Australian Beaches That Could be Used as Boys Names

06 Sunday Jan 2013

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adjective names, aristocratic names, banned names, celebrity baby names, Celtic names, english names, ethnonyms, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, Gaelic names, historical records, locational names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names of ships, nicknames, Old English names, Old Gaelic names, Old Norse names, Scottish names, surname names, unisex names, vocabulary names

Cheviot

Cheviot Beach is on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula, and will forever be remembered in Australian history as the place where our seventeenth Prime Minister, Harold Holt, disappeared without trace on December 17 1967, presumed drowned. To the best of my knowledge, we are the only country to have had a national leader disappear in modern times. The beach is named after the SS Cheviot, which was wrecked here in 1887, 35 people losing their lives. Not surprisingly, the public is not permitted access to Cheviot Beach, because the seas are far too dangerous – Harold Holt was only allowed to swim here because he was the Prime Minister, and as we see, it wasn’t a good idea. The SS Cheviot was named after the Cheviot Hills on the border between England and Scotland. They feature in The Ballad of Chevy Chase, which tells of a medieval battle between the English and the Scottish here. The name Cheviot is almost certainly Celtic, but the meaning is not known. This seems like an interesting way to get the nickname Chevy – which I’ve seen several times on baby boys.

Elliott

Elliott Heads is a small town in Queensland, set amongst farmland and sugarcane fields. The beach at Elliott Heads is family friendly, popular for swimming, fishing, sailboarding and jet skiing. The town is at the mouth of the Elliott River, with the river supposedly named after Gilbert Eliott, who was the first Speaker of the Queensland Parliament. If so, I’m not sure why it is spelled differently. Eliott came from a long line of Scottish barons and baronets, and being calm, courteous and dignified, avoided nearly all political controversy, and was extremely popular. The surname Elliott can be derived from a number of different personal names. One is Ellis, a medieval English form of the name Elijah. It can be from the Old English Athelgeat, a male name meaning “noble Geat” (the Geats were a tribe who inhabited what is now Sweden). Another source is Old English Athelgyth, a female name meaning “noble battle”. It can be from Old English Aelfwald, meaning “elf ruler”. Finally, in Scotland it can be from the Gaelic surname Elloch, meaning “dweller by the mound”. Elliott has never charted in Australia, with parents preferring the spelling Elliot for their sons, currently #181.

Henley

Henley Beach is a pleasant suburb of Adelaide, and its white sandy beach has gentle water for swimming and a jetty for fishing. The public square next to the beach is lined with shops, hotels and restaurants. A well-established older suburb, it was first advertised in 1860 as being “free of noxious smells”, but as you can see, it’s got a lot more going for it than that. Henley was named after Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, a famous centre for rowing, with the Henley Royal Regatta held each summer. Sir Ninian Stephen, former Governor-General of Australia, was born in Henley, and came to Australia during his childhood. The name Henley means “high wood” in Old English, because the town is in the Chiltern Hills. Henley was in use as a boy’s name in the 19^th century, and it is found in some rather aristocratic-sounding name combinations in Australian records (and the less inspired Henry Henley). It was a classy name choice 150 years ago – could it be again?

Kingston

Kingston is a commuter town just south of Hobart in Tasmania; Kingston Beach is one of its suburbs. The area was settled in the 19^th century by a family who were evacuated from Norfolk Island. Norfolk Island was at first a convict settlement like Sydney, but it ran into such difficulties that settlers were eventually forced to relocate to Tasmania. Being sent from a balmy subtropical island to freezing Tasmania must have come as a shock, but the pioneers obviously flourished. After World War II, many Dutch immigrants moved to Kingston, and it is a sister city to Grootegast in The Netherlands. Kingston Beach is the first swimming beach south of Hobart. Kingston was nostalgically named after the capital of Norfolk Island, which gained its appellation from its founder, Lieutenant Philip King. As we know, it’s not possible to name your child King in Australia, but you can call a baby Kingston, and it’s reasonably well-used in the records – one girl from Tasmania was even named Revie Josephine Kingston Beach. Quite common as a middle name for girls, only boys seem to have received it as a first name, including Kingston Rainbow, who managed to get two beachy names from my lists.

Lennox

Lennox Head is a village in the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales near the town of Ballina. Lennox Head Beach is more popularly known as Seven Mile Beach, although technically it’s only 5.3 miles long. The head, often called Lennox Point, provides panoramic views and a world-class point break, which makes this a famous surfing destination. Young surfers can look forward to the Rusty Gromfest in Lennox Head, known as the original and best youth surfing event in the country, and boasting alumni such as Stephanie Gilmore and Joel Parkinson. People also use Lennox Point for hang-gliding, and dolphin and whale watching. Lennox Head was named after Charles Gordon-Lennox, Duke of Lennox and Richmond, a soldier and politician. The dukedom is named for the district of Lennox in Scotland, near Glasgow; its name comes from the Old Gaelic for “field of elm trees”. Lennox is a very cool name for boys at the moment, which not only has the fashionable X, but also gives the trendy nickname Lenny; it was chosen as a baby name by racing driver Jason Bright. Handsome and aristocratic, it’s a great choice, and one I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of in the future.

Lorne

Lorne is a seaside town on the stunning Great Ocean Road in Victoria. Settled in the mid 19^th century, it was visited by Rudyard Kipling in 1891, who mentions it in his poem The Flowers. Kipling was obviously ahead of the trends, because the town only opened up to tourists in the 1930s. Lorne is one of Victoria’s most popular tourist destinations, and its beach one of the main attractions, offering good swimming, surfing and fishing. In January, the town holds the Pier to Pub swim, which, with a 1.2 km course, attracts thousands of entrants, and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest organised ocean swim in the world (Kieren Perkins won in 1992). Lorne is named in honour of the Marquess of Lorne, to commemorate his marriage to Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria. The Marquess became a very popular Governor-General of Canada; the Candian press feared he and his princess bride would be horribly snooty, but the young couple turned out to be sociable, relaxed, and flatteringly enchanted by Canada’s natural beauty. The district of Lorne in Scotland may have gained its name from Loarn mac Eirc, a Dark Ages ruler of a kingdom in Argyllshire. The Celtic name Loarn is said to mean “fox”, a clan totem animal. Lorne is a name comparatively well-used in Canada, which has close ties to the Marquess, and probably best known for many years as the screen name of Canadian actor, Lorne Greene. Others may remember it as Andy Hallett’s character’s name on the TV series, Angel – the joke is that his demonic face is green.

Lucky

Lucky Bay is in Cape Le Grand National Park, not far from Esperance on the Southern Ocean coast of Western Australia. Australia has more than its fair share of beautiful beaches, but Lucky Bay must be one of the most magnificent – over five kilometres long, it is a perfect crescent of white sand lapped by clear, sparkling turquoise water. Surrounded by bushland inhabited by pygmy possums and bandicoots, you may have to share the beach with kangaroos, who enjoy lazing on the sands. Lucky Bay received its name from the navigator Matthew Flinders, who discovered it in 1802. He had been sailing in the hazardous Archipelago of the Recherche, the place where Australia’s only pirate operated from, in the 1830s. Although Flinders didn’t have to negotiate wth pirates, he had trouble enough to deal with. Sailing through the labyrinth of islets and rocks, and with night falling, Flinders took the risky step of sailing straight to the coast, in the hope that he could find safe anchorage on a beach. All was well, and he dubbed his welcome haven Lucky Bay. Most explorers in Australia haven’t been as fortunate, and therefore it is littered with forbidding place names such as Mount Disappointment, Misery Creek, Mount Hopeless, Miserable Island, Starvation Lake, Point Torment, Dismal Swamp, and Mount Destruction. Lucky Bay is unusually upbeat for an Australian place name chosen by an explorer. Lucky is a rare unisex name, and a very happy one – well suited to a baby whose birth circumstances seem particularly auspicious.

Preston

Preston Beach is a hamlet in the south of Western Australia, between Mandurah and Bunbury. It was developed in the late 1950s as a private estate, and its beach is known locally for being a good fishing spot. It was named after nearby Lake Preston, in Yalgorup National Park; the lake is named after Lieutenant William Preston, who discovered it in 1829. The surname Preston is from a very common place name in England, and means “priest town”. It may have either denoted a village which had its own priest, or one which belonged to the Church. Preston is well-known in Ireland as an aristocratic surname, and it is fairly common in Australian records from the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. It strikes me as a rather sleek, understated surname name for boys, in a similar mould to Parker and Spencer.

Tallow

Tallow Beach is near Byron Bay in northern New South Wales. Once a hard-working and rather environment-destroying centre for logging, sand-mining, dairying, slaughtering, fishing and whaling, in the 1960s Byron began attracting surfers to its beaches. This began its new life as a tourist destination, and in the early 1970s the counter-culture Aquarius Festival was held in nearby Nimbin. From then on, it was known as a hippy, alternative town. Today in Byron, barely a weekend goes by when they are not holding a yoga or meditation retreat, pagan gathering, music festival, film festival, writers festival, surf festival, triathlon, underwater photo festival or art fair. Tallow Beach, in Bouddi National Park is a long stretch of wild, windswept shoreline with huge waves. It got its name when the Volunteer was wrecked there in 1864, and 120 casks of tallow were washed ashore. Tallow is rendered meat fat, once used to make candles, and still used today for biodiesel, soap and skincare products. I have occasionally seen Tallow used as a unisex name – it has the fashionable -oh sound ending with homespun appeal, and is similar to names such as Talon, Tallis, Talia and Tully. Because Tallow was used for candles, it seems like another name with an association of “light”.

Trigg

Trigg is a northern suburb of Perth in Western Australia, and Trigg Beach one of the city’s most popular beaches for surfing and bodyboarding. The suburb is named after Henry Trigg, who was the Superintendent of Public Works in the 1830-1850s. A wealthy builder, Henry was able to emigrate to Australia and take up a large land grant. His son, also named Henry, was his partner in the building trade, and an architect who designed many of the buildings in Perth city. The surname Trigg is from the Old Norse surname Triggr, meaning “trustworthy, faithful, true”, and the personal name Trig has been used in England since medieval times. The American politician Sarah Palin has a son named Trig, which brought this very old name to new public attention. It has an attractive meaning, and is part of Western Australian history. I think it might appeal to people who like short, unusual names for boys, such as Kip, Dex or Zed.

