Archer

I’m sorry I haven’t posted in anything in so long! I took a break for a little while.

Meaning: “Bow”
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: AHR-chur
Origin: Old French
Other forms of the name: N/A

The word archer comes from the Old French archier, which came from the Latin arcus which meant “bow”. As a name, it is getting more and more use, ranking #550 in 2010 for the US.

Archery is used for sport today, but in history it has been used as a weapon in warfare and for hunting. After the invention of firearms, the use of bows became almost extinct. In the 18th century archery became a sport for the English gentry, and notably it was a good sport for women, who could still be seen as “feminine” and show off their femininity by playing.  There are many famous archers in mythology, from twins Artemis and Apollo, to Robin Hood. People who hunt using bows are much more skilled than those who hunt using guns. They must get much closer to the prey for it to be a humane kill.

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Langston

Langston Hughes

Meaning: “Long stone”
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: LANG-stun
Origin: English
Other forms of the name: Langstone

For Black History Month I thought I would profile the names of some famous and influential African-Americans.

The surname Langston comes from the Old English “lang” which meant “long” and “stan” which meant stone. It has been recorded as far back as the Medieval Ages.

Langston Hughes is probably one of the most famous bearers of this name, although his real name was James Mercer Langston Hughes. He was one of the earliest people to practice jazz poetry. Langston was born in Joplin, Missouri to Caroline “Carrie” Mercer Langston and James Nathaniel Hughes. His father left the family and divorced Carrie, he then travelled to Cuba and Mexico trying to escape the racism in the United States. Langston was raised mostly by his grandmother who told him stories and taught him racial pride.

While in Grammar School Langston was elected class poet. He believed it was because of a stereotype that African-Americans have rhythm:

“I was a victim of a stereotype. There were only two of us Negro kids in the whole class and our English teacher was always stressing the importance of rhythm in poetry. Well, everyone knows, except us, that all Negroes have rhythm, so they elected me as class poet.”

Later in high school Langston wrote his first jazz poetry piece called “When Sue Wears Red”. He did not have a good relationship with his father even though he lived with him for a while in Mexico. He said “I had been thinking about my father and his strange dislike of his own people. I didn’t understand it, because I was a Negro, and I liked Negroes very much.”

He died when he was only sixty-five from abdominal surgery. His ashes are interred beneath a floor medallion in The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The design of the medallion is an African cosmogram that is titled “Rivers”; the title is taken from one of his poems, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, which became his signature poem. In the center of the medallion, above his ashes, it reads, “My soul has grown deep like the rivers”.

Langston strove throughout his career to teach “black is beautiful” and to make people proud of their race.

Here is his poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”:

“I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

 My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.

 My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”

Names for the Janeite

I admit I have only read one of Jane Austen’s novels so far (I have so many books I need to finish already!), “Pride and Prejudice”, but I love the whole Regency scene. I love the movies based off of her novels and can’t wait to read them all. Here I have compiled a list of names from Jane Austen’s works.

Gentlewomen
Jane
Maria (Pronounced muh-RYE-uh)
Emma
Catherine
Lydia
Kitty
Harriet
Isabella
Mary
Charlotte
Margaret
Annamaria
Louisa
Anne
Eleanor/Elinor
Fanny
Sophia (pronounced so-FYE-uh)
Caroline
Anna
Marianne
Betsy
Selina
Lucy
Henrietta
Julia
Frances
Bella
Nancy
Eliza
Susan
Hetty
Frederica
Augusta
Georgiana

Gentlemen
Henry
Fitzwilliam
Robert
Edmund
George
Charles
Harry
William
John
Thomas
Frank
Richard
Tom

Surnames
Darcy
Bertram
Tilney
Bingley
Lucas
Grant
Brandon
Willoughby
Grey
Wickham
Bennet
Norris
Crawford
Vernon
Dashwood
Knightley

Boyd

Boyd Holbrook

Meaning: “Fair, yellow”
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: BOID
Origin: English, Scottish
Other forms of the name: N/A

The name Boyd comes from a Scottish surname that may come from the name of the Island of Bute. The Boyd clan of Scotland can trace their roots all the way back to the Royal House of Stewart. Their crest is an erect hand with the pinkie finger and the one next to it folded. Above it reads Confido, which means “I trust”.

Boyd is quite a popular surname; Bearer include Billy Boyd, a Scottish actor best known for playing Pippin Took in the “Lord of the Rings” movies, Brandon Boyd, the lead singer of the band “Incubus”, and Pattie Boyd, a woman who was a model in the sixties and was the inspiration for songs like Eric Clapton’s “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight”. She was married to Clapton and George Harrison too.

