Famous Name: Kip

27 Wednesday Apr 2016

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Australian slang terms, famous namesakes, name history, name meaning, nicknames, patriotic names, rare names, UK name popularity, US name popularity, vintage names

It was Anzac Day on Monday, a national day of remembrance. It is also closely connected with a form of gambling called two-up, a coin toss game where two coins are flipped on a flat wooden paddle by the “spinner”. Players bet on whether the coins land as two heads, two tails, or a head and a tail, called “odds”.

Two-up has become a part of the Australian identity, and is considered to be our national game. You can see games of two-up depicted in the films The Sundowners, Forty Thousand Horsemen, The Shiralee, and Wake in Fright, and it features in songs by AC/DC and Little River Band. The novel Come in Spinner by Dymphna Cusack takes its title from the call given by players to encourage the spinner at the start of play.

Although pitch and toss games were popular among the convicts and on the goldfields, it is thought that the game of two-up as we know it evolved among Australian soldiers during World War I. Not only does the art of war involve a lot of hanging about, but Australians were the best-paid soldiers in the First World War, with disposable income to burn. Gambling was therefore a popular pastime, and became a traditional game for Australian troops.

When returned soldiers came home to Australia, two-up was illegal, but a tactfully blind eye was turned by authorities when it was part of Anzac Day celebrations. It was only in the late 1980s and early 1990s that it became legal to play two-up on Anzac Day (you can also legally play it on Victory in the Pacific Day and on Remembrance Day after midday, although there are certain places, such as casinos, where you can play two-up on any day of the year).

The big catch under the Gaming Act is that you are not allowed to make a financial profit from two-up, and if you organise a game and end up making money, you are required to donate it all to charity. So this is a form of gambling you can play knowing that the money is going to a good cause. And if you end up giving away some of you hard-earned cash, that’s a small sacrifice to make compared to those who gave their lives for their country.

Name Information
The flat piece of wood which holds the coins in a game of two-up is called the kip. The origin of the slang term is not known for sure, but it may the same as the British slang kip, meaning “a short sleep”.

If so, the slang term kip comes from the Dutch kippe, meaning a cheap tavern or dosshouse, which by the 19th century had become a slang term for a brothel (cheap taverns and dosshouses having a tendency to be used in this way).

In either a tavern, dosshouse or brothel, although you might get a chance to doze off, you aren’t expecting it to be a place where you can regularly bed down – hence kip to suggest a short snooze. In Ireland, kip is still used to mean a dirty, messy place, in keeping with the meaning of an unsavoury inn.

The use of the word kip for the paddle used in two-up suggests that it was in such low dives that the game had its origins, or at least that it was a popular form of entertainment in such venues.

Kip is also used as a boy’s name, perhaps originating as a nickname for Christopher or Charles, but in practice often short for a surname such as Kipling, or a “true nickname” with no connection to the name at all.

Use of the name dates to at least the 19th century, although it isn’t possible to tell from records how often the name was given independently rather than as a nickname. The name is particularly associated with the United States, where it once had a bit of social cachet as an upper class nickname.

Kip was on the US Top 1000 from the end of World War II until the mid 1980s, peaking at #380 in 1965. In 2014, there were 50 baby boys named Kip in the US and 12 named Kipp (boys named Kipton, Kipper, and Kipling could well be called Kip for short). In the UK in the same year, there were 5 boys named Kip.

A famous Australian namesake is the amusingly named Kip Gamblin, a ballet dancer who has worked on several opera operas, both here and in America; his dance background has seen him chosen for the movie Moulin Rouge!, and for teen drama series Dance Academy. The name might also remind you of Kip McGrath Education Centres, the tutoring business founded by an Australian schoolteacher named Kip.

Former AFL footballer Brodie Holland and his wife, former model Sarita Stella, named their son Kip, twin brother to Bowie. The inspiration for Kip’s name was model/actor Kip Pardue, whose nickname came about because the initials of his name, Kevin Ian Pardue, spell KIP.

I have seen a few baby boys named Kip in recent years, and this looks like a short vintage-style nickname due for a comeback, in the style of Gus and Ned. Cute and fresh, Kip also manages to slyly reference an Australian tradition: it’s patriotic in a much more subtle way than Anzac and Digger. The name may be rare, but isn’t as much of a gamble as you might think.

POLL RESULTS
Kip received an approval rating of 69%. People saw the name Kip as fun and friendly (29%), and cute and charming (17%), but 21% thought it was only suitable as a nickname. Nobody thought the name Kip was dorky or nerdy.

(Picture shows a commemorative two-up set, complete with wooden kip; although this set has specially made coins, traditionally it is played with Edwardian era, or at least pre-decimal, coins)

Waltzing With … Sydney

07 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by A.O. in Waltzing with ...

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Famous City
On Australia Day, January 26, we celebrate the start of European settlement in Australia, when the First Fleet landed at Sydney Cove in 1788. Not much was actually done on this day – the ships landed, they ran up a flag, and drank a toast to the king. Few people went onshore, and convicts did not begin disembarking until the following day.

It was on February 7 1788, 228 years ago today, that the colony was proclaimed by Governor Arthur Phillip. Everyone gathered for a ceremony where possession was formally taken of the east coast of Australia by Britain – although the description of offshore territories was left sufficiently vague that it’s possible they also took New Zealand at the same time.

They did not acknowledge the Indigenous population as owners of the land, but Governor Phillip did intend to treat them humanely and kindly. Unfortunately these good intentions didn’t work out that well in the long term, mostly due to cultural ignorance and the fact they were about to unknowingly decimate the local population with a bunch of diseases.

People love to make myths about the founding of nations and cities, and in the case of Sydney, it has a strange and salacious foundation myth. It states that when the convict women were finally allowed off the boat on February 6, there was such a burst of pent-up sexual excitement that the day ended with a drunken orgy. How an orgy works when there are many more men than women is left to our imaginations.

Male historians and writers seemed to be especially fond of this urban legend, apparently loving the idea that Sydney was founded on a hotbed of drunken gang rape. They helped spread it even when they knew it wasn’t true, because there is barely a shred of evidence to support it. The soldiers’ wives were allowed off the ships not long after their husbands, and a few hand-picked convict women on February 5.

The next day, the rest of the convict women disembarked in small groups, surprising one commentator who found them cleaner and better-dressed than expected. There were no drunken convicts, because they weren’t given any alcohol. The big event was the weather, alarming to the British but entirely normal for a Sydney summer – a hot, muggy day ended with a spectacular thunderstorm, including a massive lightning strike which killed a handful of sheep. Thankfully the sheep have been left out of the orgy legend.

There was certainly plenty of sex in early Sydney, but probably most of it was between people who were already in partnerships, or at least knew each other previously. Instead of a mass orgy, there was a burst of weddings which took place in the new colony, as people settled down together and raised families – these came quickly, as everyone appeared to get pregnant easily in Sydney, even those considered barren, so that the land seemed healthy and fertile.

That was the start of Sydney as we know it – not the boozy party town you might have thought, but still a place of love and hope, new life and fresh beginnings, myths and legends, sunshine and storms, and minor miracles. Not to mention the occasional lightning-struck sheep: surely the progenitor of the traditional lamb chop on the barbie.

Name Information
Captain Arthur Phillip’s first idea for the city’s name was New Albion, a poetic way to refer to England. However, he soon changed his mind, and named it Sydney after Thomas Townshend, Baron Sydney, who was the Home Secretary. This wasn’t a first – Sydney in Nova Scotia had been named after Townshend three years earlier.

The choice of Sydney made a lot of sense, because Thomas Townshend was recognised as the originator of the plan to colonise New South Wales (at that time, the whole eastern seaboard of Australia).

He also gave the colony its first constitution and judicial system – a sign that he did not want New South Wales to be a mere penal settlement, but a colony of free citizens under English law. Although his ideals may not have always worked out in the reality of colonisation, his determination that slavery be illegal here was at least a promising start.

Townshend had originally wanted his title to be Baron Sidney, after his ancestor Sir Algernon Sidney, the famous republican, patriot and martyr, whose revolutionary ideas would help bring about the founding of the United States.

However, Townshend worried that other family members might stake a claim to it (even barons have to worry about name stealing!), so he thought about making his title Sydenham, the name of a village near his home in Kent which is now a suburb of London.

Sydnenham may mean “Cippa’s village”, which is sometimes translated as “drunkard’s village” (there are many places in England derived from Cippa, so that adds up to a lot of drunk Anglo-Saxons!). Others prefer the less controversial “market village”.