(Picture shows kangaroo relaxing on the beach at Lucky Bay)

Australian Beaches That Could be Used as Girls Names

30 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 8 Comments

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You may have noticed that all the names that have been featured on the blog since the weather got warmer have had some connection with water or the sea. With summer holidays upon us, it is only fitting that the last Name List for the year is one of Australian beach names.

Airlie

The town of Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday region of north Queensland is a popular tourist destination and one of the departure points for the Great Barrier Reef. Because James Cook thought he arrived here on Whitsunday, every year there is a Blessing of the Fleet on Whitsunday (Pentecost) – although Cook almost certainly got the day wrong and it was really Whitmonday. The town’s beach is quite small, and infested by sea wasps, the most lethal jellyfish in the world. For the convenience of those wishing to avoid a painful death, a swimming lagoon has been built on the foreshore. The town is named after Airlie in Scotland, the seat of the Earl of Airlie. Airlie Castle is referenced in the ballad, The Bonnie House o’ Airlie, and mentioned in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Kidnapped. The meaning is not known, although it’s possibly from the Gaelic for “edge of a ridge”. Airlie is a name reasonably well-known in Australia, although rare elsewhere; there’s ABC presenter Airlie Ward, hockey player Airlie Ogilvie, policy analyst Dr Airlie Worrall, and actress Airlie Dodds. This is a modern name with ties to Scottish history, and would be a great choice if Airlie Beach is meaningful to you.

Bondi

Bondi Beach is extremely popular with locals and tourists alike, one of Sydney’s iconic destinations, and heritage listed. In the fashionable eastern suburbs, it’s a place to see and be seen, lined with hotels, cafes and restaurants from where you can view the beach and beachgoers. Bondi has always had a reputation for showing a lot of flesh, and in stricter times the American actress Jean Parker was booted off it for wearing a bikini. These days topless bathing is common on Bondi. If almost-naked humans aren’t your thing, there is always the chance of seeing dolphins, fairy penguins, and in season, whales. Bondi Beach has many cultural events, including the annual City to Surf charity run, and it stars in TV shows such as Bondi Rescue and Bondi Vet. The name Bondi (said BON-dye) is said to be from boondi, a local Aboriginal word meaning “sound of water breaking over rocks”. The rare use of this name in records may be from the Italian surname Bondi (said bon-DEE), meaning “good day”. I saw a baby girl named Bondi in this year’s Bonds Baby Search. This is an unusual choice, but rather patriotic, and seems ideal for beach-loving Sydneysiders.

Etty

Etty Bay is a picturesque little bay in far north Queensland; the nearest town is Innisfail. Enclosed by rainforest filled with wildlife, it attracts bushwalkers, birdwatchers and picnickers, and is known as one of the best places to see endangered cassowary birds in the wild – cassowaries are large flightless birds around six feet tall. Etty Beach is considered safe for swimming, as long as you avoid saltwater crocodiles and deadly jellyfish. Etty is a pet form of names such as Esther, Ethel, Henrietta and Harriet, and was most common in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With Etta tipped as the next retro-chic name, and Arrietty from The Borrowers receiving notice, Etty seems not only cute and usable, but positively stylish. It fits in with other vintage nicknames such as Elsie, Hattie and Millie.

Miami

Miami is a suburb of the Gold Coast which was first developed in the 1920s to entice tourists, and is still a popular place for people to visit. Its clean sandy surf beach make it a favourite destination for family holidays. It is named after Miami in Florida, as being somewhere else that’s hot, humid and beachy – during the 1920s, Miami enjoyed such prosperity and growth that it was dubbed “The Magic City”. This success the Queensland developers no doubt hoped to emulate. The city of Miami was named after the Miami River, and this in turn was named for the Native American people called the Maiyami. They took their name from the lake they lived by (later known as Lake Okeechobee); the name simply means “big water”. Miami is a name I see sometimes on little girls, and its not only an American place name, but an Australian one as well. It fits in with popular names such as Mia, Maya and Amy.

Pippi

The town of Yamba in northern New South Wales lies at the mouth of the Clarence River, and boasts eleven beaches, including Pippi. It’s primarily known for surfing, and the Pippi Beach Classic is a surfing event held here each January. At one end of the beach is the enticingly-named Lovers Point, and from here is an easy walk up to a rock shelf which gives magnificent views of the sea. Dolphins are plentiful, and whales can be seen during winter and early spring. Pippi Beach is named after the pippis or pipis which can be found here – small edible clams which are often used for fish bait. You may recall that John Sutton, co-captain of the South Sydney Rabbitohs team in the NRL, welcomed a daughter named Pippi last year. As John is a keen surfer, I wondered if Pippi Sutton may have been named after this popular surf beach. You probably also know the name from the Pippi Longstocking books by Astrid Lindgren – the character’s name was invented by Mrs Lindgren’s nine-year-old daughter, Karin. You can see Pippi as short for Phillipa, and if Pippa or Piper delight you, yet seem too common, then sprightly Pippi may fit the bill.

Rainbow

Rainbow Beach is a small town in southern Queensland which was once a centre for sand-mining, but is now a popular tourist destination with an attractive beach and many bushwalking tracks. The town get its name from the brilliant coloured sand dunes which surround it. According to a local Aboriginal legend, the dunes received their colours when the spirit of the rainbow plunged into the cliffs after coming off second-best in battle. More prosaically, the colours stem from the sand’s rich mineral content. The evanescent beauty of rainbows have made them part of mythology for many thousands of years. Both Greek and Norse myth saw the rainbow as a path between heaven and earth; in Irish folklore there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; and in the familiar story of Noah and the Ark from the Old Testament, the rainbow is a sign of God’s promise to never destroy the earth again. In Australian Aboriginal mythology, the rainbow serpent is of great significance and power, creating and marking the earth’s territories, and controlling its water resources. The subject of artists, singers and poets, the stuff of hopes and dreams, the rainbow has long been used as a symbol of social change. The striking name Rainbow is not that rare in old records, and used for both sexes, but is most common as a middle name.

Trinity

Trinity Beach is a suburb of Cairns in far north Queensland; the city lies on Trinity Bay, which is where the suburb gets its name. Captain James Cook named it on his 1770 voyage, as he arrived there on Trinity Sunday, which is the first Sunday after Pentecost (hopefully he had his dates sorted out by this stage). It is a festival to celebrate the Holy Trinity of the three Persons of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although the Holy Trinity is a Christian concept, the idea of a triple deity is found in several religions. The name Trinity was used from the 17^th century, and was given to both sexes, in honour of the Holy Trinity. In recent years, it has gained a sci-fi image, for there has not only been a cult science-fiction film called Trinity, but Trinity is the love interest in The Matrix movie series, and Trinity Wells a newsreader in Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. More ominously, the Trinity Test was the code name for the first detonation of a nuclear bomb in 1945, heralding the start of the Atomic Age.

Vera

Vera View Beach is just north of famous Cottlesloe Beach, in Perth, Western Australia. It isn’t one you will see promoted as a major tourist destination; not the most stunning beach in the world, it nonetheless makes a pleasant walk from the main beach, and is near the main cafe strip. It is also a good place to go snorkelling, as there a small reef nearby teeming with sea life. The beach’s name comes from the fact that it is near Vera View Parade in Cottlesloe. Vera is a Russian name which means “faith”; we tend to be struck by its similarity to the Latin for “truth”, while Albanians notice that it sounds like their word for “spring”. Vera was #15 in the 1900s, and by the 1940s was out of the Top 100. It ceased to chart in the 1980s, but has very recently made a comeback, and was #626 in 2011. Its image was severely dented by the sour-faced prison guard, Vera “Vinegar Tits” Bennett, in the 1970s-80s TV series, Prisoner (no wonder it disappeared from the charts then). However, with simple old names firmly back in fashion, and the V sound becoming increasingly popular, retro Vera could do very well.

Vivonne

Vivonne Bay is on Kangaroo Island in South Australia; the island is off the coast of Cape Jervis. The pristine beach at Vivonne Bay is several kilometres long, and popular for surfing and fishing. There is a tiny town of Vivonne beside the bay. Vivonne Bay was named by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin, who came here in 1803. He was the first to map the western and southern coasts of Australia, and his expedition was a great success, discovering more than 2500 new species and meeting the Indigenous people of Australia. Apparently his expedition harboured a spy – one of his men prepared a report for Napoleon on how to invade and capture the British colony in Sydney Cove, but recommended not to. Baudin died of TB in Mauritius on the way home. He named Vivonne Bay after the French town of Vivonne, near Poitiers (or the aristocratic surname which comes from the town – the town’s name comes from the nearby river Vonne). Readers of Marcel Proust will remember he used the name Vivonne for the river in Swann’s Way. I think this name is pretty, and seems like a cross between Vivienne and Yvonne. It’s different, but not too different.

Wanda

Wanda Beach lies on Bate Bay in the suburb of Cronulla; this is in Sutherland shire, in the southern districts of Sydney. Wanda has a dark past, because there were two murders here in 1965. Two teenage girls, Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock, best friends and neighbours, disappeared at Wanda Beach while on a picnic, and their bodies, partially covered in sand, were found the next day. The murder is still unsolved. Wanda Beach gets its name from an Aboriginal word, wanda, said to mean “beach” or “sand dunes”. Wanda is also a Polish name; there is a medieval Polish legend about a Princess Wanda, and the name was popularised in the English-speaking world by English author Ouida’s 1883 novel, Wanda. The name may come from the West Slavic people known as the Wends; their name possibly means “tribe, kinship, alliance”, ultimately from an ancient word for “love, desire”, and related to the name Venus.

(Photo shows the morning tide coming in at Etty Bay)

This or That?

16 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by A.O. in Your Questions Answered

≈ 11 Comments

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Biblical names, celebrity baby names, choosing baby names, classic names, Eleanor Nickerson, faux-Celtic names, Irish names, name combinations, name popularity, nicknames, popular names, retro names, scandinavian names, Scottish names, surname names, unisex names, vocabulary words

After considering all the possible baby names, and a few impossible ones just for good measure, sometimes you end up with two or three names that you love equally, and just can’t choose between them.

Many people searched the Internet to discover which of their final options would make the better choice, and somehow stumbled upon this blog.

I decided to answer their questions, and found that quite often the name that seemed “better” wasn’t the name I liked best, or that I would choose.

Perhaps that is the lesson to be learnt here – not to look for the name which ticks the most boxes, or which fulfils more of your preferences, but the one which satisfies your heart the most.

When there is no right or wrong answer, how do you decide between the last two names on your list?

Adele or Adeline?

Classic Adele is the safer choice, and retro Adeline the more daring choice. I think I would be tempted to go with Adeline.

