The Beauty of Names

"Leander's Body Washed Ashore" by Axel Anderson Origin : Greek Gender : Male Meaning : "Lion of a man" Pronunciation : lee-AN-der Other forms : Leandros, Leandro, Léandre The tale of Leander and his lover, Hero, is a tragic one (Surprise, surprise! This is Greek Mythology!). But before we get to that, let's talk about Leander's name. The name Leander comes from the Greek Leandros , which comes from leon , meaning "lion", and andros , which means "man". Leander surprisingly hasn't ranked in SSA's name list for the US since 1969, when it was number 971, so it is definitely an unusual and inspiring choice. The legend goes that Hero, a priestess for the Goddess Aphrodite, lived in a tower in Sestos, on the European side of Dardanelles. Leander, a young man who fell in love with Hero, lived on the other side of the strait, Hellespont, in Abydos. So every night, Leander would swim across Hellespont to visit Hero, who w...

Jessica Capshaw, best known for playing Dr. Arizona Robbins on "Grey's Anatomy", has welcomed her third child with her husband Christopher Gavigan. They have named her Poppy James Gavigan. They have one other daughter named Eve Augusta Gavigan, and a son named Luke Hudson Gavigan.

Amber and Rob Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich Mariano are known for their appearances on reality shows, like "Survivor", "The Amazing Race", and "The Player". They have recently welcomed their third child, another girl, whom they have named Isabetta Rose. They have two other daughters named Lucia Rose, and Carina Rose.

Alyson, Alexis, and Satyana Actress Alyson Hannigan, known for her roles as Willow in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and Lily Aldrin in "How I Met Your Mother", has welcomed her second child with her husband, actor Alexis Denisof, known for his role as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in "Angel". They have named her Keeva Jane. Their first daughter is Satyana Marie. Keeva is an anglicized form of the Gaelic Caoimhe, which means "beautiful, gentle, kind". Satyana is supposedly Sanskrit for "truth".

Origin : Gaelic Gender : Female Meaning : "Changeling, elf, fairy" or possibly "Queen of the Fairies" Pronunciation : SHEE-fra or SHEE-uh-fra Other forms : Síofra The name Siofra comes from the Irish word  síog  which means "fairy". I hear it is the equivalent to "little imp" in Ireland and that is seen as a derogatory term in Ireland but I'm not sure? Anybody from Ireland? There is also supposedly a fairy queen named Siofra; The Tuatha Dé Danannin in legend, are the fifth settlers in Ireland and conquered the island Fir Bolg. Though most consider them deities, sometimes they are told to be mortal Kings, Queens, and heroes.  There were many High Kings of the Tuatha Dé Danann, from the first King, Nuada, to the last three Kings that were brothers and ruled together, Mac Gréine, Mac Cuill, and Mac Cecht. The Irish scholar Gearóid Ó Broin was the one to call Siofra a fairy queen; she is a ...

"Selene and Endymion" by Ubaldo Gandolfi Origin : Greek Gender : Male Meaning : "To dive into, to enter" Pronunciation : ehn-dih-MEE-uhn Other forms : N/A Endymion comes from the Greek "endyein" which means "to dive into" or "to enter". The story of Selene and Endymion is quite a popular Greek mythology story. The tale goes that the beautiful Endymion was loved greatly by the moon, Selene. He was a shepherd, or sometimes an astronomer or King of Olympia. Selene asked Endymion's father, Zeus, to give him eternal youth. Zeus obliged her by putting him into an eternal sleep. Every night Selene would visit him in Mount Latmos, where he slept, and eventually they had fifty daughters called the Menae. Other tales say Zeus let him make the decision of what he wanted, and Endymion chose to remain deathless and ageless in a eternal slumber. Endymion is also a crater on the northeast side of the moon.