Eventually, Thomas Townshend managed to find a compromise with Sydney. To make it clear he wasn’t trying to steal Algernon Sidney off any relatives, he said it was in honour of his ancestor Sir Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, the brother of the poet Sir Philip Sidney, who brought us the name Stella. Sir Robert was a poet as well, a diplomat and patron of the arts in Elizabethan and Jacobean times.

In the days when people were more relaxed about spelling, the Sidney family often spelled their name Sydney. The aristocratic surname Sidney is from a place name meaning “wide island” – in this case, island refers to a dry patch in a wetland. It can also be loosely translated as “at the watermeadow”. Folk etymology connects it with the suburb of St. Denis in Paris, named after the city’s patron saint. The surname originates from Kent, where the Sidney family had a seat at Tunbridge Wells.

Sydney has been used as a personal name since at least the 16th century, and was in use by the Townshend family. The name was originally given to both sexes fairly evenly, and then gradually became more common as a girl’s name, although still given to boys. By the 19th century, the situation reversed and it became much more common for boys – a variant of Sidney, rather than a feminised form of it.

Famous people named Sydney include Sydney Smirke, the architect who designed the famous Carlton Club in London; witty author Sydney Smith, whom Henry Tilney in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey is said to be based; actor Sydney Greenstreet; Sydney Silverman, the British MP whose efforts helped bring about the abolition of the death penalty in that country; American astrologer Sydney Omarr; and Hollywood director and producer Sydney Pollack.

Two famous actors named one of their children Sydney. Comic genius Sir Charles “Charlie” Chaplin had a son named Sydney, named in honour of Chaplin’s brother, actor Sydney Chaplin. Distinguished Hollywood star Sir Sidney Poitier has a daughter named Sydney, apparently named after himself. Both Sidney Earle Chaplin and Sydney Poitier entered the acting profession.

The most famous Sydney in fiction is Sydney Carton, from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Although a flawed character, he redeems himself through an act of heroism, and Dickens gives him some farewell lines that are among the most quoted in English literature.

In Australia, Sydney charted as a unisex name from 1900 to the 1960s. It peaked in the 1910s at 222 births per year, but by the 1950s registered only 4 births per year. Although recent data is hard to come by, it would seem that Sydney is still given to both sexes, with perhaps more girls with the name overall. It is in steady but unobtrusive use.

In the UK, Sydney was a popular name for boys from the 19th century until the 1940s. Since the mid-1990s, it hasn’t been popular for either sex, and consistently charts higher for girls. Currently it is in the 300s for girls, and the 800s for boys. The name peaked for both sexes in 2001, the year after the Sydney Olympics, when it was #206 for girls and #805 for boys.

In the US Sydney charted for boys steadily from the 19th century until the 1950s, after which use became sporadic. It was last on the Top 1000 as a boy’s name in 1996, and has never charted higher than the 300s.

As a girl’s name, Sydney had a burst of use from the 1930s to the 1960s, but at lower levels of use than for boys named Sydney. After coming back in the early 1980s, the name was been consistently on the Top 1000 as a girl’s name, and was a Top 100 name from 1994 to 2013. it peaked in the early 2000s at #23 (around the time of the Sydney Olympics) and is currently just outside the Top 100.

It’s interesting that even though the name Sydney came well before the city of Sydney, the city inspired the name to peak at the time of the Summer Olympics in 2000.

Sydney may have passed its Olympian peak, but this is an appealing vintage unisex name that could honour someone named Sidney, or the city of Sydney. Despite being an “American-style” name, it will always have an undeniable Australian connection.

POLL RESULTS

As a girl’s name, Sydney received an approval rating of 78%, making it one of the top-rated names of 2016. 35% of people thought it was a good name, but 9% hated it. It was less valued as a boy’s name, although still gaining a reasonable approval rating of 67%. 26% of people thought it was a good name, and 12% hated it.

(Picture shows Circular Quay in Sydney, the area where the First Fleet landed at Sydney Cove in 1788)

Waltzing With … Lachlan

06 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by A.O. in Waltzing with ...

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Famous Namesakes
The name Lachlan has a long history in Australia because of Lachlan Macquarie, a British military officer born in the Hebrides who served as the fifth and last Governor of New South Wales. While still a teenager, he served during the American War of Independence, and saw active service in India and Egypt, eventually being promoted to the rank of Major-General.

Lachlan served his term as Governor from 1810-1821, and he had plenty to cope with, as the colony was disorderly following the Rum Rebellion against the former Governor, William Bligh. There was also a severe drought during his term, which brought about a financial depression, and the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 led to a huge increase in Australia’s population from both settlers and convicts. Despite these challenges, Lachlan loved Sydney’s climate and setting, and saw the colony in very positive terms.

This was the period of Australia’s history where it was in transition from a penal colony to a free settlement. Lachlan held liberal views towards convicts, pardoning them as often as possible. He scandalised settlers by accepting freed convicts into society, and appointing them to government positions – even as magistrates. He sponsored massive exploration, and established Bathurst, the first inland city.

He spent lavishly on public works, which the British government strongly opposed, as they still saw Australia as a dumping ground for convicts, to be run as cheaply as possible. Sydney’s layout is based on Lachlan’s street plan for the central city, and the colony’s most prestigious buildings were on Macquarie Street. He designed the Georgian-style Rum Hospital, which today is the state’s Parliament House, while its stables house the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He also designed the city centre of Hobart in Tasmania.

So much of the modern Australia we know was first begun by Governor Macquarie. He established the British system of justice, and the first Supreme Court. He encouraged the creation of the colony’s first bank, The Bank of New South Wales (now Westpac), and produced Australia’s first official currency. Towards the end of his term, he decreed that all traffic should keep to the left in New South Wales in line with British custom.

Perhaps the most important change he made was a symbolic one – he recommended that the name Australia be formally adopted, giving the seal of approval to Matthew Flinders’ choice. Little wonder that on Lachlan Macquarie’s tomb on the Island of Mull in Scotland he is called The Father of Australia.

Happy Father’s Day! And Happy Father’s Day to Lachlan Macquarie, the father of our country.

Name Information
Lachlan is a Scottish name from the Highlands. It is from the Gaelic Lochlann, meaning “land of the lochs” (land of the lakes). It was originally given as a nickname for someone from Norway: Norway has almost half a million freshwater lakes, so it well deserves this epithet. The name is pronounced LOK-lun.

The word Lochlann was first used to indicate “a Viking, a raider”, but gradually came to mean anyone of Norse descent. There was a strong link between the neighbouring lands of Norway and Scotland during the Middle Ages, as both battled for control of the Western Isles of Scotland. As part of the effort to improve the Scotland-Norway relationship, there were diplomatic missions between the two nations, and even intermarriage between the royal houses.

The name Lachlan (or Lochlann) was commonly used amongst the noble families of Scotland, who were often of part Norse descent. The name was traditional in the Clan Maclean, an old Highland clan who owned land in Argyllshire and the Hebrides. (Lachlan Macquarie’s mother was the daughter of the chieftain of the Clan Maclaine, another spelling of Mclean, and his father was the chieftain’s cousin). The current chief of Clan Maclean is Sir Lachlan Maclean of Duart and Morven, 12th Baronet of Nova Scotia.

The name Lachlan is only popular in Australia and New Zealand (it is #27 in New Zealand). In the UK Lachlan was #546 in 2013, while Lochlan was #709; the name is fairly stable there. In the US, the name Lachlan first joined the Top 1000 in 2013, and is currently #902 – a long way off being popular, but gaining in popularity. In the US, the name was given to 14 girls last year, which seems very wrong from an Australian viewpoint!

The name Lachlan was #173 in the 1900s, and went off the charts altogether during the 1920s and ’30s. It returned in the 1940s at #220, and gradually increased in popularity. There was a surge in popularity during the 1970s, most likely because media magnate Rupert Murdoch named his eldest son Lachlan in 1971. Rupert’s grandfather was from Scotland, and the choice of Lachlan’s name may have been inspired by his Scottish heritage as much as a tribute to Lachlan Macquarie.

Lachlan first joined the Top 100 in 1982 at #96, joined the Top 50 in 1989, and the Top 25 in 1996 – fairly brisk progress up the charts. It suddenly leapt into the Top 5 in 1997, the year after Lachlan Murdoch joined the board of Newscorp. However, it never made #1, peaking at #2 in 2002 and 2005, and has now left the Top 10. Currently it #11 nationally, #15 in New South Wales, #10 in Victoria, #12 in Queensland, #7 in South Australia, #12 in Western Australia, #6 in Tasmania, #8 in the Northern Territory, and #4 in the Australian Capital Territory.