Riley or Caleb?

I would go for the Biblical name, as having more history behind it, and say Caleb.

Ryan or Dylan?

You ask which one sounds as if it is in a higher socio-economic group. To me, both seem fairly average or “normal”, and I don’t think I could pick one over another.

Rocco or Frankie?

Rocco – it’s rapidly increasing in popularity while still underused. Frankie is more fashionable as a feminine name now (if that bothers you).

Chloe or Lily?

Both are extremely popular, but I would say Chloe is the safer choice, as it has been Top 100 since the 1980s and only just peaked. Chloe also has a classical background, and is popular with all classes. Despite that, I prefer Lily.

Lillian or Clara?

I’d go with Clara, simply because it isn’t in the Top 100 yet and Lillian is.

Clara or Kayla?

Definitely Clara – Kayla doesn’t have the history behind her that Clara does, and is on her way out.

Clara or Zara?

I think I’m going to have to back Clara again, just to be consistent.

Zara or Allegra?

I love Allegra, but I have to admit she’s a risky choice, since she does seem to be getting quite trendy as a celebrity baby name. My heart says Allegra, but my head says Zara.

Charlie or Jack?

I’d go with Jack if you want a classic name that is definitely masculine, and is a short form that has been long established as a full name. Charlie is very cute though.

James or Hamish?

James is the safer choice, being a classic that’s never left the Top 20. Hamish is a bit riskier, but if you want something obviously Scottish, then Hamish is your boy.

Hunter or Archer?

I prefer Archer, because you get Archie as a nickname. If you hate nicknames, then Hunter is probably more appropriate.

Evalyn or Aveline?

You ask which one sounds “lovelier”; in my opinion, it is Aveline. However, I think Evelyn is lovelier than Aveline. Can I interest you in Evelyn?

Emmie or Emma?

You ask which one sounds “softer”; to me, Emma sounds softer.

Indie or Milla?

Even though Milla is Top 100 and Indie doesn’t chart, I’m going to say Milla. This is because if all the spelling variants were combined, I think Indie would be Top 100 as well. To me, Milla seems more distinctive.

Amelia or Matilda?

These are both safe choices, although if popularity bothers you, you should know that Amelia is probably heading for the #1 spot, which she already holds in the UK.

Annie or Matilda?

If you want something less popular, yet which has been stable for many years, then pick Annie. If you would prefer a non-nickname choice, then go with Matilda.

Josephine, Violet or Mathilda?

Josephine is the safest choice, and Mathilda seems trendiest because Scandinavian-type names are coming into fashion. I think Violet is the prettiest. You could use all three, because Josephine Violet Mathilda is really nice as a name combination.

Josephine or Audrey?

Both classic names, but Josephine is more stable, and isn’t in the Top 100. I find Audrey really adorable though, so I’m going to go against the sensible advice and say Audrey. If you’re feeling sensible, pick Josephine.

Elsie or Josie?

Definitely Elsie – it’s fashionable, increasing steadily in popularity, and Eleanor Nickerson tips it to become the next Evie in the UK.

Luella or Eloise?

Eloise is the more stylish and safer choice, but Luella is sweeter.

Eloise or Matilda?

I think Eloise is the clear winner here, because it’s still at the bottom of the Top 100, and seems more up-and-coming.

Matilda or Helen?

Classic Helen has been stable for decades, and peaked in the 1940s, suggesting she may be due for a comeback in about ten years or so. I’d be inclined to be brave and choose Helen.

Max or Darcy?

Max is by far the safer choice, as Darcy is losing popularity as other surname names take its place. I think I like Darcy better though.

Max Archie or Max Oscar?

When I hear “Max Oscar“, I immediately visualise a gigantic Academy Award statue, so I prefer Max Archie.

Oscar or Lucas?

Oscar – Lucas is just about to hit its peak.

Finn or Lewis?

Lewis if you want a classic name that’s less popular, Finn if you’re looking for an Irish heritage choice.

Kallan or Flynn?

Flynn – I don’t like it when names randomly start with a K instead of a C.

Taj or Kyan?

Taj. I’ve noticed faux-Celtic names like Kyan tend to have a short shelf life and date quickly.

Keira or Kirra?

Oh, go for the Australian choice and pick Kirra – be patriotic.

Sibella or Imogen?

Sibella, although much less popular, seems more trendy, and may get lost amongst the other Bella names, so I would pick Imogen.

Maisie or Matilda?

I love Maisie, she’s so sweet and charming, and seems much fresher than Matilda, so that would be my preference.

Matilda or Lilah?

Matilda – I don’t like that spelling of Lila, which makes no sense to me.

Jett or Jet?

Tough call. I think I might be tempted to go with vocabulary word Jet, which seems more fashion-forward.

Jai or Jye?

Jai – it seems more like a real name.

Jett, Levi or Jai?

Levi. Probably because it stands out pitted against two names starting with J.

Names of Australian Male Olympic Swimmers

02 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 19 Comments

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Ashley (Callus)

Ashley Callus won gold in 2000 and bronze in 2008. Ashley is an English surname from a common place name meaning “ash tree clearing”. It’s been used as a personal name since the 17^th century, and was originally given to boys. It only became popular in Australia after the release of the 1939 movie Gone with the Wind, with the character of Ashley Wilkes (actually George Wilkes – Ashley is his middle name). Played by Leslie Howard, Ashley is a true Southern gentleman, and the one man Scarlett cannot get. The name Ashley first charted in the 1940s, and by the 1950s was #160; it made the Top 100 for the 1970s, and peaked in the 1980s at #62. It was during the 1980s that Ashley became a unisex name, making an impressive female debut at #55 – higher than the peak for boys. Coincidentally or not, it was in 1982 that the popular character Ashley Abbott joined soapie The Young and the Restless, first portrayed by Eileen Davidson. Ashley peaked for girls in the 1990s at #33, and although it left the Top 100 in 2009, it rose again and is now #93. As a boy’s name, Ashley left the Top 100 in the 1990s, and no longer ranked by 2010. However, last year Ashley increased for boys as well as girls, reaching #466. The usual nicknames is Ash.

Francis (Gailey)

Francis “Frank” Gailey won three silvers and a bronze at the 1904 Olympics. Born in Australia, Frank emigrated to the United States, and his medals are credited to the US. However, as he was an Australian citizen when he won them, we claim them toward our own medal count. This doesn’t seem to be accepted internationally. Francis is the English form of the Italian name Francesco. This began life as a nickname, because the 12^th century Giovanni di Bernardone was known as Francesco, “the Frenchman”. This may have been because his father was on business in France when he was born, or because the young Giovanni quickly became fluent in French. While still a young man, Francesco began to turn away from the pleasures available to him as the son of a wealthy man, and to live a life of poverty and simplicity. Known as Saint Francis of Assisi, he is the patron saint of Italy, and also the environment. Many stories about him reflect on his deep love for animals, and his sense of kinship with all life. Francis charts as a unisex name from 1900, but by the 1950s was male-only, and in the Top 100. It left the Top 100 the following decade and remained stable for decades before falling out of use in 2010. However, last year Francis was back in the charts at #388.

Garrick (Agnew)

Sir Robert David Garrick Agnew, always known by the second of his middle names, attended the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. A graduate of Harvard, Sir Garrick became a very wealthy businessman, and also a champion fisherman. He died of a heart attack after going swimming in a pool. Garrick is an English surname which is the Anglicisation of two slightly different French surnames of Old Provencal origin. Garric means “kermes oak tree”, a small evergreen oak; Garrique means “grove of kermes oaks” – both names denoted someone who lived near such trees. The surname was introduced to Britain in the 17^th century by French Huguenots, Protestants who fled persecution in France. The great 18^th century English actor David Garrick was from a Huguenot family; his grandfather changed the name from Garric. Garrick has been used as a personal name since the 18^th century, and first appears amongst British Huguenot families. It’s been reasonably well used in Australasia, and I think it still sounds rather distinguished and gentlemanly.

Jayden (Hadler)

Jayden Hadler is a young swimmer who attended his first Olympics this year. Jayden is a modern name of uncertain origin. It’s first found in the United States in the 19^th century, and turns up around the same time as other J-D-N names then in vogue, including Jadin. Jadin is a French occupational surname for someone who made bowls, derived from the French word for bowl, jatte, and it’s hard not to wonder if Jayden began as a variant of this name, influenced by Jay, a surname after the bird, whose name means “joyful, lively”. Jaidan, Jadan and Jaden were also in use around this time – some of the variants we see today date back over a century. Jayden became popular in Australia earlier than other countries, and first charts in the 1970s. You can see that it fit perfectly with popular or fashionable names of that era such as Jason, Hayden and Aidan. By the 1980s it was #307, then zoomed up the charts to make #47 for the 1990s. It peaked in 2003 at #14, and by 2010 had fallen to #28. Last year it rose again to #21, and could be considered a modern classic. The question is – is Jayden from the 1970s “the same name” as Jayden from the 19^th century?

Kieren (Perkins)

Kieren Perkins was considered one of the world’s best long-distance swimmers, specialising in the 1500 metre freestyle. He won gold and silver at the 1992 Olympics, gold in 1996, and silver in 2000. Since retiring from swimming, he has gained success in the media and the corporate world. Kieren is an Anglicised form of the Irish name Ciarán, a diminutive of the name Ciar, meaning “black, dark”. There are six Irish saints called Ciarán, the eldest of which is known as the first Irish-born saint. Although an educated man of noble birth, according to tradition he was a hermit, who lived like a wild man dressed in skins. Many legends describe him as having a love for and power over wild animals. Kieren is pronounced KEE-ren. Kieren has never charted in Australia, with parents preferring the variant Kieran, currently #240.

Leith (Brodie)

Leith Brodie won two bronzes at the 2008 Olympics. Leith is the port area in the city of Edinburgh; its name comes from the Gaelic word lìte, meaning “wet”. This makes sense when you realise that Leith is at the mouth of a river. Leith has played an important role in Scottish history and been the scene of many battles, as well as a major industrial centre. Leith is an aristocratic surname; the Leith family are of Scottish origin, and descend from William Leith, who was Lord Provost of Aberdeen in the 14^th century. Leith has been reasonably well-used in Australia, and from the available records, seems to have been used almost equally on males and females. For boys, it probably seemed like a cross between Lee and Keith, and for girls, maybe a cross between Lee and Beth. This name still seems a bit “mum and dad” to me, but maybe it’s ready for an early retro-revival.