One famous bearer who uses Boyd as his first name is Boyd Holbrook; He is a famous model from Kentucky. Boyd is actually his middle name, but it is quite fitting isn’t it?

In 1982 Boyd ranked at #892 on the US’ popular names list and hasn’t been on the list since then.

Penrose

Meaning: “Top of the heath”
Gender: Unisex
Pronunciation: PENN-rows
Origin: Welsh and Cornish
Other forms of the name: Penrhos

I lovely name that I would love to see on a child (especially a boy!). Penrose is a surname and a place-name, there is a little village that is called Penrhos in Gwynedd, Wales, a Penrose is in New Zealand, and a Penrose in New South Wales. Penrhos Castle is located in Monmoutshire and is basically just a mote now after it was attacked.

Penrose comes from the Celtic pen meaning “head” or “top” and ros which means “heath” or “moorland”. The first time a variation of Penrose was used as a surname was in 1195, the man was named Philip de Penros. There was a Sir Charles Vinicombe Penrose who was head of a squadron that worked with the army in the Peninsula war 1813.

So do you think this name could work today for a boy? He could be called Pen as a nickname if he wanted.

Telegraph Birth Announcements (part three)

Boys:

Arthur George (A brother for Sophia)
Harry George Arthur
Maximilian Barclay
Edward Henry Laurence
Max Alexander James
Artemis Comso (A brother for Blaise; spell it Artemas and this would’ve been perfect.)
John Digby St. Quintin
Rollo Frederick (A brother for Archie)
Oscar Peter (A brother for Isobel)
Ralph Tony, and Bruno Nick
Edward Bernard Richard
Hugo Alexander (A brother for Anna)
Leonardo William Marcus
Joseph Augustine (A brother for Martha and Flora)
Milo Benjamin
Montgomery Edward Denning (A brother for Isabella)
Nicholas Malyn
Roran James
Felix Oscar Jack Risley
Louis Zulu St. John (A brother for Wilfred, and Oscar)
Jasper Timothy Angus (A brother for Eliza)
Ivo James (A brother for Florence, George, and Benedict)
Murray Eyre John Patrick (A brother for Sydney)
Finlay Thomas Richard
Stanley Jack
Harry Nicholas Arden
James Rhys Stuart (A brother for Sophie, Thomas, and Rosie)
George Joseph Simon

Girls:

Kitty Jemima (A sister for Poppy)
Flora Charlotte (A sister for Alice)
Lucinda Mary (A sister for Elsie)
Tabitha Liberty (A sister for Jago)
Lara Florence (A sister for Isabella)
Tansy Helen Hedworth
Zoe Heather
Antonia Miriam Aderyn  (A sister for Thomas, and Susanna)
Arabella Jane Hilda (A sister for Mary)
Katharine Rose Giselle
Daisy Annabel (A sister for Hugo)
Niamh Grace
Eleanor Sophie Jane (A sister for Seamus, and Beth)
Beatriz Carolina
Tallulah Valentine (A sister for Archie)
Tatiana Fleur Jemima
Emily Hannah
Daisy Honor Santa
Celeste Emmeline
Sienna Cathryn (A sister for Freddie and Jessamy)
Isolde Elizabeth (A sister for Eleri Beatrice)
Isabelle Doris Hostombe
Iona Jasmine Diana
Katie Megan

Thackeray

Thackeray Binx (Sean Murray)

Meaning: “Place with thatching” or “nook or corner”
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: THACK-er-ee
Origin: English, Old Norse
Other forms of the name: Thackery

Most people associate the name Thackeray with William Makepeace Thackeray, I however associate it with a favorite film of my childhood, “Hocus Pocus”. They play it every year around Halloween and I managed to catch some of it. It was just as great as I remembered. One of the main characters is that of a black cat named Thackery Binx who is actually a three hundred year old, young man who was cursed to live as a cat by three witches who killed his sister. The three witches are hung but before they die one of the cast a spell that one night on a full moon a virgin will summon them back and they will kill all the children in Salem. Cut to present day and sixteen year old Max Dennison is less than thrilled about having to move to Salem from his home in LA, however his little sister Dani is enthralled with the history of Salem and with Halloween. He meets the beautiful Allison who takes Max and Dani to the witches old house which had been turned into a museum, but “spooky things” had been happening so it was shut down. Max finds the Black Flame candle and still not believing in the legend, lights it. It is rumoured to raise the spirits of the dead if lit by a virgin. And unfortunately it works. So with the help of Binx they must stop the witches before it’s too late.
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English author, one of his most well-known novels is “Vanity Fair”.
The oldest recording of the surname Thackeray was that of John de Tha Kwra which was in 1379. Thackeray is most likely a place-name coming from a part of the Parish of Great Timble called Thackray in West Yorkshire though it is now part of the Fewston reservoir.