This is a strong handsome Australian classic with a connection to Australian colonial history. A popular name for many years, it is by no means fresh or original, but still a worthy choice.

POLL RESULT
Lachlan received an outstanding approval rating of 91%, making it one of the highest-rated names of 2015. 39% of people loved the name Lachlan, and only one person hated it.

(Picture shows a 2010 stamp booklet issued in honour of Lachlan Macquarie’s bicentenary as governor)

Waltzing With … Felix

02 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by A.O. in Waltzing with ...

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Famous Namesake
I think many Australians would readily associate this name with Felix the Cat, the silent film era cartoon. One of the most recognisable cartoon characters in film history, he was the first animated character to become popular enough to attract a cinema audience.

Felix the Cat was created by Sydney-born Pat O’Sullivan, who arrived in the United States in 1910 and began working as a cartoonist. By 1916, he had opened his own cartoon studio, and around 1917 he created Felix the Cat, inspired by a cat his wife Marjorie brought into the office. Under contract to provide one cartoon a month to cinemas, by 1921 Felix was in sixty percent of North American cinemas.

Pat O’Sullivan was fiercely protective of his creation, successfully gained royalties from pirated merchandise, and took action when Walt Disney made a Felix carbon-copy called Julius. Unfortunately for Felix, Disney then went on to create a certain Mickey Mouse, who starred in early talkie Steamboat Willie in 1928. This spelled the beginning of the end for Felix, and by 1931 it was obvious that Walt Disney was going to be the big success story of cartooning.

After Pat O’Sullivan’s death in 1933, his lead animator Otto Messmer took credit for the creation of Felix. Messmer’s claim is still accepted in the United States, even though O’Sullivan was acknowledged as Felix’s creator during his lifetime. Australian film curators have pointed out that it is O’Sullivan’s handwriting on the early Felix sketches, and that kittens in an early film are given Australian accents, saying ‘lo, Mum! ‘lo Ma!

The cartoon cat that Felix was based on was called Thomas or Tom (a fairly obviously cat-related name), but Pat O’Sullivan changed his name to Felix. Apparently this was after the Australian boxer Peter Felix, who was born in the West Indies, and won the heavyweight title in the 1890s – he often wore black and was a flashy dresser. Pat had seen Peter Felix in his last big fight in 1908, shortly before he left Australia. O’Sullivan had a strong interest in boxing, and when he first arrived in New York he himself boxed for prize money.

The name Felix was a very Australian choice, because in 1836 Scottish explorer Thomas Mitchell called the lush pastureland of western Victoria Australia Felix, meaning “happy Australia, fortunate Australia”. In 1845 English travel writer Richard Howitt’s lively Impressions of Australia Felix was published, and in 1849 the Australia Felix magazine was founded.

After the colony was named Victoria in 1850, the name Australia Felix gradually dropped out of use. However, 19th century Victorian politician Jonas Australia Felix Levien provides an example of it being used as a name, and he wasn’t born until the 1870s. (I have also found someone named Australia Felix Drake in historical records).

Despite all these Australian references, I can’t help wondering if Pat O’Sullivan was also thinking of Felis, the scientific name for the cat genus, from the Latin word feles, meaning “cat”.

Pat O’Sullivan gave Felix a lucky name, and the cat brought Pat luck and success. He did not have a very happy end to his life though. His marriage became increasingly strained (it probably got off to a rocky start, as they wed while he was on bail for raping a teenage girl; he was subsequently imprisoned for 9 months), and Marjorie fell to her death from their second floor apartment in 1932. O’Sullivan’s mental faculties deteriorated due to syphilis, and he died of alcoholism a year after his wife’s death.

Name Information
Felix is a Latin name meaning “lucky, fortunate”. It was first given as a nickname to the 1st century BC Roman general and statesman Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a free translation of the Greek nickname he acquired during his military campaigns – Epaphroditos, meaning “beloved of Aphrodite”.

Whether the goddess Aphrodite was taking care of him or not, Sulla was very successful, holding the position of consul twice, and being awarded the Grass Crown, the rarest and most prestigious Roman military honour, given only to those whose actions saved an entire legion or the whole army. Like Alexander the Great, he achieved many of his victories before his thirtieth birthday, and provided the model for later Roman leaders to gain power by force.

After him, the nickname became a common one for Roman leaders to take, and several emperors adopted it as a title. The Roman procurator Marcus Antonius Felix is mentioned in the New Testament, although not in a positive way – he imprisoned Saint Paul.

Felix was a favourite name amongst early Christians, as the name can imply being in the favour of God, or blessed by God. There are masses of saints named Felix, including quite a few martyrs, and three popes with the name. Saint Felix of Burgundy was sent as a missionary to East Anglia in the 7th century, and there are several churches dedicated to him in Yorkshire and East Anglia. The village of Felixkirk in Yorkshire is named after him, and so might be Felixstowe in Suffolk.

Although more common in Continental Europe, Felix has been in use as an English name since the Middle Ages, in honour of these various saints. It is particularly associated with East Anglia and south-eastern England in general, showing the legacy of Felix of Burgundy.

Felix was #172 in the 1900s, and left the charts in the 1920s (Felix the Cat didn’t do it any good). It returned in the 1980s at #396 and climbed steadily; it’s been on and off the Top 100 since 2011. Currently it is #89 nationally, #86 in New South Wales, #78 in Victoria, #36 in Tasmania, and #54 in the Australian Capital Territory. It was one of the fastest-rising names in Tasmania and Victoria last year, and one of the nationally fastest-rising names of 2013.

In the US, Felix is #267 and rising steeply, while the UK has a similar popularity to Australia, at #91 and rising. Felix is #66 in New Zealand and fairly stable – the highest popularity of any English-speaking country. Felix is well used in Western Europe and Scandinavia, and is most popular in Austria at #4.

Handsome, intelligent, and upbeat, Felix is a name with an irresistibly positive meaning and strong Australian associations. Once seen as rather hipster, this retro name is growing in popularity, and fittingly it’s rather a favourite in the state of Victoria.

POLL RESULT
Felix received an outstanding approval rating of 93%, making it the highest-rated boys name in the Waltzing With … category for 2015. 45% of people loved the name Felix, and only 3% hated it.

Waltzing With … Matthew

15 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by A.O. in Waltzing with ...

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animal names, Biblical names, classic names, famous namesakes, hebrew names, Irish names, locational names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names of cats, names of ships, nature names, patriotic names, popular names, saints names

Famous Namesake
Tomorrow it will be the 241st birthday of the English explorer Matthew Flinders, who was the first to circumnavigate Australia.

He’s a historical figure that Australia has taken to its heart, and it’s very difficult not to find him almost immediately endearing. As a schoolboy, he read Robinsoe Crusoe and became enamoured of a desire to go to sea; apparently against all advice, he joined the navy at the age of fifteen. He never lost his love for Defoe’s novel – one of the last letters he ever wrote was to order a copy of the new edition.

Matthew first came to New South Wales in 1795, as midshipman on the Reliance, where he made a good impression as navigator and cartographer, became excellent friends with the ship’s surgeon, George Bass, and gained a black and white cat. Born on the ship, the kitten fell overboard, but was able to swim back and climb a rope to safety. Matthew saw it was intelligent with a strong survival instinct, and named it Trim after the butler in Lawrence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy, because of the cat’s faithful and affectionate nature.

Flinders and Bass made expeditions to Botany Bay and up the Georges River, from Port Jackson to Lake Illawarra, and to Moreton Bay, where their arrival on Coochiemudlo Island is still celebrated each year on Flinders Day.

The daring duo were sent to find a passage from the mainland to Tasmania (then Van Diemen’s Land). The passage they found is named Bass Strait, and its largest island is Flinders Island. Matthew charted all the islands, and he and George Bass were the first to circumnavigate Tasmania.

Matthew’s work gained the attention of the great scientists of the day, especially Sir Joseph Banks, who convinced the Admiralty to send Flinders to chart the entire coastline of New Holland. Matthew was promoted to commander, and given a slightly dilapidated ship called the Investigator (England was at war with France, and the navy was saving the really good ships for fighting).

