ANSTHRLD - Name Documentation

[Timothy A. McDaniel]

Please let me add a note on "the meaning of names".  The distinction
between names and regular words is precisely that the name has been
divorced by some amount from the original meaning.  When you hear
Margaret, you generally don't think of pearls.  When you call to me
"Timothy", you think of me, not that I'm someone beloved of God (or of
Greek descent).  The name has become a more or less arbitary symbol
for the pople you know who use that name.

There's a documented example of an Anglo-Saxon given name that means
"war peace" (I'm afraid I don't remember the name itself), and lots of
other apparently meaningless combos.  I suspect that most period
people chose names the way we do today: they sound good, or they're
the name of a favorite celebrity (saint versus movie star today), or
it's the name of your dear uncle, or it's like Dad's name.

Not to say you shouldn't or can't think about original derivations of
names.  It's a valid approach, just like choosing a name you can spell
or that sounds nice.  I'm just advocating de-emphasizing the idea of
"the name X means Y".

Daniel fitz Richard
- -- 
Tim McDaniel.   Reply to tmcd at crl.com;
    if that fail, tmcd at austin.ibm.com is my work account.
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