the name itself, which is a modern Welsh name. It may be a feminine form of Arwyn, which I have seen translated as “very fair, greatly blessed, splendid”. In the UK, the name began charting around the time The Fellowship of the Ring came out, and is currently #654 and rising. This does have a (short) history as a genuine Welsh name, and was given to a very lovely fantasy princess.

Bellatrix

Bellatrix Lestrange is an evil witch in the Harry Potter fantasy series, the Dark Lord Voldemort’s most faithful follower. In the films, she is played by Helena Bonham-Carter. Bellatrix was born into the Black family, and like all members of that clan, she is named after a star. Bellatrix is the common name of Gamma Orionis, a bright star in the constellation of Orion. Its name is Latin for “female warrior”, which was originally given to Capella, and then transferred to Gamma Orionis. It is also known as the Amazon Star, a loose translation of its Arabic name, which means “the conqueror”. Bellatrix Lestrange’s name is apt because she is a skilled warrior for Voldemort, and has won many duels. This name sounds very usable, because it has the popular Bella in it, and the -trix from hip Beatrix. However, while the Harry Potter character has raised the name’s profile, it’s also a stumbling block, because the character is evil – and not in a cool “strong yet misunderstood woman” way. Bellatrix is a fanatical racist with a love for murder and torture, and a starstruck Voldie fangirl with an annoying little-girl voice. So on one hand: great name. On the other: horrible association.

Iridessa

Iridessa is the name of one of the fairies in the Disney Fairies franchise. Her talent is working with light, and she wears a yellow dress, lives in a sunflower, and has clear fairy wings. In the movies, she is voiced by Raven-Symoné. Iridessa is a perfectionist and a worrier; she likes to look on the bright side of things, but can usually sense trouble approaching. When disaster strikes, she rushes in to save the day, and brings sunshine, light and brightness to every situation. The name Iridessa seems to be based on the word iridescent, meaning “producing rainbow-like colours; brilliant, lustrous, prismatic”. The word is derived from Iris, the name of the goddess of the rainbow, so you could see Iridessa as a modern spin on the older name. I have seen a baby with this name, and it’s been frequently Googled, so it seems that people find the name of this fairy intriguing. It’s not surprising, with such an attractive namesake associated with light. Looking for a nickname? Iridessa goes by Dess.

Khaleesi

Khaleesi is extremely unusual as an invented name, because it is not the name of a fictional character, but rather her title. In George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, khaleesi is the word for the wife of a khal or ruler, in the Dothraki language from the novels. The Dothraki are a nomadic indigenous people without a written language, so the spelling of khaleesi in the novels must come from another culture. In Martin’s novel series, shy Daenerys Targaryen adopts the title of Khaleesi when she weds powerful Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo, and as his queen, grows in strength and confidence, becoming a leader in her own right known as “the Mother of Dragons”. In the television series based on the books, A Game of Thrones, the role of Daenerys is played by Emilia Clarke. Since the television series began airing in Australia, there has been a spike of interest in the name, with about 25 baby girls called Khaleesi born this year. For some reason, the name is far more popular in Queensland than elsewhere – possibly because of the connection with queens.

Lorelei

The Lorelei is the name of a famous rock on the River Rhine in Germany, and also the name of a beautiful water sprite or siren associated with the rock, who is supposed to lure men to their doom. More prosaically, the current of the river is very strong here, which explains the many accidents which have occurred in the area. The character of the Lorelei comes from a 19^th century German ballad which poet Heinrich Heine turned into a poem called Die Lorelei, where a golden-haired siren unwittingly distracts men with her beauty so they crash onto the rocks. The poem has often been set to music and turned into songs, and is part of German popular culture. The name Lorelei is a combination of German dialect and Celtic, and means “murmuring rock”. Lorelei is the name of the alluring blonde in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; in the film she is played by Marilyn Monroe. The name also features in garrulous gabfest Gilmore Girls, where both mother and teen daughter share the name Lorelei (the younger goes by Rory). Comedienne Kat Davidson named her daughter Lorelei “Rory” this year. Said LOR-uh-lie, this is better known in the US, where it is #531.