Flinders wed his childhood friend Ann Chappell while in England (he named Mount Chappell Island in Bass Strait after her). Newly married, but with an expedition to command where women were strictly forbidden, he tried to smuggle Ann onto the Investigator. Sir Joseph Banks found out, and put an immediate stop to it. Ann was left at home: however, Matthew was allowed take Trim on the voyage.

The circumnavigation of Australia started on Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia, and continued eastward across the Great Australian Bight. Flinders ran into French explorer Nicolas Baudin in South Australia; although hostilities had temporarily ceased between England and France, both men thought their countries were still at war, but peacefully exchanged discoveries with each other. Matthew named the place where they met Encounter Bay.

Although circumnavigation was completed, it was not possible for Matthew to chart the entire coast, due to problems with the ship. Once back in Sydney in 1803, the Investigator was judged unseaworthy, and as he was unable to continue his work, Matthew set sail again on a ship called the Porpoise, which only made it as far as the Great Barrier Reef: the place was named Wreck Reef as a result. Flinders made it across open seas back to Sydney in the ship’s cutter, and (still accompanied by Trim), took command of the Cumberland to get home.

The Cumberland was also in poor condition, and Flinders was forced to put in at the Isle de France (now called Mauritius), just three months after Nicolas Baudin had died there. War had broken out with France again a few months previously, but Matthew Flinders thought that being on an important scientific mission, having a French passport, and knowing Nicolas Baudin would afford him diplomatic immunity.

The French governor disagreed, and detained Matthew there for years, even after Napoleon told him to release Flinders. Trim, who proved such a comfort to him, disappeared in mysterious circumstances, and the heartbroken Matthew believed he had been killed and eaten by the island’s slaves (not the first brave explorer to have met this fate, if true).

Finally, Matthew returned to England in 1810, his wife having waited more than nine years to see him again. Now in very poor health after his harsh imprisonment on Mauritius, he worked on completing his atlas.

It was during his voyages that Matthew Flinders began to use the name Australia to refer to the continent he was exploring. He wasn’t the first to use the name, but previously geographers used it for the whole South Pacific region.

Sir Joseph Banks, who had been such an interfering nuisance by not letting Ann accompany her husband Matthew on the Investigator, now turned out to disapprove of the name Australia. Despite Matthew’s objections, his book came out under the title A Voyage to Terra Australis. The final proofs came to him on his death bed, but by then he was unconscious; he died the day after his book was published, having never regained consciousness.

A Voyage to Terra Australis was the first book to use the name Australia for our continent, as Matthew Flinders was sure that there was no other great landmass in the area it could apply to. With his gift for nomenclature, he noted that the name Australia was “more agreeable to the ear” than any other. His chosen name stuck, and it was Governor Lachlan Macquarie who recommended that it be officially adopted, which took place in 1824.

Amongst all the places in Australia which Matthew charted, he never named one after himself, but that has been well and truly remedied, with more than a hundred places bearing the name Flinders – from the Flinders Ranges to Flinders Bay to the suburb of Flinders in Canberra, not to mention Melbourne’s Flinders Street, the Flinders Highway, and Adelaide’s Flinders University. There are more statues of Matthew Flinders in Australia than of any other man, and the only person to outdo him is Queen Victoria.

Even Trim the cat has not been forgotten, as he has a bronze statue at the Mitchell Library in Sydney, while the library has a cafe named after him, and sells a wide variety of Trim-related merchandise at their gift shop. Author Bryce Courtenay wrote a novel called Matthew Flinders’ Cat, in memory of the pet that Matthew Flinders called “the best and most illustrious of his race … and best of creatures … ever the delight and pleasure of his fellow voyagers”.

Name Information
Matthew is the English form of Matthaios, the Greek form of the Hebrew name Matityahu, meaning “gift of Yahweh”, and almost always translated as “gift of God”.

The name became common because of the Apostle Matthew. Matthew was one of the first to join Jesus’ ministry, and is described in the New Testament as a publican. In Roman times, this meant a public contractor, who was responsible for collecting duties and taxes. It’s possible that Matthew collected the taxes of the Hebrews on King Herod’s behalf.

Publicans were very unpopular – not only because nobody likes paying taxes, but because they were seen as traitors collaborating with the Roman Empire. It’s significant that Jesus chose a publican as one of his followers, because it suggests he was actively seeking out people on the fringes of Hebrew society, and those despised by others.

The New Testament mentions a tax collector named Levi who was called to join Jesus, and it is tempting to think that Levi and Matthew were the same person, but this is never made explicit. If so, he may have been born Levi, and taken (or been given) the name Matthew to symbolise his new life.

According to Christian tradition, Matthew was the author of The Gospel of Matthew; as a publican, he would probably have been literate enough to have written it. However, most modern scholars believe that the Gospel was written later, by someone who strove to emphasise that Jesus was part of Jewish tradition. This makes it seem as if it may have been written for a Jewish Christian community, to ensure that their Jewish laws were not lost in a church that was gradually losing touch with its Hebrew roots. It’s possible such a community would have venerated Matthew as a leader of a former generation, and kept records of his teachings and stories.

Tradition says that Matthew preached to Jewish communities in Judea, before travelling through other countries of the Middle East and eastern Europe: so many conflicting countries are mentioned that one wonders if he ever left Judea at all. He is regarded as a martyr, although no specific martyrdom is given for him, and many doubt this belief. Saint Matthew is the patron of accountants, bankers, tax collectors, and public servants (all important jobs which still don’t make you very popular).

Matthew has been in use as a name since the Middle Ages, and in Ireland has been used to Anglicise the Irish name Mathúin, meaning “bear”.

Never out of common use in the post-medieval era, Matthew is a classic which has remained on the charts since Federation, and never been out of the Top 200. It was #89 in the 1900s, and left the Top 100 in the 1910s, reaching its lowest point in the 1940s at #161. It climbed steeply to re-join the Top 100 by the 1960s, and peaked in the 1980s as the #1 name of the decade. It has fallen very gradually since then, and is still in the Top 50. Currently it is #48 nationally, #41 in New South Wales, #56 in Victoria, #55 in Queensland, #35 in Western Australia, #83 in Tasmania, and #55 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Matthew is a popular name in all English-speaking countries, but most popular in Northern Ireland, where it is in the Top 10. Its popularity in Australia is very similar to that in New Zealand and England/Wales.

Matthew is not only a strong, handsome, timeless classic, it honours a man who was daring enough to follow a childhood dream, and courageous enough to sail through seas unknown. He had the determination and tenacity to see through painstaking, detailed scientific work, and endured shipwreck, starvation and attack on his voyage, as well as cruel imprisonment which shortened his life.

Most importantly, he was the man who named us – we could not be Australia without him, making Matthew one of the most Australian names possible for a boy.

POLL RESULT
Matthew received an outstanding approval rating of 92%, making it one of the highest-rated names of 2015. 44% of people thought the name Matthew was okay, and only one person hated it.

(Photo shows the Matthew Flinders memorial, including his cat Trim, which was unveiled at Australia House last year, and is at Euston Station in London, above where Matthew Flinders is rumoured to be buried. Flinders University helped pay for the statue.)

Requested Name: Waratah

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by A.O. in Requested Names

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Australian Aboriginal names, floral emblems, flower names, historical records, locational names, middle names, mythological names, name meaning, names of ships, names of sporting teams, nature names, patriotic names, plant names, unisex names

Last year I featured our national flower, Acacia, as a name for Wattle Day. It was Australia Day last Monday, so I will be looking at another flower which is important to us – and was once a strong contender to become our national floral emblem.

Teleopea speciosissima is the Latin name for the New South Wales waratah, usually just called waratah. Native to the state suggested by its name, the waratah is a large shrub with striking, large crimson flowerheads, each containing hundreds of individual flowers. It blooms in the spring, and provides nectar for insects, birds, and pygmy possums. There are other species of waratah, most of which are native to New South Wales with a couple in Victoria and Tasmania, but Teleopea speciosissima is the best known.

The flower’s Latin name Telopea means “seen from afar”, to indicate its eye-catching appearance, while speciosissima means “most beautiful”. The common name comes from the Eora or Dharawal language indigenous to the Sydney area.

There are stories about the waratah in Indigenous Australian folklore. A Dreamtime legend from the Eora tells of a pigeon searching for her husband, when she has to take shelter in a waratah bush after being attacked and wounded by a hawk. Her husband calls to her, and as she struggles in the bush, her blood turned the white waratah flowers red.