Moss (Christie)

Maurice “Moss” Christie won silver at the 1924 Olympics. Moss can be a nickname for names such as Moses, Mostyn or Maurice, or it can be from the surname. The surname Moss has several possible sources. As an Irish name, it is usually translated as “son of the follower of Saint Munnu”. Munnu was the nickname of Saint Fintán of Taghmon; his nickname means “teacher”. As an English surname, Moss can mean “swamp, peat bog”, given to someone who lived near one, or it can be taken from the name Moses. Although many of these sources are male, the swamp one is obviously unisex, and you could also see Moss as a nature name, directly after the soft springy green plant. This could be used on both boys and girls.

Noel (Ryan)

Noel Ryan was an international swimming champion who attended the 1932 Olympic Games. Noel is another word for Christmas which was introduced by the Normans and comes from the Old French. Ultimately it is from Latin, meaning “birth”, referring to the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s been used for both boys and girls in England since the Middle Ages, originally given to those who were born at Christmas time. Later on, it may have been influenced by the surname, which could be from the personal name, given as a nickname to someone born at Christmas, or to someone who played an important role in Yuletide celebrations. In Australia, Noel has only ever charted as a male name. It was #76 for the 1900s, and peaked in the 1930s at #21. It was out of the Top 100 by the 1970s, and hasn’t charted since the 1990s. This is another 1930s name I would like to see make a comeback, and think it works equally well for girls.

Percival (Oliver)

Percival “Percy” Oliver won thirteen Australian freestyle and backstroke titles, and attended the 1936 Olympics. After retiring from swimming, he became a teacher and was responsible for the administration of the Education Department’s swimming programme. He died last year aged 92. In Arthurian legend, Percival is one of King Arthur’s knights, and connected to the quest for the Holy Grail. In the romance Perceval by Chretien de Troyes, Perceval meets the crippled Fisher King in a mysterious castle, and sees a grail (in this poem, a wide deep dish with a communion wafer which feeds the king), but does not understood its importance. Brought up not to chatter too much, Perceval fails to ask the question that would have healed the king, and once he realises the mistake he’s made, vows to find the castle again and complete the quest. At this point, Chretien abandons his poem, and it was left to other writers to finish the story. In doing so, the role of Percival became much diminished. The name Perceval seems to have been created by Chretien de Troyes from the Old French meaning “pierce valley”. What he was trying to get across I have little idea. This is another Arthurian name which was revived by the Victorians due to Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, which depicts Sir Percival as a spiritual knight better suited to holy quests than the average warrior. Percival was #77 in the 1900s, and left the Top 100 by the 1920s; it hasn’t charted since the 1950s. This is a vintage name which seems very usable, especially with its cute nickname Percy.

Regan (Harrison)

Regan Harrison won silver at the 2000 Olympics. Regan (pronounced REE-guhn) is an Anglicised form of the Irish surname O’Riagain or O’Raogain, meaning “son of Riagain”. Riagain is a Gaelic name of uncertain meaning; one suggestion is that it comes from the Gaelic word for “impulsive, angry”; another that it means “little king”. There was a medieval Irish prince called Riagain; he may have given his name to the town of Ballyregan in Northern Ireland. Regan is also found as a female name in Shakespeare’s King Lear, where Regan is the middle of the king’s three daughters. She is a vile creature full of false flattery, who throws her elderly father out of her home in the middle of a storm. To nobody’s disappointment, she is poisoned by her older sister, who is even more horrible. This revolting namesake doesn’t seem to have put parents off using the name for their daughters. The meaning of it is unknown; Shakespeare got the story and characters from earlier British legends, and Regan is presumed to be Celtic. A popular notion is that (female) Regan is derived from the name of the Celtic goddess Rigantona, who we also know as Welsh Rhiannon. It makes the name slightly more appealing, but I can’t confirm if it’s true or not. Rigantona means “great queen”.

(Photo is of Kieren Perkins after winning gold at the Atlanta Olympics, becoming the only Australian since Dawn Fraser to successfully defend an individual Olympic championship)

Is Cressida a Girl Name or a Car Name?

03 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by A.O. in Naming Assistance

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

birth notices, car names, choosing baby names, French names, Latinate names, middle names, name meaning, name popularity, nicknames, popular culture, Scottish names, sibsets, vintage names

Emily and David are expecting a baby girl in three weeks, and still haven’t settled on a name for her. They’ve thought of lots of nice names they could use, but each one seems to have its drawbacks, and they keep crossing names off their list and changing their minds. So far, they don’t really love one name more than another; none of them seem to jump out and say, “I’m the one – stop looking!”.

When they chose their first child’s name, it was much easier. David suggested the name Clementine, Emily loved it too, and straight away it seemed perfect and they never considered anything else. This time it’s been quite different, and they’ve found the process more worrisome.

At the moment they have on their list:

Cressida – Emily is slightly bothered by the car called the Toyota Cressida
Ottilie – concerned about spelling and pronunciation issues
Josephine – like it a lot, but doesn’t seem very exciting
Isadora – worried about references to Dora the Explorer, or that she’ll be yet another Izzy in a sea of Isabellas and Isabels
Mathilda – David loves Mathilde, but Emily thinks it’s too French and won’t be pronounced correctly; also aware of the popularity of Matilda, which isn’t a problem if it’s the right name
Francesca – loved it for ages, but a friend has just used it

Their name style is for names that have been forgotten by most people, a bit quirky, and with a vintage feel. They would like a name that is interesting and offbeat, but not “made up”. They seem to be leaning towards three-syllable names ending with -a, and Emily loves names that have a European/French vibe to them but don’t sound out of place in an English-speaking country.

David and Emily have a typically Scottish surname, such as Baxter, Cameron or Ramsay.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Emily and David, I know you probably feel slightly desperate, with your baby due in only a few weeks, and still no name picked for her. However, I think you’re actually doing really great. You know what your name style is, and you have very compatible tastes in names. You’ve already drawn up a list of lovely names, and if your daughter was born tomorrow, you could probably use any of them for her.

I think you had such a dream run choosing the name for your first child that your expectations are slightly unrealistic. Sometimes the perfect name drops into your lap from the heavens, but you can’t expect that to happen every time. Finding little niggling things wrong with the names you like best is completely normal.

I’d stop trying to find the perfect name that ticks absolutely every box and has no flaws of any kind, and concentrate on finding one that you both like, and that you can imagine saying every day for the rest of your lives. A name that your daughter can grow into and grow up with, and a name that fits into your family and lifestyle. It doesn’t have to be “perfect” – it just needs to work for you.

Let’s have a look at your name list:

Cressida

I’m extremely biased, as this is one of my favourite names and has been for many years. I love the upper-class eccentric feel of the name, and the crisp sound of the first syllable. The meaning of the name – “golden” – is also beautiful.

I know you’re a bit worried about the Toyota Cressida, but they stopped making them 20 years ago, which seems like ancient history to me. The Cressida isn’t a famous or classic car, and I haven’t heard it mentioned for decades (I actually forgot this car even existed) . In Australia, the car isn’t said the same way as the name either – it’s pronounced kreh-SEE-dah, whereas the girl’s name is KREHS-ih-dah (in the US, they say the car name “correctly”). On the one hand, that makes the human name distinct from the car; on the other hand, some people may try to say your daughter’s name like the car, and would need gentle correction.

The fact that you feel a bit excited about this name is a good sign, and the way it breaks one of your “rules” is also encouraging. You didn’t want another name starting with C, so the fact you are still seriously considering it means you must be very interested. I would definitely keep this one on your list for now.

Ottilie

I love the idea of this name, but like you, I’d be concerned about the pronunciation. I’ve listened to it being said by people from around the world on forvo, and it seems to be said quite differently in each country. The only English-speaking nation to contribute is the USA, and they seem to have two pronunciations – OTT-uh-lee, and aw-TIL-ee-uh. I actually don’t know how to pronounce this name correctly, and I’m unclear as to whether there even is a correct way to say it. I’ve tried saying all the pronunciations in my standard Australian accent, and I’m not impressed with the results. I think you’d have to be really certain you knew how it was going to be said, prepared to educate people on it, and to be forgiving if they mangled it. If this doesn’t daunt you, then you obviously love the name dearly, and should keep it on your list.

Josephine

This is a great name, and a classic which has never gained high levels of popularity. However, I dislike it as a sister match to Clementine, as to me the endings of the names are too similar.

Isadora

I think this name is gorgeous, and would make a lovely match with Clementine, and with your surname. I don’t think she would be “yet another Izzy”, as most girls called Isabella go by Bella as their nickname. I think you are worrying way too much about Dora the Explorer – Dora the Explorer is a positive character! She’s smart, kind, friendly and helpful. I would definitely keep this one your list, and give it serious consideration.

Mathilda

I sympathise with David – he’s right, Clementine and Mathilde are a great match. On the other hand, you’re right about the French pronunciation. Mathilda seems like a good compromise, and I think it’s worth keeping this one on your list too.

Francesca

The fact that your friend has used the name, and you still have it on your list, shows that you have quite an attachment to it. Understandable – it’s a lovely name, and like Clementine, is fashionable without being popular. Whether you use it or not depends on how you and your friend feel about sharing your childrens’ names; whether you think that seems cute and fun and a wonderful bond between you, or whether it would cause problems in your relationship. It probably depends a lot on what kind of a friendship you have, and maybe even how often you see each other. If both of you are happy to share, then I’d keep it on your list.

You asked for more name ideas: I feel as if you have already thought of everything by now, having already crossed off a long list of possible names. However, here’s some more:

Aurelia

Like Cressida, this name means “golden”, and is a nice match with Clementine. To me it seems European, vintage and quirky. I’ve seen a few people in birth notices choose Aurelia as a middle name, so I can tell that parents like it, but haven’t quite the confidence yet to use it as a first name. I’d like to see it move out of the middle name spot.

Elodie

You considered Eloise at one point; I thought this seemed an alternative to that. It’s pretty, French, and like Clementine is fashionable and underused at present.

Lilias

You might think this is a bit corny, but I couldn’t resist matching your Scottish surname with a Scottish name. Lilith was on your reject list, and this has a very similar sound. As a clementine is a type of mandarin, Clementine and Lilias is a sweet “fruit and flower” sibset.

Miranda

This is a Latinate name like Clementine, and I think Clementine and Miranda make a pretty and romantic sibset. Miranda is a name which is currently gaining in popularity while not being heavily used yet, and I think it would meet with widespread approval.

