Wherin I show my dorky obsession with names.

Ever since I was teeny weeny I have always been obsessed with names. More specifically, identity. So tonight I decided to do a little research into the etymology of first names. I've always known that Brooke means Brook, and that Sarah means princess (every Sarah I've ever met has informed me of that piece of information), I know that Benjamin (Originaly BenYamin) is son and that Mary (Maria, Madonna) is mother...there are meanings and histories behind almost every name. My friend was hooked on meaning and named her daughter Imogen Raven. The word for Raven in german is Korby, which is my friend's husbands name, and Imogen means "in the likeness of"...long story short, "In the likeness of her father" is basically the meaning behind the baby's name. Fascinating. So, I decided to look up the names of some of my immediate family members. This blog will be super boring to anyone who is not related to me, and probably pretty boring to those who are related to me, so feel free to stop here for today if you like. I'm really just posting this for the Fam. In the meantime why don't the rest of you go find your own families at www.behindthename.com .

It is one of my biggest regrets that I never studied Latin. When I have kids I will force them to learn it, and I will also make them say, "Yes, Mommy Dearest." I may go take a class one day. I think it's probably essential to having a strong vocabulary and can help you come to logical conclusions. It works for names too. For instance, it is obvious that any form of "Kat" or "Cat" will be traced back to Katherine. Any "Mar" name will go back to Mary. Most "Ja" names will go back to Jacob. I would think by knowing Latin the benefit would be that you are able to make reasonable assumptions when you are unfamiliar with a word. Studying Spanish, Italian and German has not made me fluent in any language, but it has made me able to not sound like an idiot when pronouncing words in Spanish, Italian or German even if I don't know the meaning. I'm digging a great big nerd hole arn't I? Long story short...words are cool, names are cooler, below I have researched family first names for my family to enjoy. Now I must go do something cool.

LOWELL
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LO-el [key]
From a surname meaning "wolf cub" in Norman French.

(Macintyre wasn't found since it's a last name...but we know it's Scottish)
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MORGAN
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Welsh, English
Pronounced: MOR-gan [key]
From the Old Welsh masculine name Morcant, which was possibly derived from Welsh mor "sea" and cant "circle". As a (possibly unrelated) feminine name it was used by Geoffrey of Monmouth for the Arthurian sorceress Morgan le Fay.

LINDA
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIN-da [key]
This name could be derived from several sources. It could be from Spanish linda meaning "beautiful"; it could be a short form of BELINDA or MELINDA; or it could be a short form of Germanic names ending with the element linde meaning "soft, tender".

(From now on I'm calling you "Beautiful Sea Circle" )
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ELIZABETH
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: ee-LIZ-a-beth [key]
From Ελισαβετ (Elisabet), the Greek form of the Hebrew name אֱלִישֶׁבַע ('Elisheva') meaning "my God is an oath" or perhaps "my God is abundance". In the New Testament this is the name of the mother of John the Baptist. It was also borne by the 12th-century Saint Elizabeth, a daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary who became a Franciscan nun and lived in poverty. It was also the name of a ruling queen of England and an empress of Russia. Famous modern bearers include the British queen Elizabeth II and actress Elizabeth Taylor.

(Neither Heart nor Tizzy were listed...obviously....your parents are weirdos.)
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TAYLOR
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TAY-lur [key]
Derived from Middle English taillour meaning "cutter of cloth". Originally this was a surname which denoted someone who was a tailor.

TATE
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TAYT [key]
From an English surname meaning "cheerful" in Old Norse.

LARKIN
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAHR-kin [key]
From a surname which was itself originally derived from the given name LAURENCE (1).

LAURENCE (1)
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOR-ents [key]
From the Roman cognomen Laurentius, which meant "of Laurentum". Laurentum was a city in ancient Italy, its name probably deriving from Latin laurus "laurel". Saint Laurence was a 3rd-century deacon and martyr from Rome. According to tradition he was roasted alive on a gridiron because, when ordered to hand over the church's treasures, he presented the sick and poor.

(TT, you are a cheerful clothes cutting martyr {with stinky feet})

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BROOKE
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRUWK [key]
Variant of BROOK

BROOK
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: BRUWK [key]
From an English surname which denoted one who lived near a brook.

Elizabeth (see above)
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SARA
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Greek, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Slovene, Arabic
Other Scripts: Σαρα (Greek), سارة (Arabic)
Pronounced: SER-a, SAH-rah (Spanish) [key]
Cognate of SARAH

SARAH
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, German, Jewish, Biblical
Other Scripts: שָׂרָה (Hebrew)
Pronounced: SER-a [key]
Means "lady" or "princess" in Hebrew. This was the name of the wife of Abraham in the Old Testament. She became the mother of Isaac at the age of 90. Her name was originally שָׂרָי (Sarai), but God changed it (see Genesis 17:15).

Taylor (See above)

(princess clothes cutter.....that must make you Chloe Dao.)
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CRAIGEN was not found in this database.

Larkin (See above)

(Wacky parents. Craigen is a town in Scotland where a lot of your moms extended family is from.)