A story from the Burragorang Valley, now lying beneath Waragamba Dam, relates that there was once a beautiful maiden who always dressed in a red cloak. When her lover did not return from battle, she died of grief, and the first waratah grew from the ground where she died. The waratah flower was a totem for the Dharawal people, who used it in ceremonies and arranged celebrations for the period of its flowering.

Europeans discovered the waratah when they arrived in 1788, and it was introduced to Britain the next year, where it managed to become a popular garden plant, despite being a little temperamental to grow; the Royal Horticultural Society gave it an Award of Merit in 1914. Today the waratah is grown commercially in several countries.

The waratah was often used in art design, being incorporated in many advertisements and commercial packaging. You may see stained glass windows in the Sydney Town Hall featuring waratahs, designed by French artist Lucien Henry in the late 19th century, while artist Margaret Preston produced her iconic waratah woodcuts in the 1920s, which are often reproduced.

After federation in 1901, the search was on for a flower to represent the country. Nationalistic fervour was high, and there were two main candidates – the waratah and the wattle. We already know that naturalist Archibald Campbell championed the wattle, while botanist Richard Baker was a waratah booster. He argued that the waratah was a better choice because it is only found in Australia, a truly national flower, while the blooms would make a distinctive motif.

The debate raged furiously, and so strongly did Baker make his points that he was nicknamed Commander in Chief of the Waratah Armed Forces. Lucien Henry would have been pleased, because he had been passionate about Australian native flowers, and taught courses in drawing them. When he returned to Paris, he wrote a book called Waratah: Australian Legend, to promote the flower he used so extensively in his designs. Lucien Henry died in 1896, and shortly afterwards, the popularity of Australian native flowers, including the waratah, exploded.

As with so many of these vigorous debates, it was unclear who had won, and the foundation stones for the national capital in 1913 diplomatically depicted both plants. Gradually the wattle became accepted as the national flower, while the waratah symbolised the state of New South Wales, having been chosen for the state rugby union team, the Waratahs, since the 1880s.

In 1962, the waratah was officially proclaimed the state floral emblem, and is incorporated into the logo for New South Wales, and the former department store, Grace Brothers. When an Australian team won Best in Show at the Chelsea Flower Show, it featured a building in the shape of a waratah, to indicate their Australian theme.

The Waratah Festival was once held every spring at the time of the plant’s flowering, but this has been replaced with the Sydney Festival, now held in January at the height of summer. Rather a shame, considering the long traditions for waratah celebrations in the Sydney region.

Many things have been named in honour of the waratah. There is the suburb of Telopea in Parramatta, while one of the oldest parks in Canberra is called Teleopea Park (Telopea Park School is the oldest school in Canberra). Waratah is a suburb in Newcastle, and also a town in Tasmania, while Waratah Bay is in Victoria – it is not named directly after the plant, but after a ship called the Waratah which anchored there when it needed repairs after being damaged.

(Incidentally, Waratah seems to be an unlucky name for boats. The SS Waratah disappeared without trace off the coast of South Africa in 1909, with hundreds of passengers on board, while another ship of that name was lost in the English Channel, one on a voyage to Sydney, one south of Sydney, and another in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Waratah Bay one clearly got off lightly only being damaged. Sailors being superstitious, I cannot recommend this ill-starred name for your vessel. However, the steam tug Waratah is part of the Sydney Heritage Fleet, so maybe it’s okay if you just trundle around Sydney Harbour).

Waratah is found as a patriotic personal name in Australian historical records around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mostly in the middle. Although slightly more common as a girl’s middle name, it seems to be have been given to both sexes as a first name in roughly equal numbers, which is unusual for a flower name.

However, apart from the flowers being large, bright and striking, rather than delicate, pale and pretty, the word waratah – pronounced WOR-uh-tah – doesn’t have a strongly feminine sound, sharing the WOR sound found in names such as Warren and Warwick. And although it ends in -ah, like many female names, there are also boy’s names ending in the same sound, like Noah, Joshua and Luca, so it has a very unisex feel to it.

I did manage to find a couple of Waratahs born in England in the 19th century, but cannot tell whether they had any connection to Australia, or if their parents were just fans of the flower. We can still chalk this up as an overwhelmingly Aussie name.

Like the brilliant flower, Waratah is a spectacular and distinctively Australian name choice. It is very patriotic, and if you are from New South Wales, has special meaning for your state. You may feel inclined to tuck it away in the middle, but if would be an unforgettable first name for either boys or girls.

Thank you to Michelle for suggesting the name Waratah to be featured on Waltzing More Than Matilda.

POLL RESULTS
Waratah received an approval rating of 44%. 31% of people thought the name Waratah was too strange and unusual, and 16% believed it was only suitable as a middle name. However, 27% saw it as a patriotic and distinctively Australian choice. Nobody saw the name Waratah as too old-fashioned.

The 2014 Matilda Awards

18 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by A.O. in Blog News

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aristocratic names, Biblical names, celebrity baby names, classic names, english names, famous namesakes, flower names, gemstone names, Greek names, hebrew names, historical records, middle names, name combinations, nature names, Old French names, patriotic names, plant names, popular names, rare names, retro names, royal names, Scottish names, sibsets, surname names, twin sets, underused classics, virtue names

Welcome to the second annual Matilda Awards, a quest to discover which names featured on the blog in 2014 gained the greatest approval from the public.

Waltzing With … Category

The most popular names featured in the Waltzing With … category were CONSTANCE for girls, which scored an approval rating of 85% and FORREST for boys, which was rated 78%.

Constance is an Old French name dating to medieval times, traditional amongst aristocracy and royalty, but also valued as a virtue name. It hasn’t charted since the 1990s, and hasn’t been popular since the 1920s. The name Constance was chosen to honour courageous World War I nurse, Sister Constance Keys.

Forrest is an English surname with strong Scottish associations, in use as a first name since at least the 16th century, and possibly even earlier. It has never charted, but is found fairly often in Australian historical records. The name Forrest was chosen for the wealthy Forrest family, prominent in conservative politics.

Once again, the key to winning this category, which has a very simple voting system, is for people to have a high level of tolerance for the name. Both Constance and Forrest were names which hardly anybody had animosity towards, and most people thought were perfectly fine.

Famous Name Category

The most popular names featured in the Famous Name Category were HOPE and OPAL for girls, which both scored an approval rating of 86% and SAMUEL for boys, which scored 88% and was the top-rated name overall for the year.

Hope is a virtue name which is an underused classic; almost constantly on the charts, it has never become popular. Hope was praised as a simple and elegant classic which was both pretty and wholesome, and had a very positive meaning. The name was chosen to commemorate the centenary of the start of World War I.

Opal is a gemstone name with a patriotic meaning – the opal is Australia’s national gem, and the black opal is the state gem for New South Wales. A name most used during the Victoria era, it has never charted, but is often found in Australian records, especially in opal mining regions. Opal gained approval as an unusual and refreshing choice which was both pretty and simple, and hip and quirky. The name was chosen for the roll-out of the Opal public transport card in Sydney.

It’s interesting that Hope and Opal tied for first place, as they are quite similar – both short, simple English names with a strong OPE sound to them.

Samuel is a Hebrew name from the Bible; in the Old Testament, Samuel was a prophet and judge of Israel who brought peace to the land. Samuel is a classic name which has never been out of the Top 200, and is very popular, with a stable position for twenty years. Samuel was seen as a handsome classic which was both strong and gentle; a “nice guy” name which aged well and suited a variety of people. The name was chosen for the actor Samuel Johnson, who broke the world unicycling record to raise funds for breast cancer research; coincidentally, Samuel did this feat for his sister, who is named Constance, another favourite name.

Name Themes and Lists Category

The most popular names which were featured in the Names Themes and Lists Category were VIOLET and THEODORE. Violet won very convincingly, and also managed to win its original poll, while Theodore had a comfortable win.

Violet is a retro flower name first used in Scotland. Popular in the 1900s, it left the charts from the 1960s to the 2000s, but is now back with a bang, and zooming up the Top 100. The name was chosen for a spring-time list of native Australian flowers.

Theodore is a Greek name common in ancient times, which gained popularity amongst early Christians. An underused classic, Theodore has been rising steeply for decades, and seems likely to join the Top 100 soon. Theodore was chosen from the Australian children’s book Antonio S and the Mystery of Theodore Guzman by Odo Hirsch, part of a list for Book Week.

