The Beauty of Names

Yuzuru Hanyu On to the men now! Asa Miller (Filipino-American) Blaise Giezendanner (French) Casper Dyrbye Næsted (Danish) Charles "Chay" Genoway (Canadian) Dorian Hauterville (French) Florent Claude (Belgian) Gilmore Junio (Canadian) Ilkka Herola (Finnish) Irineu Esteve Altimiras (Andorran) Jan Vrba (Czech) Jules Lapierre (French) Lascelles Brown (Canadian - born and raised in Jamaica) Lennard "Len" Väljas (Canadian - is of Estonian descent) Linden Vey (Canadian) MacKenzie Boyd-Clowes (Canadian) Maxence Parrot (Canadian) Neville Wright (Canadian) Odirlei Pessoni (Brazilian) Pekka Koskela (Finnish) Pita Taufatofua (Tongan) Rhys Thornbury (New Zealand) Ristomatti Hakola (Finnish) Stanislau Hladchenko (Belarusian) Teal Harle (Canadian) Ted-Jan Bloemen (Canadian - was raised in the Netherlands but has a Canadian father) Tormis Laine (Estonian) Veselin Tzinov (Bulgarian) Willis Feasey (New Zealand) Yuzuru Hanyu (Japane...

Leonore and Nicolas with baby Adrienne Princess Madeleine of Sweden and her husband Christopher O'Neill have welcomed their third child, a girl they have called Adrienne Josephine Alice. Their other children are four-year-old Leonore Lilian Maria and two-year-old Nicolas Paul Gustaf.

Poster featuring Svetlana Svetlana, Sveta, and Severija - I've been watching and enjoying Babylon Berlin on Netflix. It's a German TV show following a cop new to Berlin who uncovers much more than he signed up for. One of the characters in the show is Countess Svetlana " Sveta " Sorokina, a white Russian who sings at a cabaret, and who is playing all the sides - she is lover to Trotskyist Alexei Kardakov, right wing industrialist Alfred Nyssen, and is even working for the Soviet secret police. Svetlana (called Sveta by her lover) comes from the Slavic svet, meaning "light, world". Interestingly enough, it is sometimes used as a translation of Photine, most likely because they have the same meanings. The character is played by a Lithuanian actress named Severija  Janušauskaitė. I couldn't find any information on the name, but I assume it's a form of Severa or Severina. Zaida - At work the other day there was a little girl called Zaida . It ...

Self portrait by artist Bartolommeo "Baccio" Bandinelli Balsamo Bartolommeo Bonanno - Means "good year" Brancaleone - Means either "a lion's paw" or "he who captures the lion" Franchino Galasso Grifo - Means "griffin" Jacobello Lancillotto - Italian form of Lancelot Lenuzo Mercuzio Oliverotto Saraceno Scarletto Torchitorio - The name of several "Giudices" of Caligari - Giudices, which translates into "judges", were rulers of their local places Zanobi - Tuscan form of Zenobio

"Belcolore" by Rossetti I have a great love for Italian names - to me they represent some of the most gorgeous, romantic names in the world, so I was head over heels for most of the names on this list! I can't verify the authenticity of these being used during the Medieval era, so take that with a grain of salt, but I couldn't not post about some of them. Please let me know your favorites and thoughts! Agnola Altapasqua Amellina Belcolore - Means "beautiful color", used by Boccaccio in "The Decameron" Cherubina Corelia Ermellina Ghisolabella - A real life Ghisolabella was the sister of Venedico Caccianemico, a 13th-century politician; both were mentioned in Dante's "Inferno" Junipera Pantasilea - Italian form of Penthesilea Pomellina Smeralda - Means "emerald" - this was the name of Botticelli's mother Vannozza - Vannozza dei Cattanei was the mistress of Pope Alexander VI and the mother of Cesare, Lucr...

Maé-Bérénice Méité I love watching the Olypmics, and one of the major reasons is to see all the wonderful names. I've done quite a few posts on them before (click here to view them!), so I knew I had to do some more this year! Here are a few of the names I found most interesting. Akuoma Omeoga (Nigerian) Blayre Turnbull (Canadian) Breanna "Breezy" Johnson (American) Brita Sigourney (American) Cendrine Browne (Canadian) Cornelia Hütter (Austrian) Desislava Stoyanova (Bulgarian) Dorothea Wierer (Italian) Dunja Zdouc (Austrian) Ebba Andersson (Swedish) Emőke Szőcs (Hungarian) Esmee Visser (Dutch) Estelle Alphand (Swedish) Ewa Kuls-Kusyk (Polish) Fanuza Kadirova (Russian) Federica Brignone (Italian) Freydís-Halla Einarsdóttir (Icelandic) Frida Hansdotter (Swedish) Gaia Vuerich (Italian) Galina Arsenkina (Russian) Gigi Marvin (American) Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (Norwegian) Keaton McCargo (American) Kerttu...

Prince Knud with his wife (center) and three children I've really missed doing these, and after a very long break I'm hoping to get back into them! If you have any suggestions of royals you'd like to see featured, please let me know! Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark was born Knud Christian Frederik Michael to Christian X of Denmark and Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin . He married Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark , who's full name was Caroline-Mathilde Louise Dagmar Christine Maud Augusta Ingeborg Thyra Adelheid. She was named after her grandmother, and was called " Calma " by her family. Their children were: Elisabeth Caroline-Mathilde Alexandrine Helena Olga Thyra Feodora Estrid Margarethe Désirée, " Princess Elisabeth of Denmark " Ingolf Christian Frederik Knud Harald Gorm Gustav Viggo Valdemar Aage, " Prince Ingolf of Denmark "; he lost his title when he married someone without his parents consent he is now " ...