Pollyanna

Pollyanna Whittier is the title character of the Pollyanna books by Eleanor H. Porter; the series was continued by a number of writers. Pollyanna is an eleven-year-old orphan who is sent to live with her Aunt Polly in New England, and her sunny disposition soon teaches her stern relative, and the whole town, how to play the “Glad Game” – where you always look for something to feel glad about. While many are charmed by the heroine’s upbeat view of life, cynics find her too syrupy and her philosophy simplistic. Because of this, the word Pollyanna has entered our language to mean someone optimistic to the point of naivety or refusal to face facts. Pollyanna is a combination of Polly and Anna – Polly is a medieval variant of Molly, a pet form of Mary. This would be a difficult name to give a child in many ways, but would make a sunshiney middle, and easily shortens to Polly.

Rogue

Rogue is a character from the X-Men Marvel comic books created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. She is one of the team of mutant superheroes under the auspices of Professor Xavier, who recruits and trains young mutants to use their powers for the benefit of humanity. Rogue considers her special ability something of a curse, as she involuntarily absorbs, and sometimes removes, the memories, strength, and superpowers of anyone who touches her. For most of her life, she limited her physical contact with others, even loved ones, until after many years she was able to gain full control of her abilities. It was eventually revealed that Rogue was a code name, and her real name Anna Marie. In the movies, she is played by Anna Paquin. A rogue is a scoundrel or rascal. More to the point, a rogue animal is one which separates itself from the herd, and in horticulture the word rogue is used to describe a plant which has an undesirable mutation and must be destroyed. Anna Marie seems to have chosen Rogue as her code name to express her bitterness at the biological difference she had been lumbered with. This name can be used for both sexes; I saw it on a baby girl last year.

Scarlett

Scarlett O’Hara is the protagonist of Margaret Mitchell’s best-selling Civil War novel, Gone with the Wind; in the film version she was played by Vivien Leigh. Slender and attractive, Scarlett is flirtatious and charming, but doesn’t fit the mould of a typical Southern Belle. Smart, feisty, stubborn and very strong-willed, she nevertheless is inwardly insecure. What makes Scarlett such an interesting character are her many flaws – she is vain, selfish, spoiled, unscrupulous and manipulative, but hard as nails, with an overpowering survival instinct. Scarlett is an English surname from Norman French, referring to someone who dyed or sold brightly-coloured cloth, which was often red. It has been used as a unisex name since the 17^th century, but is now usually thought of as feminine. The character’s full name is Katie Scarlett O’Hara, and she was named after her grandmother. Margaret Mitchell originally planned to call her heroine Pansy, and changed it to Scarlett just before the novel went to print. Scarlett first ranked in the 1990s at #467, the decade in which American actress Scarlett Johansson made her film debut. It climbed precipitately to join the Top 100 in the mid-2000s, and is currently #25 nationally, #23 in New South Wales, #17 in Victoria, #33 in Queensland, #17 in South Australia, #22 in Western Australia, #21 in Tasmania, and #26 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Velvet

Velvet Brown is the heroine of Enid Bagnold’s novel, National Velvet, about a teenager who rides to victory in the brutally difficult Grand National Steeplechase, the most valuable jump race in Europe. The story is about the ability of ordinary people to achieve great things – Velvet is a plain, rather sickly girl from a working-class family, and the horse she wins on is a piebald. The movie version chucks most of this inspiring message aside so they can show a radiantly pretty pre-teen Elizabeth Taylor galloping about on a chestnut thoroughbred. Velvet is a fabric which was originally very expensive to make, and therefore associated with nobility and royalty. The word is from Old French, and comes from the Latin for “tuft, down”, because of velvet’s distinctive texture. It has been used as a name since the 19^th century, and has been given to both genders, but mostly to girls. This unusual fabric name is warm and luxurious, perhaps even rather sensual.

POLL RESULT: People’s favourite names were Lorelei, Arrietty, and Scarlett, and their least favourite were Rogue, Pollyanna, and Khaleesi.

(Picture is of Iridessa, from Disney website)

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