Celebrity Baby Names

The most popular celebrity baby girl name was CLEMENTINE FRANCES LOGAN, which proved a clear favourite right from the start. Clementine is the daughter of Peter and Hannah Logan, and this is proof you do not need to be an A-lister to have a great baby name, because the Logans are local celebrities from the Mudgee area, who run a successful wine company. Tess Clementine was the favourite baby name in 2013, and it looks as if blog-readers are Clementine-crazy.

The most popular celebrity baby boy name was EVANDER MAXWELL GLEAVE, who managed to win by a single vote in an extremely tight contest, as many boys’ names were nominated this year. Evander is the son of Australian model and Miss Australia winner Erin McNaught, and British rapper Example (Elliot Gleave).

Clementine and Evander both have elegance and substance, with classical roots, and a European vibe, being fairly popular in France, while uncommon here. The middle names are solid classics which aren’t popular as first names. Celebrities, take note!

There was no favourite amongst the celebrity twins, as none of them received enough approval to be eligible. Yes, this is a tough audience.

Names from the Birth Announcements

The most popular names for multiples were boy/girl twins FLORENCE AND HENRY, who proved solid performers. This handsome twin set from March was nominated by Madelyn.

In the girls section, ARABELLA HERMIONE ROSE scraped through by one vote. Elegant and a little off-beat, this pretty girl’s name from April was nominated by Sophia.

Amongst the boys, HUGO FREDERICK had a very comfortable win. This stylish boy’s name from early November was nominated by Nana Patricia.

The sibsets were dominated by LILY, WINTER, BEAU AND VIOLET, who absolutely destroyed all opposition. Note that Violet had a second victory. These four siblings, whose names have a simple, natural feel, were nominated in late November by both Nicole and Names For Real (Sarah from For Real Baby Names).

Some themes were clear this year: Scottish names did very well, as Forrest, Violet, Clementine Logan and Arabella all have links with Scotland. It did not win independence, but the land of loch and legend clearly won our hearts. Nature names and virtue names were also clear favourites – a positive meaning seems to be a real help.

Boys Names From Native Australian Flowers

02 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

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Australian slang terms, birth notices, celebrity baby names, classic names, controversial names, english names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, flower names, Gaelic names, Greek names, honouring, Irish names, Latin names, locational names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name trends, names from songs, names from television, nature names, nicknames, patriotic names, plant names, popular names, rare names, scandinavian names, scientific names, Scottish names, sibsets, surname names, tree names, underused classics, unique names, unisex names, Welsh names

This follows on from Girls Names From Native Australian Flowers. If you thought it would be hard for me to find floral boys’ names, you were right, and many hours were spent poring over gardening books and field guides. I did notice that several of the names come from plants that are traditionally used as female names, so this might be a way to find a boy’s name which honours a Daisy, Iris, or Lily, for example.

Bailey
Acacia baileyana is the scientific name for Cootamundra Wattle, a small tree with silvery-green leaves and masses of golden blossom in the spring. It is native to New South Wales around the town of Cootamundra, which holds a Wattle Time Festival every year when the wattle blooms. However, it is extremely adaptable, and will grow almost everywhere – if anything it grows a little too well, and can escape into the bush and become an invasive weed. Its scientific name honours Frederick Manson Bailey, a colonial botanist in Queensland. Bailey is an occupational surname originally designating someone who was a bailiff, the officer executing the decisions of a lower legal court (these days such duties are usually carried out by local councils). It has been used as a personal name since at least the 18th century, and Bailey has charted in Australia since the 1990s, when it was catapulted straight into the Top 50 from almost nowhere, debuting at #32 in 1997. It peaked in 2004-2005 at #27, and is currently #77. Although only popular for boys, Bailey is sometimes used for girls. Bailey provides a way for boys as well as girls to be named after the patriotic acacia tree.

Carex
Carex is the scientific name for grass-like plants commonly known as true sedges. Sedges are common all over the world, and nearly always found in wetlands; if you’ve ever walked around a swamp or lake, sedge is the dense stiff grassy stuff along the edge which might cut your hands if you try to gather it. Although sedges are not usually thought of as terrifically exciting – hardly anyone hopes for a bouquet of sedges on Valentine’s Day – they are vitally important to the ecology of our wetlands. Anyone working on a project to save a wetlands area will need native sedges to plant along lakes and riverbanks to stabilise the soil, and they are also around dams and garden ponds. They bloom in spring; the flowers are tiny, and appear on short spikes. I have seen a boy named Carex in a birth notice, and this is a daring and environmentally aware choice that is on trend for boy’s names ending in -x, like Felix and Max.

Eric
Banksia ericifolia is the scientific name for Heath Banksia, a medium to large shrub with eye-catching orange or red flowers which bloom in autumn or winter. Banksias are famous for their flower spikes; each spike can have hundreds or even thousands of individual flowers, looking overall like a large brush. Banksia ericifolia was one of the original banksia species collected by botanist Sir Joseph Banks around Botany Bay, and the subspecies ericifolia is native to the area around Sydney. It has been adopted as the city’s official plant, and can be seen in parks and public spaces. Heath Banksia is reasonably easy to grow; if your garden is too small for a regular Heath Banskia, there is a dwarf cultivar called “Little Eric”. The eric in ericifolia comes from Ericaceae, the family of heath and heather. The name Eric is an English form of the Scandinavian name Erik, usually translated as “eternal ruler”. Although known in England since the Middle Ages, it didn’t become popular until the 19th century, after the publication of a moralising children’s book called Eric, or Little by Little. Eric is a classic which has never left the charts. It was #21 in the 1900s, and peaked in the 1910s at #19. It didn’t leave the Top 100 until th 1970s, when it hit its lowest point of #149. Since then, Eric has improved slightly in popularity, and remains stable in the 100s – an extremely safe choice.

Evan
The Hawkesbury Daisy (Brachyscome multifida) grows on the east coast; it has matted foliage with the daisy flowers rising above it in mauve, pink, or white, blooming in autumn and winter. They are very popular garden plants, as they are are quite hardy and look great in borders and mass plantings. One of its cultivars is “Evan”, which was named after the son of the founder of the Australian Daisy Study Group. “Evan” is mauve with small flowers and compact foliage, easy to grow, and perfect for rockeries and hanging baskets. The name Evan is the Anglicised form of Iefan, a Welsh form of John. Evan is an underused classic in Australia – it has never left the charts, but never reached the Top 100 either. The highest it has ever been is #103 in the 1980s, and it’s never been lower than it was in the 1900s at #194, making it a handsome, solid choice which hasn’t been out of the 100s for well over a century. Evan is the poster boy for “normal but not overused” names.

Heath
Common Heath (Epacris impressa) is a small shrub native to south-east Australia; it has red, pink, or white tubular flowers which bloom from late autumn to early spring. A pink-flowered form called “pink heath” is the floral emblem for the state of Victoria. Common Heath is tricky to grow in the garden, and perhaps best enjoyed in its natural setting. Heath is an English surname which can refer to someone who lived on or near a heath, or was from one of the many English towns called Heath. Heath is an underused modern classic which has charted consistently since the 1960s without ever becoming popular. It peaked in the 1970s at #101, possibly because of Heathcliff from Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, serialised on television that decade, and a hit song by Kate Bush in 1978. Actor Heath Ledger, born in 1979, was named after Heathcliff, with his sister Kate named after Catherine from the novel. Heath dropped to its lowest level in the 1990s at #279, but picked up the next decade when Heath Ledger’s film career took off, and gained momentum from Dan Ewing‘s performance as Heath Braxton in Home and Away. Heath is a strong, simple nature name which has long been associated with intense, hunky guys.

Orestes
Caladenia orestes is the scientific name for the Burrinjuck Spider-orchid, native to New South Wales. These small, delicate flowers with dark red colouring are listed as vulnerable, so count yourself lucky if you ever find one in the bush. In Greek mythology, Orestes was the son of Agamemnon Greek commander during the Trojan War. Their family had been placed under a curse, so that their line was a rich source of Greek tragedy. Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to obtain fair winds to Troy; when he got home from the Trojan War, Agamemnon’s wife Clytemestra murdered him in retribution. When Orestes grew into a young man, he murdered his mother to avenge his father’s death. According to legend, Orestes was pursued by the Furies in punishment for his crime, but he got a good lawyer in the goddess Athena, who put his case before the gods and got him acquitted (slightly rigged, as Athena was one of the judges). He was often seen by Greek writers as a dutiful son to his father, and an example of someone forced by circumstances to commit a terrible act. The name Orestes means “of the mountains”, which is the reason for the orchid’s name. An unusual and possibly controversial choice.

