The Power and Romance of Names - Lindsay Townsend

In Ursula le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy, names are part of the magic and being of characters, and to discover someone's true name is to gain power over that person.


Names have power and significance in romance, too. If a hero has a bulky, awkward name, do readers empathise with him? If a heroine has an 'old-fashioned' name, does she lose credibility?

I write medieval historical romances, and I find how I name my people vitally important. For instance, in the Anglo-Saxon period, there are many names beginning with E or AE - EDGAR, EDITH, EGBERT, ELDRED, ALFRED. These names have power and meaning - EGBERT means 'Gleaming Sword' - yet they possibly have fallen out of favour. How many heroes are called EGBERT now? ARTHUR is another name that may look old-fashioned to some. The meaning of ARTOS, 'bear' is wonderful to me, though, and made me fall utterly in love with the name again.

I always try to discover if names have meanings and bear those meanings in mind as I write. For example, my heroine in A Knight's Captive is called SUNNIVA, which means Sun Gift. It's a Viking name, still used in parts of Britain. AVERIL is another name I would love to use sometime - it's meaning is 'Wild boar battle maid'. 

I kept with Viking/Anglo-Saxon names in my early medieval romances "The Snow Bride" and "A Summer Bewitchment". At this time, I felt that more Norman names should be used for the Anglo-Norman characters in my stories and as such are an indication of class. After 1066 and the Norman conquest of England, the Anglo-Normans were in charge. My hero and heroine have older names, being part of the native peoples. MAGNUS, my hero has a name which means 'Great' and it's a name that was used by Scandinavian and Orcadian rulers. My heroine, ELFRIDA, has a name meaning 'hidden strength', which I thought appropriate, since she is a powerful witch. Also I wanted the 'Elf' part of her name to be a clue as to her looks and fey character. 

Staying with the northern/Viking theme I called Magnus' and Elfrida's grandson SWEIN. as my Master Cook looks like Magnus and has some of Elfrida's gifts in magic. (To read more, please see my novel "The Master Cook and the Maiden.")

Nicknames can show affection, as Swein's brother does when he calls my burly cook 'Ram', explaining that his sibling gained the nickname after charging into situations as a boy, much like a battering-ram. 

Nicknames can also reveal deliberate cruelty. Eithne, the heroine in my romance "The Viking and the

Pictish Princess" is called BINDWEED by the old woman who takes her in, mocking the child's loss and change in circumstances and dismissing the girl's need for comfort with the glib, "she clings" - like bindweed. Part of the story deals with the recovery of Bindweed's early memories and her true Pictish name, all as part of Eithne rediscovering herself. 

As a historical romance writer I try to use names I feel are appropriate to the period in which I'm writing. Sometimes names can deceive. RICHARD means 'tough ruler' but the Richard in "Sir Conrad and the Christmas Treasure," is revealed to be rather less than kingly!

 

So names do matter, as a clue to a character's background and nature or as a key to period. I am always filled with admiration for fantasy and science fiction romance writers who devise names. Of course, sometimes names cannot be avoided: I read a good historical war-and-romance novel (The Assyrian by Nicholas Guild) and the names there - all authentic - were very difficult to me: very long and multi-syllabled.

For me, at least, some names are to be avoided!

Do you have favourite names or names with particular meaning?

Lindsay (it  means 'Linden Tree')

Questionable Place Names in Arizona by Kristy McCaffrey

By Kristy McCaffrey

Arizona has its share of place names that might make people cringe today, dating back to a colorful past and regional biases.

Throughout the state there are at least 15 geographic features whose names include "Negro." This was actually an improvement that took place in 1963 when the U.S. Geological Survey updated designations that contained a different n-word. These places include Negro Ben Peak, Negro Ben Spring and Negro Flat. But not every name is linked to racist terminology—Cerro Negro, a summit in Pima County, gets its name from the Spanish words meaning "black hill."

Negro Ben Peak

Today, the word "squaw" is considered offensive. A rather prominent site in the Phoenix area, Squaw Peak, was renamed Piestewa Peak in 2003, after the first Native American woman to die in combat in the U.S. military in Iraq. But there are still at least a dozen features in the state with the word "squaw" in the name—two Squaw Buttes, two Squaw Creeks and six other Squaw Peaks.

Piestewa Peak

The Chinaman Trail, a 2.6-mile hiking trail in the Coronado National Forest, got its name because of the Chinese laborers who constructed it around the turn of the century. There are two China Peaks in Arizona. In Cochise County, Chinese people from California financed a mine in the area; in Graham County, chinaberry trees grew in the vicinity.

China Peak

Skull Valley, near Prescott, got its name after a battle between Yavapai and Maricopa Indians. The dead were never removed. When settlers moved in, they were forced to build on land littered with the remains of human skulls.

Skull Valley

Bloody Basin, north of Phoenix, speaks to a deadly skirmish as well, but the name more likely originated when a herd of sheep crossed a bridge that gave way, sending the animals tumbling to the rocks below.

Bloody Basin

The most provocative name, however, is Helen's Dome in southeastern Arizona. Designated for a hill that lies within sight of Fort Bowie—and is shaped like a breast—it was reportedly christened after the well-endowed wife of an officer in residence at the fort. The original name was Helen's Tit, but was later softened to Helen's Dome.

Helen's Dome

While many place names have been changed, they are so numerous—with many in remote locations—that the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names considers name changes only when a petition is submitted.

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