Rosamund or Rosamond

You already rejected Rosalie and Rosalind, so I thought I’d try you with another Rose name. It’s European, aristocratic and slightly off-beat, and Clementine and Rosamund make an elegant sibset.

Sylvia or Silvia

To me, this has a similar feel to many names on your reject list. It’s European and vintage, and definitely isn’t heavily used. I like the woodsy meaning, and the silvery sound of the name. Like Clementine, it’s not a nature name, but it somehow feels like one.

Readers, when you hear the name Cressida, do you think “girl” or “car”? Which names on Emily and David’s list do you like best, or which names would you recommend to them?

NOTE: The baby’s name was Isadora Mathilde!

Famous Name: Mungo

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

British names, famous namesakes, film references, K.M. Sheard, literary references, locational names, name history, name meaning, nicknames, popular culture, saints names, Scottish names

Blue Juniper from Baby Name Ponderings has been profiling names from horror films all October in the lead-up to Halloween, and here you can read about such fabulous finds as Amity, Romero, Dresden and Mockingbird. Perhaps this helped inspire me to do a name from an Australian horror film for October 31.

Lake Mungo came out a few years ago, but I only managed to catch it last year on DVD, after missing it on television. It’s one of those movies which is probably better to see on the small screen, because the film is made in the style of a TV documentary. This makes comparisons to The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity inevitable, but I think it’s better than both of these, and avoids any annoying shaky camerawork.

It’s not a horror movie with buckets of blood, hordes of screaming teens, or bizarre demonic cults, but a supernatural mystery thriller that is extremely tense and uneasy to watch – it is definitely a “scary” film. It’s about the grieving process after death, about the secrets that people take to the grave, and about the images left behind when someone dies that haunt us. It also asks the viewer to try to decide which events in the film are “real” and which aren’t – a process made all the more difficult that the closer you look, the less sure you become.

What I loved most about Lake Mungo was its complete authenticity – it’s one of the realest films I have ever seen, and even though when I put the DVD on, I knew it was “just a movie”, during the course of watching it I even began to doubt that. Rumour has it that this film is going to be remade by Hollywood, but I urge you to watch the original instead. For starters, the distinctive Australian voice of the film would be lost.

Although the movie is set in country Victoria, as the title suggests, Lake Mungo plays an important role. This is a salt lake in south-western New South Wales, which has been completely dry for several thousand years. Although geologically rich and part of the World Heritage listed Willandra Lakes region, it is most famous for the archaeological discoveries that were made there in the late 1960s and 1970s.

These were of human remains, the bones of a young woman and two men. The woman and one of the men had been ritually cremated and decorated with red ochre. The other man, of a later time period, had been carefully positioned in a shallow grave, his bones stained pink with the ochre surrounding him. The oldest archaeological site discovered in Australia, and amongst the oldest evidences of cremation in the world, they demonstrate a culture which was sophisticated enough to have developed spiritual beliefs and elaborate funeral rites for their dead.

The dating of the remains has been difficult and controversial, but they are currently accepted as being at least 40 000 years old, and very possibly more. The bones have also been dated as being at around 68 000 thousand years. This was slightly upsetting for scientists, as it is thought that modern humans migrated from Africa around 60 000 years ago. 68 000 years would mean that the first humans to leave Africa went straight to Australia, which would involve at least some sea travel. This idea didn’t seem workable and it was revised down to 40 000 – however, some research hints that the older dating may not be as far fetched as first thought.

Even more controversially, when mitochondrial DNA testing of the bones was done, it was found that they were genetically different to Aborigines, and to all of us (although they would have looked much the same). As the theory is that modern humans came out of Africa (which explains why everyone on earth is very closely related), where did these Lake Mungo humans that weren’t closely related to us come from? Somewhere else, or is our genetic heritage more complex than first thought? This basically upset everyone, and as a result it seems to have been decided not to do any further research on them, lest we discover more upsetting things.

All in all, I think this makes Lake Mungo the most interesting place in Australia, and the remains that were found here the most fascinating things in Australia, and probably the world. There are secrets here more ancient and mysterious than anything you will see at Halloween.

Before it was declared a national park in 1979, the land Lake Mungo lies upon was part of Mungo sheep station. The station was named by the Cameron brothers who owned it, after St Mungo’s church in Scotland, of which they had seen a picture. It’s not known which St. Mungo’s church they named it after.

Mungo was the nickname of Saint Kentigern, who was born in the 6^th century, in a British kingdom which is now part of Scotland. Of royal but illegitimate birth, he was brought up in Fife by Saint Serf, who was ministering to the Picts. Saint Serf is supposed to have given him his pet name Mungo, of which the meaning is unclear. It’s been suggested that it is British for “my dear one”, or “dearest”, based on similar-sounding words and phrases in Welsh.

K.M. Sheard says that the meaning of the name is linked to the saint’s real name, because Kentigern means “chief dog, lord hound” – a very common combination of words in ancient British names. She notes that Mungo looks to be derived from the British for “my dog”, which has close equivalents in Irish and Welsh. The name would thus have been an affectionate way of saying “my pet”, probably with connotations of “my dearest follower” or “my most loyal companion”.

According to legend, Saint Mungo performed four miracles, one of the most touching restoring to life Saint Serf’s pet robin. He is a patron saint of Scotland, and of the city of Glasgow, which has on its crest of arms images to represent the miracles of Saint Mungo. As such, it is a name with close ties to Scotland and the north of England, where the name was given in honour of the national saint.

You will find references to Saint Mungo in at least two works of fiction. In G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown detective stories, Father’s Brown’s former parish was St. Mungo’s, in Essex. In the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, the London hospital in the wizarding world is St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Rowling may have been influenced in her choice of saint because according to local traditions, Saint Mungo encountered the bard and prophet Merlin, cured him of madness, and converted him to Christianity.

In Australia, the MacCallums have produced four generations of intellectuals all named Mungo – the youngest a long-serving political commentator known for his staunchly pro-Labor views. The actor Mungo McKay has a horror connection, as he has been in the films Undead and Daybreakers. In Australian records, people called Mungo do mostly have Scottish surnames, and many in the 19^th century seem to have been named in honour of Scottish explorer Mungo Park.

I can see that some people are going to have problems with the name Mungo, but there’s something rather endearing about the name and the saint, and it has several associations with mystery and magic. In Australia it connects us to the most ancient peoples of our land, and an enigma locked away forever. If you’re looking for a Scottish heritage choice with a fashionable O-ending, yet yearn for something out of the ordinary, Mungo may be one to consider.

(The picture is a publicity shot from the movie Lake Mungo, not a photo of the place Lake Mungo)

Names of Australian Male Paralympic Medalists

28 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Anglo-Saxon names, Arabic names, Arthurian legends, Arthurian names, Cornish names, Croatian names, Disney names, english names, epithets, European name popularity, famous namesakes, French names, Gaelic names, germanic names, Irish names, K.M. Sheard, Latin names, locational names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names of organisations, Old Irish names, Old Norse names, Pictish names, popular culture, popular names, Roman names, royal names, saints names, Scottish names, South American name popularity, surname names, Welsh names

Bruno (Moretti)

Bruno Moretti won silver in table-tennis at the 1960 Paralympics, and a gold and two silvers in athletics at the 1964 Paralympics. Bruno is a Germanic name meaning “brown”. The name was used by the nobility in medieval Europe, and there are several saints named Bruno. One of them is Saint Bruno of Cologne, who was the son of Saint Matilda. He was Duke of Lotharingia and Archbishop of Cologne, and his court in Cologne was an intellectual and artistic centre. Bruno was also the given name of two popes – Gregory V and Leo IX. Bruno has a long history of use in Europe, and today is Top 100 in Croatia, Catalonia, Spain, and Chile. It’s also a common surname in Italy, and Giardano Bruno was a Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer, who suggested that the Sun was a star, and the universe had infinite worlds, populated by intelligent beings. He went down very badly with the Spanish Inquisition, who had him burned him at the stake. Today he is regarded as a martyr to science. Bruno is a warm cuddly-sounding name, and seems to be a popular choice for bears, both real and fictional.

Cody (Meakin)

Cody Meakin grew up playing both rugby union and Australian rules football; he broke his back in a rugby scrum, and while still in high school, became quadriplegic after a car accident. He took up wheelchair rugby in 2010, where he became an international champion. He won gold at the London Games this year. Cody is derived from the Gaelic surname Ó Cuidighthigh, meaning “son of Cuidightheach”. Cuidightheach is an Old Irish epithet meaning “helpful”. The most famous person with the surname must be “Buffalo Bill” Cody, an American frontiersman who became a celebrity for his Wild West touring shows; these introduced the concept of the American West to Britain and Europe. Buffalo Bill was a supporter of Native American rights, women’s rights and conservation, making him a very modern namesake, as well as giving the name Cody an “American West” feel. In the 1990 Disney film, The Rescuers Down Under, the boy from the Australian outback is named Cody. Cody first charted in the 1970s, and was top 100 by the 1990s. It peaked in the early 2000s at #59, and only left the Top 100 last year, when it dropped to #124.

Dylan (Alcott)

Dylan Alcott has been paraplegic from birth due to a spinal tumour, and began playing wheelchair basketball in 2003. He won gold at the 2008 Paralympics, and silver at this year’s London Games. Dylan is a Welsh name which is difficult to translate exactly, but very roughly means “flood, wave, tide”. In Welsh mythology, Dylan Ail Don was a blond god of the sea, and his epithets were “son of the wave” and “son of the sea”. In the legends, he is killed, and it’s said that the sound of the waves is the sea lamenting his death. The name became well known outside Britain due to the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who was named after the god. In Welsh, his name is pronounced DUL-uhn, but Thomas himself preferred the Anglicised pronunciation of DIL-uhn. Thomas’ emotionally powerful yet tightly controlled verse was admired by a young American named Robert Zimmerman, who promptly changed his name to Bob Dylan. As Dylan went on to become a folk balladeer, protest singer and counter-cultural icon, the name Dylan ended up with a double helping of street cred. Dylan first charted in the 1960s and reached the Top 100 in the 1980s. It peaked in the early 2000s at #17, and is currently #41.

