Tassilo

Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, who was born Tassilo

Origin: German
Gender: Male
Meaning: "Glittering as the day"
Pronunciation: tah-zee-LOW
Other Forms: Thassilo, Tasziló, Tassilon, Tasso, Tazzo, Taginbert, Dagobert

A fascinating German name with ancient roots, used by royals, a figure-skater, and even a chess-master. Tassilo is a diminutive of Tasso or Tazzo, which is also diminutive in itself for Taginbert, a name of West German origin. It comes from the Germanic elements tag, or "day", and beraht, "glittering". More poetically put it means "glittering as the day". Another related name is the Frankish Dagobert.

The first Tassilo in record is Tassilo I of Bavaria, sometimes called Tassilon, who lived from 560 to his death in 610. Tassilo is also used among Hungarians, but usually spelled Tasziló, as is the case with Prince Tasziló Festetics de Tolna.

Tassilo Thierbach and Sabine Baeß, 1979

Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, born Tassilo, was not only a Prince but an Olympic athlete, competing during the 1912 Summer Olympics on the German equestrian team. He even won a bronze medal on his horse "Gibson Boy". During WWI he commanded the Fliegerabteilung 258, a unit used for spotting artillery but also flew solo in a Jasta 2, one of the most well-known German planes of WWI. He was forced to land his Jasta after catching a bullet in one of the engines. He was able to safely land into no-man's land where he was shot in the back by Australian troops. He succumbed to his wounds in captivity on April 6th, his birthday.

Other namesakes include Tassilo Thierbach, a German figure-skater who is best known for becoming the World-Champion in 1982 alongside his partner, Sabine Baeß, and Tassilo, Baron von Heydebrand und der Lasa, a chess-master of the 19th-century. Most recently Kyril, Prince of Preslav, Duke in Saxony, gave the name to his son, who was born in 2002.