The Beauty of Names

Ronan - Origin: Irish Gender: Male Meaning: "Little seal" Pronunciation: ROW-nahn, ROW-nen Other Forms:  Rónán, Ronen Combos: Nathaniel Ronan, Ronan Tiberius, Wilfred Ronan, Ronan Percival I've been a lover of Irish names my whole life -- I was even gifted a book all about them when I was younger, and marked so many that I wanted to remember (both for future children and pets). So it's no surprise that I am constantly trying to foist Irish names on everybody! Ronan is a favorite of mine and I love that it sounds both soft and strong, with the lovely unisex nickname of Ro. And I think the meaning is adorable: "little seal". It comes from the Old Irish  rón (meaning seal) combined with a diminutive suffix. Recently, Ronan has seen a bit of an uptick in the US; in 2020 it ranked #269. It also has a bonus bit of charm for Catholics -- There are several early Saints named Rónán, one of the most famous being one who built the hermitage at Locronan in the 6th centu...

Kaori Sakamoto, who won bronze for her team As I've mentioned before, I absolutely love watching the Olympics, mostly for all the interesting names! Here are some of the ones I liked the best or found the most unusual at this year's winter games. Have you noticed any that aren't on this list that you think should be? Let me know down below! Men: Aoxibofu Dannisi (China) Beat Feuz (Switzerland) Candy Bauer (Germany) Dorian Hauterville (France) Dusty Henricksen (USA) Emilien Jacquelin (France) Enkhtuul Ariunsanaa (Mongolia) Espen Bjoernstad (Norway) Gael Blondeau (France) Irineu Esteve Altimiras (Andorra) Janosch Brugger (Germany) Korbinian Holzer (Germany) Loan Bozzolo (Norway) Nicolae Ciprian Daroczi (Romania) Peppe Femling (Sweden) Pontus Holmberg (Sweden) Romed Baumann (Germany) Sivert Guttorm Bakken (Norway) Szczepan Kupczak (Poland) Teal Harle (Canada) Uvis Janis Balinskis (Latvia) Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen (Norway) Wojciech Chmielewski (Poland) Zbigniew Brodka (Polan...

"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" by Kerry Darlington Origin: English and Yiddish Gender: Female Meaning: "Gold" or "Golden-haired" Pronunciation: GOAL-dee Other Forms: Golda, Golde, Goldy A radiant choice, full of spunk and a surprising amount of history: today's name is Goldie! When we think of Goldie, our minds are inevitably drawn to the gamine Goldie Hawn, or perhaps even fairy-tale characters, ala Goldilocks, but would you be surprised to know that it also has a long use in the Jewish community? Golda is a name of Yiddish origin, meaning, you guessed it, "gold". You may have come across it before; Golda is the name of Tevye's wife in Fiddler on the Roof , and was also the name of Israel's first female Prime Minister, Golda Meir (her life story will soon be coming to cinemas, starring Helen Mirren!). Golda Madden was a silent film actress, but more recently it can be seen on actresses Golda Rosheuvel, better known as Queen Charlot...

Origin: Polish Gender: Female Meaning: "Blessed Glory" Pronunciation: sven-toh-SCHWA-vah Other Forms:  Święsława, Święcsława; Świętosław Boy, do I have a mouthful for you today! This year, I read the book Widow Queen by Polish author Elżbieta Cherezińska, and while the book was a bit of a disappointment, I came away with a fascination for the unknown princess -- and her name. Świętosława was a Polish princess born sometime from 968 to 972, a daughter of Mieszko I, the founder of the first independent Polish state in the form of a Duchy. Her brother, Bolesław the Brave, was the first crowned King of Poland. Very little is known about Świętosława, and what is known may not even be about her at all, but another woman. According to German chroniclers of the time, she was first married to Eric the Victorious of Sweden, and gave him a son named Olof, who later become King of Sweden. Upon Eric's death she was married then to Sweyn Forkbeard, who would eventually b...

Edwige Feuillère La Révolution française - I've been watching the two part film (" La Révolution française: les Années lumière" and " La Révolution française: les Années terribles")  about the French revolution that came out in 1989 on Youtube (first part here ) and greatly enjoying it. It is so far historically accurate and very educational while also being entertaining, something most films and books fail to do when dealing with such content matter.  The cast is very pan-European and have some very interesting names. History + historically accurate costumes + interesting names = a winner for me! Below are some of the ones I like the most (I put who they played in parenthesis, as many of those are beautiful as well, or more unusual than the actor's names). Andrezj Seweryn (Maximilien  François Marie Isidore de   Robespierre ) Vittorio Mezzogiorno (Jean-Paul Marat) Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu (Charlotte Corday) Liliane  Rovère (A woman) Klaus Ma...