Erik (Horrie)

Erik Horrie was left paraplegic after a car accident in 2001, and became involved in wheelchair basketball, but last year switched to canoeing. He won a silver medal at the 2012 London Games, and also welcomed his son Lewis. Erik is derived from Old Norse, and interpreted as “only ruler, eternal ruler, eternal power”. It has been heavily used in the royal houses of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the most famous to us being Erik the Red, who explored a little-known country, called it Greenland, and became its head chieftain. King Erik IX of Sweden is considered to be a saint, and according to legend was martyred while attending a church service. The name Erik was used in England by the Anglo-Saxons, and settlers from Scandinavia but only became popular in the form Eric in the 19^th century, thanks to an earnestly moralising book called Eric, or Little by Little. Other fictional Eriks include the Phantom of the Opera and Erik the Viking from the Monty Python film.

Fabian (Blattman)

Fabian Blattman became paraplegic after a motorcycle accident, and took up wheelchair athletics to improve fitness. One of our most successful Paralympians, he has set several world records. He won a silver and bronze in 1992, a gold and a silver in 1996, and a gold, silver and bronze in 2000. The name Fabian is derived from the Roman family name Fabius, one of the most ancient noble houses of Rome. According to legend, the Fabii claimed descent from Hercules, and were shepherds who followed founding father Remus. Their name is said to be from the Latin word for “broad bean”, a vegetable that the Fabii were supposedly the first to cultivate. The surname Fabianus was given to freed slaves who had been owned by the Fabii, and Fabian is from this name. It was introduced to England by the Normans, but never became as popular there as its equivalents in Continental Europe. There is a 3^rd century Saint Fabian, who was elected pope by a dove; despite this unorthodox beginning, he was highly-regarded and worked hard for the early church. The Fabian Society gives this name a left-wing edge; the socialist organisation took its name from the Roman general Fabius Maximus, who wore Hannibal down by attrition rather than engaging in head-on battle.

Jago (Mikulic)

Jago Mikulic was a blind athlete who competed at the 1976 Paralympics, and won a silver in javelin and a bronze in the pentathlon. Jago is a Croatian form of James or Jacob, and is said YAH-go. It can also be a Cornish form of those names, but is pronounced JAY-go in this case. However, the Welsh form Iago is very old and predates the common use of Biblical names in Britain; K.M. Sheard suggests that it may be from the Celtic word for “ice”. If so, this would give Cornish Jago another possible origin.

Kerrod (McGregor)

Kerrod McGregor was a track and field Paralympian who won two golds, three silvers and two bronzes at the 1984 Paralympic Games, one gold in 1988, and one silver in 1996. Kerrod is an English surname that can be derived from the village of Curridge in Berkshire, with the village’s name meaning “Cusa’s ridge”. Cusa was a common Anglo-Saxon name, but what it meant I have been unable to discover. Another possible origin is the hamlet of Kerridge in Cheshire, which means “key ridge” – Kerridge Ridge is one of the foothills of the Pennines. The surname seems to have been most common in Yorkshire. The name Kerrod is well known in Queensland from former NRL star Kerrod Walters, who had a twin brother named Kevin.

Nazim (Erdem)

Nazim Erdem was born in Turkey and came to Australia early in life. As a kid, he practised holding his breath under water as a little game with himself. At the age of 20 he dived into shallow water in an effort to impress some girls; he was underwater for two and a half minutes before being rescued, and his technique of holding his breath saved his life. After the accident, he was quadriplegic. He began playing wheelchair rugby in 1992, and won silver medals at the 200 and 2008 Paralympics, and a gold at the London Games. Nazim is an Arabic boy’s name which means “organiser, convenor”, and as a title, loosely corresponds to the word “mayor” in English. The name isn’t uncommon in Turkey, and Nâzım Hikmet was a charismatic Turkish writer, a leader of the literary avant-garde who was often arrested for his revolutionary political beliefs, and spent much of life in prison or exile. His poetry and his struggles for peace are widely admired in Turkey and outside it; some of his poems have been turned into songs by folk singers such as Joan Baez and Pete Seeger. The name is pronounced NAH-zim.

Rene (Ahrens)

Rene Ahrens won a bronze in discus in 1980 and 1988. René is the French form of the Latin Renatus, meaning “born again, reborn”, referring to the act of baptism, and a popular choice for early Christians. René was a name used by the French aristocracy, and the name is known to us through the philosopher René Descartes (“I think therefore I am”). There is a Saint René Goupil, a French missionary to Canada who is one of the rare North American martyrs. The name is pronounced reh-NAY. Although the feminine form Renee has been popular in Australia, masculine Rene remains very rare here – no doubt partly because it could easily be confused with the girl’s name.

Tristan (Knowles)

Tristan Knowles lost his leg at the age of 9 as a result of cancer, and also lost a lung at the age of 11. He has been playing wheelchair basketball since 1999, and in 2002 was named the NSW Wheelchair Basketballer of the Year. He won silver in 2004, gold in 2008, and a silver at this year’s Paralympic Games in London. Tristan is a Cornish hero of Celtic folklore who is also one of King Arthur’s knights of the Round Table. He is best known as the lover of the beautiful Irish princess Iseult (or Isolde). Iseult was to marry Tristan’s uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, but she and Tristan accidentally drank a love potion that had been prepared for Mark and his bride to share. The two became hopelessly infatuated with each other and embarked on a passionate affair, until Tristan was banished from Cornwall by an understandably irate Uncle Mark. The story was enormously popular in the Middle Ages, and is one of the forerunners to the story of adulterous lovers Lancelot and Guinevere. The name Tristan was yet another revived in the Victorian era, thanks to Tennyson, and the poems he wrote based on Arthurian legends. In the story, Tristan’s name is supposed to be linked with triste, the French word for “sad”, to fit in with his tragic love life. However, it is a form of the Pictish name Drust, which means “riot, tumult”. Drust was a traditional name amongst the royalty of Scotland, and it’s quite a puzzler as to how a Cornish story ended up with a hero with a Scottish name. Some claim that Tristan was a real person, pointing to a 5^th century stone in Cornwall, which is supposed to be the grave marker for someone named Drustanus, the son of Cunomorus. Titillatingly, Cunomorus is said to be King Mark himself, suggesting that Tristan and Iseult’s step-incest was even closer and creepier (although his uncle was also his adoptive father anyway). Tristan and Iseult are two literary characters I’ve never been able to warm to, as their actions are so selfish; perhaps the story is trying to tell us that nobody does very well out of an infatuated love affair, not even the lovers themselves. Tristan first charted in the 1960s, and has managed to reach #100 twice, in the 1980s and late 2000s. It’s currently #123.

(Photo of Dylan Alcott celebrating victory from Zimbio)

Names of Australian Male Olympic Medalists

19 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 9 Comments

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Bevan (George)

Bevan George is a hockey player who won gold at the Olympics in 2004, and bronze in 2008. Bevan is a Welsh surname meaning “son of Evan”; as Evan is a Welsh form of John, this is the Welsh form of Johnson. One of the most prominent people with this surname was Aneurin Bevan, a Welsh Labour Party politician most active in the 1950s. Recognised as one of the leaders of the party’s left-wing, he was a champion of social justice and the rights of working people. As Minister of Health, he was responsible for bringing in the National Health Service – that wonderful institution celebrated so effusively in the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics. For reasons unclear to me, this name seems to have been used more often in Australasia than anywhere else, and unfortunately, familiarity seems to have bred a certain amount of contempt, for in Queensland especially, Bevan is seen much in the same way that Kevin is perceived in the United Kingdom, the word bevan used to denote a lower-class person. As such, parents would rather use the name Evan.

Deveraux (Mytton)

Deveraux “Dev” Mytton won a bronze medal in sailing at the 1956 Olympics. The surname Deveraux is a variant of Devereux, and it’s Norman-French, meaning “from Évreux” in Normandy. The city of Évreux gained its present name from the Gallic tribe the Eburovici, whose name may be related to the word for “yew tree”, so the French city could have a similar meaning to that of York in northern England. According to the BBC, so many of the gold medal-winners from Team GB were from Yorkshire that if this historic county was its own nation, it would have finished 15^th on the Olympics medal tally – ahead of South Africa and Brazil. The city of Évreux has its own Olympic champion – Didier Courrèges, who won gold as an equestrian in 2004. The surname is one with an aristocratic air to it, and in the early twentieth century would have been considered a very upmarket, perhaps even pretentious, name to bestow upon your son (a 1920s version of a “preppy” name). Pronounced DEV-er-oh, I cannot see this name coming into use, despite the fashionable ending, but Dev has a brisk sound to it.

Eli (Matheson)

Eli Matheson is a hockey player who won bronze at the 2008 Olympics. Eli is a Hebrew name which means “ascension”, and in the Old Testament, Eli is a judge and high priest of Israel who is the teacher and mentor of the prophet Samuel. Eli himself is regarded as a prophet also in Judaism. According to how it is written in Hebrew, Eli can also be a separate name which means “my God”. In Hebrew, it is said EH-lee, but English-speakers tend to pronounce the name EE-lie (probably so it doesn’t get confused with the girl’s name Ellie). One well known person with this name is Hollywood actor Eli Wallach, who starred in the westerns, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and The Magnificent Seven. As Old Testament names for boys gain increasing momentum, Eli continues to rise and rise. It first entered the charts in the 1970s, and joined the Top 100 in 2009. It’s already #45 and still forging ahead.

Fergus (Kavanagh)

Fergus Kavanagh is a member of the men’s hockey team, and won bronze medals in 2008 and 2012. Fergus is the Anglicised and Old Irish form of Fearghas, a Gaelic name meaning “man of vigour, strong virile man” – very apt for an Olympian. It was a name common amongst royalty in both ancient Ireland and Scotland, and is still often used amongst Scottish nobility. One of Queen Elizabeth II’s uncles was named Fergus, and another royal connection is Fergus Boyd, a friend and former flatmate of Prince William. There is a Saint Fergus, an 8^th century Irish bishop who was a missionary in Scotland. King Arthur also had Sir Fergus as one of his knights, and he appears in a witty 13^th century romance in which he appears valiant but lacking in sophistication. The name Fergus is currently gaining favour with the sort of parents who love Angus and Hamish, but are dismayed by their popularity. Aristocratic Fergus seems so much more select.