Paterson
Patersonia is the scientific name for the Australasian flower commonly called Native Iris. It was named in honour of William Paterson, the first Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales, and most species are from Western Australia. Patersonia has small flowers that are usually mauve, and can look very attractive in the garden. Paterson is a common Scottish surname which means “son of the follower of Saint Patrick“, and the Clan Paterson is from Lowland Scotland. Sir William Paterson founded the Bank of England, but perhaps the most famous episode in the Clan’s history is when Sir Hugh Paterson entertained Bonnie Prince Charlie, and his niece nursed the prince through a bad cold, becoming his mistress and bearing him an illegitimate daughter. The name Paterson could honour our national poet Banjo Paterson, and would naturally shorten to Paddy. A possible issue is another flower, the attractive but toxic purple weed commonly known as Paterson’s Curse.

Smith
Syzygium smithiim is the scientific name for the Lilly Pilly, an ornamental tree which is a member of the myrtle family; its name honours botanist Sir James Edward Smith. Lilly Pilly is native to the east coast of Australia, and has glossy leaves and cream or pink flowers which bloom in spring and summer. However, it is best known for the fruit which follows the flower – attractive edible berries with a deep pink colour. Smith is the most common English surname, and originated in northern England and Scotland. Although it later came to specifically refer to a blacksmith, the word means any craftsman in metal, hence goldsmith or swordsmith, and more generally, any creator, hence wordsmith. Metalworkers have historically been seen as magical in their skill to transform through fire, and there are several smith gods and heroes, such as Vulcan and Wayland; Cain is said to have been the father of metalsmiths. The name always reminds me of J.R.R. Tolkien’s bittersweet fairy tale, Smith of Wooton Major. Smith has often been thought too common a surname to be used as a personal name, but gained recent familiarity through Sex and the City’s handsome Smith Jerrod (real name Jerry Jerrod). Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell has a son named Smith.

Sturt
Sturt’s Desert Pea (Swainsona formosa) is native to the deserts of inland Australia, and highly recognisable from its striking deep red pea flowers. According to an Aboriginal legend, the flowers sprang from the blood of two murdered lovers and their child. Sturt’s Desert Pea is the floral emblem of South Australia, and is a popular subject for arts, crafts, and decorative motifs. Although it grows in such profusion in the harsh desert, Sturt’s Desert Pea is difficult to establish in the garden. It is named after the explorer Captain Charles Sturt, who recorded seeing masses of the flower during his explorations. The surname Sturt comes from the Old English for a promontory – a raised mass of land with a sharp slope on one side – and this could be given to someone who lived near such a landmark, or from a town named after one. Similar to Stuart, this is a lesser-used surname which is given meaning by the flower.

Tucker
Tuckeroo (Cupaniopsis anacardioides) is an Australasian flowering tree in the soapberry family. It has greenish-yellow flowers which bloom in winter, followed by orange berries in the spring and summer which are a source of food for native birds. Tuckeroo is a popular ornamental tree for gardens which gives good shade and looks attractive all year round, and is often grown along streets in coastal towns of New South Wales and Queensland. The English surname Tucker is an occupational one referring to someone who softened cloth for the wool industry by tramping on it in water; the word comes from the Old English for “to torment (the cloth)”. As an Irish derivation, Tucker comes from the Gaelic O’ Tuachair, meaning “son of the brave one”. Tucker seems problematic as a first name, breaking the rule of “no names that rhyme with rude words”, but it does have a very Australian meaning, as it is slang for “food”, derived from “to tuck in”. Some people might think that’s another problem with the name in Australia. I’m not sure … any takers for Tucker?

POLL RESULTS
The public’s favourite names were Heath, Evan and Tucker, and their least favourite were Carex, Orestes and Sturt.

(Picture shows Sturt’s Desert Pea; photo from Our Naked Australia)

Famous Name: Opal

03 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

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Tags

english names, gemstone names, historical records, name history, name meaning, names of sporting teams, nature names, patriotic names, products with human names, rare names, vocabulary names

Monday was the first day of spring, but Sydneysiders weren’t focused on Wattle Day: for them it was Opal Day. The Opal card is the automated ticketing system smartcard for Sydney public transport, trialled for two years, and replacing a confusing system of fourteen different paper tickets. September 1 was the official date that paper tickets would be phased out.

All other major Australian capitals have automated public transport ticketing systems, but for some reason the Opal card was very hard to implement, and getting it off the ground took twenty years and defeated eight successive governments. It was gloomily warned that the new system would cause complete chaos, while conspiracy theorists were sure it was designed to increase fares, or even part of a police state surveillance plot.

However, the roll-out went quite smoothly on the morning of September 1. There weren’t massive queues, or gates needing to be locked against hordes of angry commuters, and people who hadn’t ordered an Opal card online simply bought one from a kiosk. Some people found the Opal card was actually saving them money. Its success means a sigh of relief from Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian.

The Opal card is based on Hong Kong’s Octopus card, and London’s Oyster card. The name Octopus suggests that you can travel in multiple directions, like the limbs of an octopus, while Oyster is an allusion to “the world is your oyster”. Although it starts with the same letter, Opal doesn’t have any clever hidden meaning to it – the opal is our national gemstone, while the black opal is the state gemstone of New South Wales.

Opal is a precious gemstone that is one of the most spectacular; a single stone can flame intensely with every colour of the spectrum, out-shining even the diamond. The highest quality specimens will sell for the same amount as the most valuable diamonds, rubies and emeralds, although such opals are very rare.

Opal is a common substance, found throughout the world, often of a milky white appearance (opal miners call it potch). Common opal can be pretty once cut and polished, but it is not valuable. Precious opal has what is called “play-of-colour” – that stunning multi-coloured iridescence.

97% of the world’s precious opal is produced in Australia, and Australia’s opal fields are larger than all those in the rest of the world combined. What makes Australian opals so valuable is not just their brilliance, but their stability. In other countries, opal is often found in volcanic rock and has high water content, meaning it tends to crack during cutting and polishing. In Australia, opals are found in the outback desert, once a vast inland sea.

South Australia is the major source of opal, producing more than 80% of the world’s supply. The town of Coober Pedy is mainly associated with opal mining, and the world’s largest and most valuable opal, the “Olympic Australis” was found here in 1956 (the year Australia hosted the Olympic Games for the first time, hence its name).

Lightning Ridge in New South Wales is the main source of black opal, the most valuable type of Australian opal. Despite their name they are not black, but have a predominantly dark background, so the rainbow colours of the opal stand out more strongly.

Boulder opal is the second-most valuable type of opal, where thin veins of precious opal fill cracks in ironstone boulders. The dark backing of the ironstone means that the opal shines in a similar way to a black opal. Boulder opal is found in Queensland, including the town of Winton.

The precious gemstone has given its name to our national women’s basketball team, known as The Opals. They are an internationally successful team, and Lauren Jackson plays for them.

According to official sources, Indigenous Australians called opal “fire of the desert”, and their legends tell that the opal’s colour was created when a rainbow touched the earth. Like other gemstones, opals had spiritual value as that which a spirit ancestor left behind as a sign of his or her presence. They could thus be imbued with that ancestor’s powerful spiritual energy.

The word opal comes from the Roman name for the gemstone, opalus. It is believed this is most likely from the Sanskrit word upalus, meaning “gem, jewel”. The Romans believed the opals they bought were from exotic India, but this was an ancient marketing ploy, as they were really from where Hungary is today. The Romans valued opals highly, and saw them as symbols of hope and innocence.

In the Middle Ages, opals were believed to be very lucky, and thought vital for good eyesight. Blonde women wore opals in the belief it would keep their hair colour bright, and one odd superstition was that you could make yourself invisible by holding an opal wrapped in fresh bay leaves. I imagine some embarrassment must have been caused to anyone who tried this!

The modern superstition that opals are unlucky appears to come from Sir Walter Scott’s 1829 novel, Anne of Geierstein – even though the novel never actually says that there is anything unfortunate about the gemstones. In the story, a mysterious sorcerer’s daughter named Lady Hermione, who always wore opals in her hair, appears to be under some sort of enchantment.

When a few drops of holy water are sprinkled on her head, they quench the radiance of the opals, and Hermione faints. She is carried to her room for a lie down, and the next day nothing is found of her but a heap of ashes on her bed. Later it turns out the opal turned pale to warn its owner of impending doom, not because it was cursed.