Piaf

Édith Piaf

Meaning: “Sparrow”
Gender: Female (Unisex)
Pronunciation: PEE-ahf
Origin: French
Other forms of the name: N/A

A beautiful French surname with a lovely namesake. Édith Piaf was born Édith Giovanna Gassion, she is a French icon and was known as “La Môme Piaf” or “the little sparrow”. She was given the nickname Piaf for her bird-like appearance. During World War II she performed many concerts for the Germans and many considered her traitor. After the war she confessed that she had been apart of the French Resistence. Though there is no actual proof of this it is agreed that she was a big part of helping many escape the Nazi’s. She married twice but the love of her life was a boxer named Marcel Cerdan who was married. He died in a plane crash in 1949, he was flying to meet her. Her most famous song is “La Vie en rose” which is the name of a movie about her which stars Marion Cotillard as Édith.

Wolfish

In honor of my father’s birthday today (which I forgot about oops) I think I’ll make a list of names that mean wolf and the names of popular werewolves!
Starting off with his very name…

Lowell

Meaning: “Wolf”
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: LOHL or LOH-well
Origin: English, French
Other forms of the name: Loup

Lowell comes from a an English surname that came from a Norman French nickname, loup with a suffix. This is the surname of the poet and satirist James Russell Lowell.

Ylva

Meaning: “She-wolf”
Gender: Female
Pronunciation: ILL-vah or UL-vah
Origin: Scandinavian
Other forms of the name: N/A

Ylva comes from the Old Norse úlfr which means “wolf”. Ylva Lööf is the name of a Swedish actress.

Ginger

Meaning: Name of the spice
Gender: Female
Pronunciation: JIN-jer
Origin: English
Other forms of the name: N/A

Ginger is the name of the werewolf in “Ginger Snaps”, a story using werewolfism as a metaphor for puberty. The movie centers around two sisters, Ginger, and Brigitte Fitzgerald who are outcasts and fascinated with death. One day a dog’s body is found mutilated and they think it’s because of the Beast of Bailey Downs which has been killing pets. Ginger is then bitten by the beast and begins to “change”.

Wolfram

Meaning: “Wolf-raven”
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: WULF-rahm
Origin: German
Other forms of the name: Vulferam

Not feeling Wolfgang? Wolfram could make a lovely substitute and it’s perfect for a Halloween baby.

Lucian

Meaning: “Light”
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: LOO-see-ehn or LOO-shen
Origin: English
Other forms of the name: Lucius, Lucien, Luciano, Lucen

Lucian was the name of the werewolf villain of “Underworld”, and the hero of “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”. Lucian is really an anti-villain, all he wants to really do is get revenge on Viktor because he killed the love of his life, who happened to be a vampire, and Viktor’s daughter.

Remus

Meaning: N/A
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: REE-mus or RAY-mus
Origin: Roman
Other forms of the name: Remo

The name of the loveable werewolf teacher in the Harry Potter books. In legend Remus and Romulus were the founders of Rome, they were left when they were babies but a she-wolf found them and suckled them. Remus was later killed by Romulus because he made fun of the newly built wall to protect Rome.

Serafine

Meaning: “Fiery ones”
Gender: Female
Pronunciation: SARE-uh-feen
Origin: N/A
Other forms of the name: Séraphine, Seraphina, Serafima

Though not a werewolf herself, this is the name of the love interest in “An American Werewolf in Paris”. Serafine is most likely just a different version of the French Séraphine.

Love you Dad!

Moss

Meaning: “Follower of St. Munnu”, “moorland, turf bog”, or “Descendent of Moses”
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: MAHS
Origin: English
Other forms of the name: N/A

I just love the look of moss, I love its spongey, soft texture and how it’s really a simple little plant that is often overlooked. There are 12,000 different types of moss, they are herbaceous little things that absorb water and nutrients through their leaves. They have no vascular systems to carry water so they must live some place damp. In the late 19th century growing moss became a fad in Britain and America; many mosseries were installed in gardens.

In World War I some moss was used to dress soldier’s wounds as they are very absorbent and are mildly antibacterial.
Moss is also a common surname in England and Ireland which is sometimes a translation of O’Maolmona, an old Gaelic name. It is thought this surname was given to someone who lived near a bog, in Olde English it is Mos, which may have relation to the Medieval spelling of the Hebrew name Moses, Mosse.