Hector (Hogan)

Hector “Hec” Hogan was a sprinter who was Australian champion seven times over in the 100 metres, and was able to equal the world record in this event. He attended the 1956 Olympics, and although he was already feeling strangely fatigued, still managed to win bronze. He was afterwards diagnosed with leukaemia, and died in hospital a few years later, while listening to the 100 metre sprint race at the Rome Olympics. In Greek mythology, Hector is a Trojan prince, and the greatest warrior of Troy, who slays Achilles in battle. A leader noted for his brave and noble nature, he is seen as far more worthy than his younger brother Paris, who caused the war. In Greek, Hector means “to hold”, and is interpreted as “holding firm, holding everything together”. It may be an epithet or title rather than a real name. In Scotland, Hector is used to Anglicise the Gaelic name Eachann, meaning “horse lord” or “brown horse”. Sir Hector is one of King Arthur’s knights in the legends, and is the brother of Sir Lancelot, while Arthur’s foster-father Sir Ector shows another form of the name. In Australia, Hector is the name of a cloud which forms each afternoon in the Tiwi Islands during certain months. This name is fast becoming seen as hip and quirky.

Ji (Wallace)

Ji Wallace is a gymnast who won a silver medal for trampolining at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He later came out as gay, and was the first Australian to be an ambassador for the Gay Games; while attending the 2012 Olympics, he revealed that he is HIV-positive. Ji is a unisex Korean name which means “wisdom”; it’s also the word for an ancient Korean flute. This name sounds similar to the Indian name Jai, but manages to use even fewer letters, and is suitable for both boys and girls.

Kenneth (Wallace)

Kenneth “Ken” Wallace started out competing in Ironman, and switched to sprint canoeing while still in his teens. He won gold and bronze medals at the 2008 Olympics, and last year took part in Channel 7’s Australia’s Greatest Athlete. He came third, with Shannon Eckstein beating him to second place. Kenneth is the Anglicised form of two separate names. One is the Pictish Coinneach, meaning “handsome”; the other is Gaelic Cináed, meaning perhaps “born from fire” or “fire-head”, possibly to denote someone red-haired or hot-headed. According to tradition, the 9^th century Kenneth MacAlpin was the first king of Scotland, and is known as Kenneth I (during his lifetime, he would only have been known as king of the Picts, however). There also two legendary saints named Kenneth, one Irish, one Welsh. For some reason, Kenneth became a “funny name” – perhaps because of uber-camp comic actor Kenneth Williams, from the Carry On movies. Kenneth was #38 for the 1900s, and peaked in the 1920s at #6. It left the Top 100 in the 1980s, and is currently #409. It rose last year, so things may be looking up for this attractive name.

Nimrod (Greenwood)

Nimrod Greenwood won bronze for rowing at the 1952 Olympics. In the Old Testament, Nimrod is a great-grandson of Noah, and king of several Mesopotamian cities. He is depicted as a man wielding great political power, a warrior, and a mighty hunter. Although the Bible never states this, according to tradition, he is the king for whom the Tower of Babel was constructed. This hubristic piece of engineering sought to build a tower into heaven itself, and so alarmed God that He scattered humanity over the globe, and made them speak different languages, to prevent further outbreaks of co-operation and harmony. It’s obviously a story to explain cultural differences, and there are similar myths around the world. The name Nimrod is traced to the Hebrew for “rebel”, but as he was Sumerian, this seems unlikely. The most convincing theory is that he is based on the Babylonian god Bel Marduk, one of whose titles was Bel-Nimrod, meaning “to pursue, to make someone flee before him”. Nimrod has entered our language to mean either a tyrant, a warrior, or a huntsman; however, in the United States it is slang for “idiot” – perhaps due to a 19^th century play with a character called Nimrod Wildfire. It is still an Olympian name, for one of the Israeli swimmers at this year’s Olympics was Nimrod Shapira-Bar-Or.

Ralph (Doubell)

Ralph Doubell had a brief career in athletics, but was lucky enough to peak just as an Olympics came around. He won gold in 1968 in the 800 metres, and set a world record of 1:44.3. No other Australian has ever managed to equal this, and it’s stood as the Australian record for more than 40 years. Ralph is a contraction of the Old Norse name Ráðúlfr, meaning “wolf counsel”, which was introduced to England by Scandinavian settlers. When the Normans arrived, they brought with them their own form of the name, Radulf, and English Ralph can be seen as a continuation of both these names. Ráðúlfr is pronounced ra-THOOL-fer, and Radulf is said RAD-oolf; in the beginning Ralph was spelled Ralf and pronounced RAYF. By the 17^th century the spelling had been changed to Rafe to reflect the pronunciation, and the Ralph spelling appeared in the 18^th century. You are now free to pronounce this name either RAYF or RALF, but as far as I know, only one Ralph seems to say his name like Rafe, and that’s English actor Ralph Fiennes. The name was favoured by the ruling classes during the Middle Ages, but American pop culture has not been kind to it, often assigning it to comic or dim-witted characters. In American slang, ralph means “to vomit”, which can’t have done its image any good. Ralph was #91 in the 1900s, and peaked in the 1920s at #89. It left the Top 100 by the 1950s, and hasn’t ranked since the 1980s.

Verdi (Barberis)

Verdi “Vern” Barberis was a seven times Australian champion in weight-lifting, and took the bronze medal in the Lightweight category at the 1952 Olympics. He was the first Australian lightweight to clean and jerk over 300 lb (140 kg), which at that time exceeded his state’s heavyweight record. The name Verdi is an Italian surname, common in the north of Italy, and best known as that of the composer, Giuseppe Verdi. One of the most influential composers of the 19^th century, he is famous for such operas as Rigoletto, Aida and La Traviata. The name means “green”, from the Latin viridis, related to the word virere, meaning “to bloom and flourish”. In the same way, the English word verdant, from the same Latin root, means “green”, but also has connotations of lush vegetation. It’s very much a name of freshness, spring time and new life. I think this rare unisex name is very appealing, and also begins with the fashionable V.

(Photo shows Ken Wallace after winning gold at the 2008 Olympics)

Famous Names: Sally and Malcolm

15 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

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english names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, hebrew names, Italian names, Latin names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, nicknames, royal names, Scottish names, Shakespearean names, vocabulary words

The 2012 Olympics came to an end on the weekend, and today our athletes came home, to be met by huge crowds at the airport, which included the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. Although the London Olympics had many critics and doubters before they began, from the stunning Opening Ceremony onwards, all was forgotten as everyone agreed that London had done a bang-up job hosting the Summer Olympics.

Everything had gone smoothly, athletes were well taken care of, the historic capital looked grand and stately, the weather was good, and the wonderful volunteers ensured that, above all, it was a friendly and fun Olympics where people felt free to relax and enjoy themselves. No wonder that Rio has said that it watched and learned from London, as it prepares for its own hosting gig in 2016.

There were so many memorable moments from the Olympics, but from an Australian perspective, I am choosing two athletes who, for me, were the stand outs from our team. The first is hurdler Sally Pearson, simply because her race, which ended in a photo-finish, was nail-bitingly close. Nearly everyone I’ve spoken to has nominated Sally’s gold medal win as the most exciting of the Olympics. Sally not only set an Olympic record, she joined a select group of athletes who were world champions when they won at the Olympics, and is the first Australian woman to win Olympic gold in athletics since Cathy Freeman.

The other is sailor Malcolm Page, because our sailing team did so well at the Olympics, and it’s obvious their training regime really paid off. Malcolm is the first Australian sailor to win two gold medals at consecutive Olympic Games, and he was chosen as the Australian flag-bearer for the Closing Ceremony. Just as Sally was named the IAFF Female Athlete of the Year in 2011, Malcolm was inducted into the Australian Institute of Sport’s “Best of the Best”. Two sportspeople at the top of their game, and here’s a closer look at their names.

The name Sally is a pet form of Sarah, a Hebrew name meaning “princess”. It’s been used as an independent name since the 16^th century, and seems to have been first used in the southern coastal areas of England. Since then, it has become a short form of almost any similar name, including the Italian male name Salvatore. It is also, by coincidence, an English vocabulary word, for sallies is an old word for “willow trees”, as in the W.B Yeats poem, Down by the Salley Gardens (the Latin for “willow” is Salix). In military terms, a sally is a sudden attack on an enemy, and we use this word to also mean to attack someone verbally in a witty way. To sally also means to rush off or venture out – very suitable for a sportswoman!

Like Jack, Sally is a name we are familiar with from dozens of cultural references. Sally has appeared in many popular songs, from the nursery rhyme Sally Goes Round the Sun, the traditional Sally in Our Alley, to the blues song Mustang Sally to the rock and roll Long Tall Sally. There is the traditional English fairground game, Aunt Sally, in which a ball is thrown to knock off a wooden woman’s head. We know many a fictional Sally, from wayward Sally Bowles in Cabaret, to Charlie Brown’s sister in the Peanuts cartoon, to the good-looking but annoying Sally Hayes in Catcher in the Rye, the Sally who was met by Harry in the romantic comedy, and the little sister of Dick and Jane in the vintage reading books.

Sally first entered the charts in the 1920s, and was Top 100 by the 1950s; it peaked in the 1970s at #53, and left the Top 100 in the 1990s. Currently it’s #492, and fell last year after a sharp rise in 2010. Sally is one of the most popular names Googled to reach my blog, and I can see the attraction – it’s a fresh, spunky little name that seems clean and wholesome, but not exactly goody-two-shoes. It’s girlish without being girly, and a fuss-free way to wear a princess name without sounding the slightest bit princessy.

Malcolm is the Anglicised form of the Scottish name Máel Coluim, meaning “devotee of Saint Columba”. Columba is a Latin name meaning “dove”. It was a common name amongst medieval royalty in Scotland, which has a long line of King Malcolms. The most well known is Malcolm III, for it is claimed that he is the historical person on which the character of Malcolm in Shakespeare’s Macbeth is based, and who becomes king of Scotland after Macbeth is killed. Although his second wife, Margaret, is recognised as a saint, King Malcolm does not seem to have been very religious.

Scottish-born Malcolm Young is famous in Australia as the brains behind rock band AC/DC, but although the name of his younger brother Angus is a popular favourite, Malcolm’s name has languished. Malcolm was #81 for the 1900s, and peaked in the 1950s at #52. It left the Top 100 in the 1980s, and hasn’t charted since 2009.

Part of the reason may be that Malcolm is a name well known in politics, which rarely seems to do a name any favours. Liberal Party Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser came to power in 1975, a time which saw a definite plummet in popularity for the name Malcolm. In recent times, Malcolm Turnbull has been the Liberal Party Leader of the Opposition, and is currently Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband. He is known for being Australia’s wealthiest parliamentarian, and is the only sitting politician to make the BRW Rich List. Since he was elected in 2004, the name Malcolm has gone out of regular use altogether.

