Neo-Dada
Achilles--Greek, "without lips." Probably for a fighter who compressed
his lips in moments of tension. This name belongs to the legendary hero
of ancient Greece and Homer's Iliad who set sail against Troy. He was the
Greek ideal of manly beauty and chivalry. Legend has him dipped in
infancy in the river Styx. Its waters made him invulnerable save for the
heel by which his mother held him. Saint Achillas, patriarch of
Alexandria, was one of the four saints of this name. Leif--Teutonic,
"love." Old Norse form of the English Love and the German
Lieb. (See Love and Livingston.) According to history, Leif Ericson, the
Norse explorer, discovered America and founded the first colony in
Greenland. Eranthe--Greek, "the camomile." "Flower" name for the
aromatic spring flower, the camomile. Keziah--Hebrew, "the cassia tree."
In the Bible, Keziah was one of the
daughters of Job, whose name became popular in Christian England. The
sister of John Wesley, founder of Methodism, was named Keziah.
Delano--Old French, "of the night." Erse, "healthy dark man." The Delano
family, originally of France, were among the forebears of the American
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt . Mabel--Latin, "the amiable." This,
the equivalent of Mab in England, and
long considered one of the "joy" names, is now considered a shortened form
of Amabel (see Amabel), hence, belonging to the Amy or "love" group. For
hundreds of years however it has led its own life and is entitled to its
own place in nomenclature. Gregory--Greek, "to awaken." Literally, "the
vigilant." Five saints,
seventeen popes, many bishops, the Gregorian calendar, and the Gregorian
chants, have made this one of the most beloved of Christian names. The
dim. Greg, which is also an independent name, means in Celtic, "the
fierce." Scipio--Latin, "a staff." Made famous in Rome by Scipio
Africanus, and used to some extent in England after the Reformation.
Obelia--Greek, "a pillar." From the same source as the word obelisk,
those antique pillars that commemorated the deeds of the great.
Evadine--Greek, "the fortunate." In Greek mythology, a water nymph. She
was also the loyal wife who perished on her husband's funeral pyre, in the
play by Aeschylus. Asvora--Teutonic, "divine prudence." Hobson--Arabic,
"the goodly, and beautiful." This eminent family name
that would seem to be essentially British, had its strange beginning in
the Orient, as Hasan. Hasan and Husain were the two beautiful grandsons
of Mohammed and their names, used in a prayer, or cry, were changed from
an Oriental expression, to the Danish "Hogen-Morgen," meaning, "high and
mighty," which the English made "Huggins and Muggins." Hobson was a more
dignified English translation. In England "Hobson's choice" became a term
after a London stabler whose patrons were forced to take any horse he
chose, while in the American Navy Admiral Hobson became the hero of the
"Monitor." Ceara--Celtic, "the ruddy." Old Erse favorite.
Haldana--Teutonic, "the half-Dane." Scottish mothers gave their daughters
this name in honor of the great Haldane brothers, eighteeth century
Scottish evangelists. Imperia--Latin, "the imperial." Literally,
"empress." Kedar--Hebrew, "the dark." The Kedar of the Bible were an
ancient Arabian tribe who lived in colorful tents on the desert. King
Solomon chanted in his Song of Songs, "Thou art beautiful, my beloved, as
the tents of Kedar." Florence--Latin, "to flower (or flourish)." Both
feminine and masculine. These two names are almost the same in meaning
and origin. In Roman mythology, Flora was the goddess of flowers and all
blooming vegitation, and her festival, the Floralia, was celebrated in
April and hailed the beginning of spring. The Italian city of Florence,
famed for its flowers, was named in her honor. Christian Spain named
Easter the Pascua Florida, and the State of Florida, discovered on that
day, was named in its honor. There are saven female Saint Florences,
among them the Saint Florentia martyred by Diocletian, and Saint Flora of
Spain, martyred by the Moors. England took the name first in its old
romantic Latin form, Floris, but the fuller form was popularized by
Florence Nightengale, who, with her small group of companion nurses in the
Crimean War, were the first women war nurses to aid on battlefields.
Gertrude--Old High German, "the spear-loved maiden." (Truda, alone, is
"maiden." See Truda.) In Norse mythology she was one of the Valkyrs who
bore the souls of the dead to Valhalla. Shakespeare immortalized her as
the mother of Hamlet and Queen of the Danes. Three Saint Gertrudes have
made this one of the leading religious names. Everly--Old English, "from
Ever's lea." Gerald--Old High German, "spear wielder" or "ruler."
Another of the ancient German "warrior" names that came into England with
William the Conquerer and was popularized there by Saint Gerald.
Tabitha--Aramaic, "a gazelle." In Hebraic legend, the fleet and graceful
gazelle symbolized beauty. In the Bible Tabitha followed Saint Peter and
was noted for her good works; in England her name, introduced by Bible
students, became a synonym for kindly deeds. The dim., Tabby, became the
accepted name of the family cat, probably because its coat resembled a
silk called the tabi that was popular in England. Tacita--Feminine of the
Latin Tacitus, "the taciturn or silent." Jama--Sanscrit, "daughter." In
Hindustani, it is the long white garment worn in India. Haver--Old Norse,
"the wild oat." Scottish and North England dialect made of this, "to
babble." A haversack was a bag to hold oats. Urien--Greek, "the
heavenly." In Greek mythology, Uranus was the god of the heavens and
Urania was the muse of astronomy and the skies. The similarity to the
Hebrew names, Urian and Uriel, is so close, that we may well imagine them
to be of the same long-forgotten source. Wales made the Greek classic
name into Urien, and one by that name, in Arthurian legend, was a
necromancer, a king of Gore, and the brother-in-law of Arthur. The Scotch
liked Urey and Ure, and there have been many noted chemists of these
names. Urian also serves as a variant of Uriah. Bron--English, "the
brown." Brown became the accepted "family" form of this name, while Bron
and Bronson (Brown's son) remained as baptismal names. Bruno, sainted
monk of Cologne, founded the Carthusian order, while another Bruno, the
Italian philosopher, was burned at the stake. Berlin--German, "from the
bear waterfall." Also a "place" name, for the German capital, Berlin.
Walpurgia--Teutonic, "powerful protectress." This ancient name originally
honored Saint Walburgia, the English princess-abbess, whose feast day
became confused with the Witches' Sabbath in German legend and she was
made the patroness of Walpurgis Night, celebrated in Wagner. Meda--Latin,
"the healer," and "the medium or middle." Also, "of Media." This Roman
name is a "place" name for Media, or ancient Persia, but it is also from
the same source that gives us the word "medicine." The Greeks used Medea
as a "flower" name for the strongly scented clover, or alfalfa, that grew
in Media and was supposed to have medicinal properties; another feminine
name from the alfalfa is Alfa, through the Arabic. (See Alfa.) In Greek
mythology, Medea played many roles, most notably that of the enchantress
who for love of Jason helped him win the Golden Fleece. As Medora, the
name found fame and fortune when Byron sang of her as the potiount wife of
Medoro, (his name has the same meaning) in "The Corsair." Media is a
star. Afra--Hebrew, "house of dust." English Puritans gave their
daughters this name, perhaps for its sorrowful Biblical meaning. Two
saints bear the name of Afra. But it is also considered a diminutive of
Aphrodite, from the Greek, "foam-sprung." Gresham--Old English, "from the
grass or grazing place." The English financeer, Sir Thomas Gresham,
formulated Gresham's law, pertaining to coinage.