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MARIA
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, German, Scandinavian, Dutch, Greek, Polish, Romanian, English, Finnish, Icelandic, Corsican
Other Scripts: Μαρια (Greek)
Pronounced: mah-REE-ah [key]
Latinate form of MARY. This was the name of several queens of Portugal. It was also borne by the 18th-century Habsburg queen Maria Theresa, whose inheritance of the domains of her father, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, began the War of the Austrian Succession.

MARY
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: MER-ee [key]
Usual English form of Maria, which was the Latin form of the New Testament Greek names Μαριαμ (Mariam) or Μαρια (Maria) (the spellings are interchangeable), which were from the Hebrew name מִרְיָם (Miryam). The meaning is not known for certain, but there are several theories including "sea of bitterness", "rebelliousness", and "wished for child". However it was most likely originally an Egyptian name, perhaps derived in part from mry "beloved" or mr "love". This is the name of several New Testament characters, most importantly Mary the virgin mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene. Two queens of England have had this name, as well as a Queen of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots.

KAITLIN
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAYT-lin [key]
Variant of CAITLIN

CAITLÍN
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: KAHT-leen [key]
Irish form of Cateline, the Old French form of KATHERINE.


KATHERINE
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KATH-u-rin, KATH-rin [key]
From the Greek name Αικατερινη (Aikaterine). The etymology is debated: it could derive from the earlier Greek name ‘Εκατερινη (Hekaterine), which came from ‘εκατερος (Hekateros) "each of the two"; it could derive from the name of the goddess HECATE; it could be related to Greek αικια (aikia) "torture"; or it could be from a Coptic name meaning "my consecration of your name". The Romans associated it with Greek καθαρος (katharos) "pure" and changed their spelling from Katerina to Katharina to reflect this. The name belonged to a 4th-century saint and martyr from Alexandria who was tortured on the famous Catherine wheel. Another saint by this name was Catherine of Siena, a 14th-century mystic. This name was also borne by two empresses of Russia, including Catherine the Great, and by three of Henry VIII's wives.

(So, when broken down, your name is essentially Mary Katherine. You need to be Irish. And very Catholic. Like Mary Katherine Gallagher...superstar!!)
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BEATRICE
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, English
Pronounced: BEE-a-tris (English), BEE-tris (English), bay-ah-TREE-chay (Italian) [key]
Italian form of BEATRIX. Beatrice is Dante's guide through paradise in his poem 'The Divine Comedy'. This is also the name of a character in Shakespeare's play 'Much Ado About Nothing'.

LYNN
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LIN [key]
From an English surname which derives from Welsh llyn "lake". It can also be a short form of LINDA or names which end in lyn or line.

(Mom, you are a lake and I'm a brook. Cuuuuute.)
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Larkin (see above)

NELSON
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: NEL-sun [key]
From a surname meaning "son of NEIL". Lord Horatio Nelson was a British admiral of the 19th century. His most famous battle was the Battle of Trafalgar, in which he repulsed the fleet of Napoleon, but was himself killed. Another notable bearer is the South African statesman Nelson Mandela.
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JAMES
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: JAYMZ [key]
English form of the Late Latin Jacomus which was derived from Ιακωβος (Iakobos), the New Testament Greek form of יַעֲקֹב (Ya'aqov) (see JACOB). This is the name of two apostles in the New Testament. The first was Saint James the Greater, the apostle John's brother, who was beheaded by Herod Agrippa in the Book of Acts. The second was James the Lesser, son of Alphaeus. Another James (known as James the Just) is also mentioned in the Bible as being the brother of Jesus. Kings of England and Scotland have borne this name. Other famous bearers include the inventor of the steam engine James Watt, the explorer Captain James Cook, and the novelist and poet James Joyce.
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SHEILA
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish, English
Pronounced: SHEE-la [key]
Anglicized form of SÍLE

SÍLE
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: SHEE-la [key]
Irish form of CECILIA

CECILIA
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian
Pronounced: se-SEE-lee-a, se-SEEL-ya, chay-CHEE-lyah (Italian), se-SEE-lyah (Spanish), the-THEE-lyah (Spanish) [key]
Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name Caecilius, which was derived from Latin caecus "blind". According to legend, Saint Cecilia was a 3rd-century martyr who was sentenced to die because she refused to worship the Roman gods. After attempts to suffocate her failed, she had her head chopped off. She is the patron saint of music and musicians.
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DONNA
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAHN-a [key]
Means "lady" in Italian. It is also used as a feminine form of DONALD.
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LUCY
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: LOO-see [key]
English feminine form of LUCIUS

LUCIUS
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Roman, English
Pronounced: LOO-shus, LOO-see-us [key]
Roman praenomen, or given name, which was derived from Latin lux "light". Two Etruscan kings of early Rome had this name as well as several prominent later Romans, including Lucius Annaeus Seneca (known simply as Seneca), a famous statesman, philosopher, orator and tragedian. Also, three popes have borne this name.

(I knew it was some form of light due to the spanish word luz which means light...but really she was named after Lucille Ball. I'm getting cooler by the minute here.)