So although Scottish names for boys continue to be fashionable choices in Australia, the related name Callum, which is the Scottish form of Columba, has taken over from Malcolm – soaring in popularity during the 1980s as Malcolm sank. Is it purely coincidence that the 1980s was a decade in which Malcolm Fraser’s party suffered the worst defeat of a non-Labour party since Federation, and he was discovered in a confused condition in a seedy hotel in Memphis, wearing only a towel? I cannot help but feel neither of these things improved the prospects of the name Malcolm.

Names of Australian Female Olympic Medalists

12 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

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Chantal (Meek)

Chantal Meek is originally from Britain, and won a bronze medal in 2008 for sprint canoeing. The name Chantal was originally given in honour of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal (her non-saint name was Jeanne-Françoise Frémiot, Baronne de Chantal). Jeanne-Françoise was of the nobility, and married a baron; she devoted herself to prayer and charity, and later in life founded a religious order. Not only kind and sensible, she was known for her great sense of humour. The place name Chantal is from Old Provençal cantal, meaning “stony”, but people often imagine it is from the French word chant, meaning “song”. Chantal was first used as a personal name in France in the 1920s, and was most popular there during the 1940s-60s. The name entered the US Top 100 in 1968, the same year Marie-Chantal Miller was born to American millionaire and socialite, Robert Warren Miller (Marie-Chantal later became Crown Princess of Greece). Chantal (shan-TAHL) has never charted in Australia, with the preference here being for the variant Chantelle (shan-TEL).

Clover (Maitland)

Clover Maitland has won gold twice for hockey, in 1996 and 2000. Although usually thought of as a nature name, Clover was originally from the surname. It was an occupational name given to an official mace-bearer (a mace was called a clavia), or to a timber-worker, with the origin being from the word cleave. This accounts for boys named Clover. The plant of this name plays a role in folklore, for it is said that to find a four-leafed clover is lucky. The shamrock is a clover variety which is one of the symbols of Ireland, and proudly displayed on Saint Patrick’s Day. The word clover ultimately goes back to a Proto-Indo-European word meaning “sticky” – quite apt, as white clover flowers make excellent honey. Clover is also used in farming and gardening to enrich the soil, and so good for stock to eat that we say someone is living in clover if their life is one of ease and prosperity. So many positive things attached to this fresh green plant – another one is that it contains the word love. Clo, Cloey, Clove and Lola could all be used as nicknames.

Maree (Fish)

Maree Fish is a hockey player who won gold at the 1988 Olympics. The name Maree is typically Australasian, and so little known elsewhere that Abby at Appellation Mountain even asked about it, as she was puzzled why so many baby girls in Australian birth announcements had Maree in their names. There are several possibilities. The original pronunciation of Maree was MAH-ree, so it could be an Anglicisation of the Scottish Màiri, which is a form of Mary, and can be pronounced the same way. On the other hand, MAH-ree is how the name Marie was pronounced in England until the early twentieth century, and is also a common Gaelic and Irish pronunciation of the name. There is a Loch Maree in the Scottish Highlands, named after Saint Maree – however, he was a man, and his name is the Anglicised form of Máel Ruba, which roughly means “red haired monk” (sometimes it’s Anglicised as Rufus). These days, Maree is usually pronounced muh-REE, as a variant spelling of Marie. Maree entered the charts in the 1920s and was Top 100 by the 1940s. It peaked in the 1960s at #62, and left the Top 100 the following decade. It hasn’t charted since 2009. Like Marie, it’s much more common as a middle name.

Nova (Peris-Kneebone)

Nova Peris began her sporting career in hockey, becoming the first Indigenous Australian to win an Olympic gold medal when the Australian team won at the 1996 Olympics. She then switched to athletics, and although she won gold twice at the Commonwealth Games as a runner, she never received another Olympic medal. The name Nova is from the Latin word for “new”, and the word nova is well known in astronomy to describe a nuclear explosion in a white dwarf star. This makes it another “star” name. Although a rare name here, it has been on the US Top 1000 since the 1880s, and last year returned at #882, after not being seen there since before World War II. It now seems very usable, with its fashionable O and V sounds – it fits right in with popular girls’ names such as Ava and Eva, and can also be seen as an unusual nature name. It may remind some Australians of the radio station, Nova FM, but I’m unsure whether that would bother anyone.

Rohanee (Cox)

Rohanee Cox is a basketball player with the national women’s team who won silver at the 2008 Olympics. She is the first Indigenous Australian to win an Olympic medal in basketball. She has been awarded many sporting honours, including NAIDOC Sportsperson of the Year in 2010. Rohanee, pronounced ro-HAH-nee, is an Indian girl’s name which is a variant of Rohane, based on Rohana, meaning “sandalwood”. Sandalwood trees are native to southern India, and incense made from the tree is used in Hindu ceremonies, while devotees wear a paste made from it on their bodies, so the name has spiritual connotations. Another person with the name is Rohanee Walters, the sister of actor Brandon Walters, who served as his stand-in during the making of Baz Luhrmann’s Australia. Like Ms Cox, Miss Walters is from Broome in Western Australia, and I think is young enough to have been named after local sports star Rohanee Cox – although I don’t know if that’s what happened.

Shirley (Strickland)

Shirley Strickland is one of our most famous athletes, gaining more Olympic medals than any other Australian woman in track and field. She won silver and two bronze at the 1948 London Olympics, gold and bronze at the 1952 Olympics, and two gold at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956. Shirley is a surname from a common English place name meaning “bright clearing”. It was a rare male name until Charlotte Brontë’s 1848 novel Shirley was published. In the story, the lively young heiress Shirley Keeldar has been given a boy’s name, because her parents had no son to pass the family name on to. The US Top 1000 shows Shirley as a unisex name from the 1880s onwards, with 1957 being the last year it appears as a male name. The name began steadily rising just before World War I, coinciding with the 1908 publication of L.M. Montgomery’s novel, Anne of Green Gables, with its imaginative red-haired heroine, Anne Shirley (in a later book, Anne calls her youngest son Shirley). In Australia, Shirley was in rare use in the 1900s, and skyrocketed in popularity to be #10 for the 1920s. It peaked in the 1930s at #3, and had left the Top 100 by the 1960s. It hasn’t charted since 2009.

Taryn (Woods)

Taryn Woods was a member of the women’s water polo team which won gold a the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Taryn is a name popularised by Hollywood matinee idol, Tyrone Power, and his second wife, Linda Christian. They gave the name to their second daughter in 1953, and the name Taryn first appears on the US Top 1000 in 1955. Her name is presumed to be a feminised form of the name Tyrone, which is the name of an Irish county. Taryn is found in ultra-ultra-rare use before that as a unisex name, and similar-sounding names such as Taren, Terrian, Toreen and Torunn were common in the 1940s and ’50s, so the Powers did seem to be tapping into a mid-century zeitgeist. Many of these names look to be inspired by Scandinavian links to the Norse god of thunder, Thor, or perhaps combinations of names, such as Terri and Karen. Taryn first entered the Australian charts in the 1960s, and peaked in the 1980s, at #230. It hasn’t charted since 2009. The name seems to have been more popular in Australia than anywhere else, although its only tenuous Aussie connection is that Linda Christian was one of Erroll Flynn’s lovers.

Tatiana (Grigorieva)

Tatiana Grigorieva was a national hurdler in Russia, but when she migrated to Australia in 1997 she took up pole vaulting. Within a year of picking up a pole for the first time, she won a medal at an international competition. After winning silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she became a household name, and her blonde good looks made her very marketable. Tatiana is the feminine form of Tatianus, derived from the Roman family name Tatius. The name may be of Sabine origin, and the meaning is unknown. Saint Tatiana is supposed to have been a 3^rd century Roman Christian who was martyred for her faith. She was venerated in Orthodox Christianity, and her name has been commonly used in Russia and surrounding areas. Although Tatiana is unusual in Australia, its forms Tania and Tanya both peaked in the 1970s in the Top 100. Last year, NRL star Akuila Uate welcomed a baby girl named Tatianna, and its short form Tiana peaked in the early 2000s.

Virginia (Lee)

Virginia Lee is a rower who won bronze at the 1996 Olympics. The name Virginia is the feminine form of the Roman family Verginius; the meaning may be “bend, turn toward”, but modern writers often spell it Virginius, to make it seem as if it is derived from virgo, Latin for “virgin”. According to legend, Verginia was a beautiful Roman girl murdered by her father to protect her honour. Virginia was the name of the first English colony in North America. In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh’s expedition to what is now North Carolina brought word of a Native American chief named Wingina. The first Native American leader to meet English settlers, he died by their hand soon after, setting an unhappy precedent for future cultural relations. Queen Elizabeth I called the new colony Virginia in her own honour, due to her status as Virgin Queen; it is thought that Wingina’s name may have helped inspire her choice. The original colony stretched from North Carolina into Canada, but the modern American state of Virginia is of more modest proportions. The first child born in the Americas to English parents was Virginia Dare, named after the colony, and her fate is a mystery, for all the colonists disappeared a few years later. Because of its origins, Virginia has been more popular in the United States than elsewhere. In Australia, it first charted in the 1920s, and peaked in the 1950s at #94 – the decade when Virginia McKenna starred in A Town Like Alice. It hasn’t ranked since the early 2000s.

Wendy (Schaeffer)

Wendy Schaeffer is an equestrian who won gold in eventing at the 1996 Olympics. The early history of the name Wendy is rather murky, and it’s usually suggested that it began as a pet form of Gwendoline or Wanda. Unfortunately for this theory, the first Wendy I can find was born in 1615 in Cambridgeshire, and was male. He may have been named after the Cambridgeshire hamlet of Wendy, meaning “island on the river bend”. In fact, boys named Wendy in 18^th century England did tend to come from Cambridgeshire. The earliest woman named Wendy I can find died in Essex, and is estimated to have been born around 1711. Wendy is also a surname which is most commonly found in Essex – as this county is next to Cambridgeshire, could it be inspired by the place name? Leaving aside this mysterious origin, the name’s popularity is due to author J.M. Barrie. He knew a wee lass called Margaret Henley, and she called Barrie “fwendy”, as a childish way of saying “friend”. Margaret died aged five, and Barrie named the heroine of his 1904 play, Peter Pan, Wendy Darling; the novelisation of the play was published in 1911. In Australia, Wendy first entered the charts in the 1920s, and was Top 100 by the following decade. It peaked in the 1950s at #15, and left the Top 100 in the 1980s. It is still in rare use.

(Photo shows Tatiana Grigorieva after winning silver at the Sydney Olympics in 2000)

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~ Names with an Australian Bias of Democratic Temper

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