Nonetheless, the novel does seem to have affected people’s feelings about opals, because in the year of its publications, opal prices plunged, and the European opal market took many years to recover. It is also thought diamond cartels helped spread these rumours, because the discovery of high quality opals in Australia were a distinct threat to their livelihood. Hungarian opal miners told people that Australian opals must be fakes, as they were certainly too good to be true!

Queen Victoria swam against the superstitious tide, for she loved opals and wore them throughout her reign. She gave them as gifts to her daughters and friends, so that opals became highly-regarded and fashionable, thanks to the British court. The royal family have a fine collection of opals, including the “Andamooka opal” from South Australia, presented to Elizabeth II in 1954.

Opal was used as a girl’s name as early as the 16th century, but became much more common in the Victorian era, when gemstone names were in fashion. In Australia records, the name Opal is particularly associated with South Australia, and in particular, areas where opals are mined.

Although our national floral emblem gets a reasonable amount of use, our national gemstone is very rare as a name. Yet it is really rather beautiful, and its O initial even seems fashionable. Short and simple, it has a hip and quirky vibe, while the stunning gemstone gives it a very patriotic feel. Retro Ruby has climbed and climbed – could Opal have a better chance in its wake?

POLL RESULTS
Opal received an outstanding approval rating of 86%, making it one of the highest-rated names of 2014, and tying with Hope to become the favourite girls name in the Famous Name section. People saw Opal as an unusual and refreshing choice (26%), hip and quirky (25%), beautiful or pretty (15%), and sweet and simple (15%). However, 5% thought of it as an “old lady name”. Nobody thought that the name Opal seemed unlucky.

(Photo of Opal card from NSW government website)

Waltzing With … Acacia

31 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by A.O. in Waltzing with ...

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english names, flower names, Greek names, historical records, name history, name meaning, name popularity, nature names, patriotic names, plant names, saints names, tree names

Tomorrow is the official first day of spring, which means it is also Wattle Day. The Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) is Australia’s official national flower, proclaimed as our floral emblem on September 1 1988, and marked by planting a Golden Wattle in the National Botanic Gardens by then Prime Minister’s wife, Hazel Hawke. Four years later, September 1 was officially declared National Wattle Day, and it is traditional to celebrate by wearing a sprig of wattle (any type of wattle; it doesn’t have to be Golden Wattle).

Long before that date, wattle had been an unofficial national flower by popular choice. A wreath or sprig of wattle appears on many official government documents, including the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, the Order of Australia, and the Governor-General’s crest. Our national colours of green and gold (so difficult to co-ordinate on sporting uniforms) are inspired by the green leaves and golden bloom of the wattle.

Wattle is a symbol of remembrance for us too. During World War I, mothers sent their sons sprigs of wattle as a reminder of all they were fighting for back home, and has been used to mourn and remember loss of Australian life, such as in ceremonies for the victims of the Bali bombings. You may have noticed that when the first victims of MH17 were brought to the Netherlands, the Australian Governor-General’s wife wore a sprig of wattle.

As early as 1838, Tasmania encouraged wearing Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata) sprigs to celebrate the discovery of its island. In the nationalistic fervour which preceded Federation, a Wattle Club was founded by naturalist Archibald Campbell, promoting a Wattle Day demonstration each September 1. Outings into the bush to revel in the glories of an Australian spring were part of his plan, and patriotic Wattle Days continued to be celebrated until World War II.

Australian love of wattle has been satirised in Monty Python’s Flying Circus, with the immortal lines of the Australian philosopher Bruce: “This here’s the Wattle, the emblem of our land. You can stick it in a bottle, you can hold it in your hand.” These words have been used to promote a Wattle Day Festival in Victoria this year!

Acacia is the genus which contains wattle trees and shrubs. Its name, pronounced uh-KAY-shuh, comes from the Greek akis, “thorn”, because most acacia species outside Australia are thorny, although nearly all Australian acacias don’t have thorns. There are around 1300 species of acacia, and almost a thousand of them are native to Australia, with over 98% of these unique to Australia. The others can be found in all continents except Europe and Antarctica; they are particularly widespread in Africa, and were first observed by Europeans along the Nile River.

Acacia is not just an important symbol to Australia. According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, acacia may have been the “burning bush” Moses encountered in the wilderness, and a table of acacia wood was part of the Tabernacle he built for the Ark of the Covenant. In Egyptian mythology, acacia is the Tree of Life, and in Christian tradition, the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ were made from acacia. Freemasonry uses acacia as a symbol of resurrection and immortality, while in Asia, acacia incense is believed to drive away ghosts and demons.

It’s powerful stuff. In fact, it is said that the first plant to bloom in Hiroshima after its bombing in 1945 was a wattle tree. Resurrection indeed! Every Wattle Day, Hiroshima’s Acacia Appreciation Society sends hundreds of yellow ribbons to the Australian National Botanic Gardens as a gesture of friendship and appreciation.

The name wattle comes from Old English, the word Anglo-Saxons gave to interlaced branches and twigs used to form fences, walls, and roofs. Wattle and daub is a construction technique, used since prehistoric times, for filling the spaces between the wattle with a combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung, and straw, which is then allowed to dry until it hardens.

When British settlers to Sydney made their own wattle and daub buildings, they used acacia trees as the wattle, so gave the name to the plants. (I remember reading about wattle and daub houses in Neolithic Britain when I was in primary school history class, and wondering where they got the wattle trees from!). The uses of acacia are too many to list, but one worth mentioning is that Australian Aborigines often make boomerangs from its wood.

Wattles grow all over Australia, and are numerous in the desert, although uncommon in dense rainforest and alpine regions. In southern Australia, wattles tend to flower in springtime, while in the north, many species come into bloom in the autumn and winter. Because of this, it is said that on any given day in Australia, there will be a wattle blossoming somewhere.

Acacia has a long history as a personal name, for it is the feminine form of the Greek name Acacius. This comes from a different Greek derivation – akakia, meaning “without guile, innocent”. Byzantine emperors held a purple silk roll filled with dust called the akakia: it symbolised human mortality. There are several saints named Acacius, and quite a number of other notables from the early Christian era. Acacia has been a particular favourite amongst Spanish-speaking people, who bestowed it as a saint’s name.

Acacia came into use as an English name in the 19th century, when flower and plant names were the fashion. Golden and Silver Wattle was introduced to Europe in the mid-19th century; Silver Wattle became a great favourite in the south of France, where it blooms around Candlemas and is a harbinger of spring and golden sunshine. Outside Australia, wattle is often known as mimosa.

There are several people named Acacia in Australian records, going back to the mid-19th century, and it is almost certain their names were given patriotically – one is even named Acacia Golden, as if to signify Golden Wattle. Another is named Marginata Acacia; marginata is a species of eucalyptus tree. That reminds me that I saw a woman named Acacia Silver on the news, which reminded me of Silver Wattle: as she was an environmentalist, her name was so appropriate that I wondered if she’d chosen it herself.

In Australia, the name Acacia is around the 300-400s, while in England/Wales it is #1639 (18 babies last year), and in the US, 80 baby girls were named Acacia, the same number as ones called Adah, Jazlene, Legacy, Saoirse, Story, and Zarah. While Acacia isn’t a bizarre name in other English-speaking countries, it’s definitely far better known and higher-charting in Australia, which makes perfect sense. As with the trees, Acacia isn’t uniquely Australian, but is more widely found here, and has a particular meaning to us.

Wattles are perhaps not the most beautiful of trees – rather than being slender and elegant, or solid and imposing, most of them are short and scrubby. And yet when they come into bloom, there is no more cheering sight on a grey late winter’s day than their riotous mass of bright yellow fuzzy blossom. I cannot help but smile when I see a wattle tree in full fragrant bloom abuzz with bees, a promise of the sunshine that is soon to come. That’s why I have Golden Wattle as my avatar, and Silver Wattle decorating my blog: to keep me smiling every day.

Familiar without being common, the name Acacia has a rich and interesting history, and is a very patriotic choice. It evokes the beauty of spring and the Australian bush, it’s a remembrance for those we mourn, and rises from the ashes of death with new life and hope. Pretty and floral, bright and burning, silver and golden – could this sunshiney name hit your personal sweet spot?

POLL RESULT
Acacia received an excellent approval rating of 84%. 34% of people loved the name Acacia, and 30% liked it. Only 2% of people hated the name.

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Waltzing With … Acacia