The many forms of Andrew

Andrew is a perenially-popular classic which has never been out of the U.S. Top 100 since records began in 1880. It started at #24 in 1880, and slowly dipped lower, until reaching #86 in 1945. It then began slowly making its way back up the charts, and was in the Top 10 from 1986–94 and 1996–2007. The name then began moving back down slowly. In 2016, it was #34.

Andrew is also Top 100 in Scotland (#46), Canada (#62), Australia (#87), Ireland (#60), and Northern Ireland (#83).

The name is derived from the Greek Andreas, which comes from andreios (masculine, manly), a derivative of aner (man).

Other forms include:

1. André is French and Portuguese.

2. Andrey is Russian and Bulgarian, with the base nickname Andryusha.

3. Andrej is Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Macedonian, Serbian, and Croatian.

4. Andrés is Spanish and Icelandic. The variant Andres is Estonian.

5. Andriy is Ukrainian.

6. Andrus is Estonian.

7. Anders is Scandinavian.

8. Andreas is German, Scandinavian, Dutch, Welsh, and Greek.

9. Andries is Dutch, with the nickname Dries.

10. Andrejs is Latvian.

11. Andrius is Lithuanian.

12. Ander is Basque.

13. Andreu is Catalan.

14. Andria is Georgian, Corsican, and Sardinian. The Georgian nickname is Andro.

15. Andrzej is Polish.

16. Antero is Finnish. Nicknames include Antti, Atte, and Tero.

17. Andrei is Romanian.

18. Andraž is Slovenian.

19. Ondrej is Slovak. The variant Ondřej is Czech.

20. Aindréas is Irish.

21. Aindriú is also Irish.

22. András is Hungarian, with nicknames including Andris and Bandi. The variant Andras is Welsh.

23. Andor is a Hungarian variant.

24. Endre is often seen as a possible Hungarian form of Andrew, though it’s an etymologically unrelated pre-Christian name.

25. Andris is Latvian.

26. Andreja is Serbian.

27. Andrija is Serbian and Croatian.

28. Andro is Croatian.

29. Andrea is an exclusively male Italian name.

30. Aindrea is Scottish.

31. Ándaras is Sami.

32. Anaru is Maori.

33. Andrėjus is Lithuanian.

34. Andryu is Mordvin.

35. Andrieu is Occitan and Gascon.

36. Andriü is Medieval Occitan.

37. Entri is Chuvash.

38. Handrij is Sorbian.

39. Jynrek is Vilamovian.

40. Andri is Albanian.

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Olive names

Oliver has barreled up the U.S. charts in recent years, going from #173 in 2006 to #12 in 2016. The name is #1 in Canada, England and Wales, New Zealand, and Australia. It’s also very popular in Denmark (#4), Finland (#5), Norway (#2), Sweden (#7), Scotland (#3), Iceland (#6), Northern Ireland (#6), Hungary (#21), Ireland (#31), Galicia (#40), and the Czech Republic (#33).

The alternate form Olivér is Hungarian, and Ólíver, or Óliver, is Icelandic.

Olivia has likewise barreled up the U.S. charts, going from #248 in 1985 to a so far three-year reign as #2 from 2014–16. Olive, not too long ago largely written off as a musty old lady name, may be poised to become a replacement for Olivia, the way Jessica supplanted Jennifer and Amelia supplanted Emma supplanted Emily. It fell off the U.S. charts in 1951, and re-entered at #989 in 2007. In 2016, it was #272, while in Australia, it was #90, and in New Zealand, it was #43. In England and Wales, it was #176.

The alternate form Olívia is Hungarian, Slovak, and Portuguese. Ólivía is Icelandic.

There are several possible etymologies for Olivia, among them the possible connection to the Latin word oliva (olive). And though Oliver comes from either an Old Germanic name like Alfher (elf army, elf warrior) or an Old Norse name like Áleifr (ancestor’s descendant; the original form of Olaf), the spelling came to be changed by association with the Latin word oliva.

If the trendiness and popularity of those names puts you off, there are plenty of other forms of these names.

Male:

Oilibhéar is Irish.

Oliber is Gascon. This spelling is considered archaic today.

Ólivar is Faroese.

Oliverio is Latin American–Spanish.

Olivers is Latvian.

Olivey is modern Gascon.

Olivier is French and Dutch.

Oliviero is Italian.

Olivur is Faroese.

Oliwer is Polish.

Oliwier is an alternate Polish form.

Oliwjer is also Polish.

Ölu is Swiss–German.

Female:

Moria was the word for a sacred olive tree in Ancient Greek.

Oliivia is Estonian.

Oliva is Latin.

Olivera is Serbian, Macedonian, and Croatian.

Olivette is French, from the title character of Edmond Audran’s 1879 opera Les Noces d’Olivette.

Oliviana is English, Spanish, and Italian.

Olivie is French and Czech. In Czech, the last two letters are pronounced separately instead of as one.

Olivienne is English.

Oliviera is Italian.

Oliviette is English.

Olivija is Macedonian, Lithuanian, and Croatian. The alternate form Olīvija is Latvian.

Olivina is Faroese.

Oliviya is Bulgarian.

Oliwia is Polish.

Ouliva is Asturian, a language spoken in northern Spain.

Silvery, golden names

To continue with the theme of my last post, here are some more names related to metals, though a bit more upscale than the previous ones. Whereas almost all of the names I found relating to metal, steel, iron, copper, and bronze were male, these names relating to gold and silver are much more evenly distributed among the sexes.

Unisex:

Aurum means “gold” in Latin.

Hiran means “silver” in Thai.

Hopea means “silver” in Finnish.

Jin can mean “gold, metal, money” in Chinese.

Jinhua can mean “brilliance/magnificence of gold” in Chinese.

Jinyu can mean “gold feather,” “gold jade,” and “gold, flawless gem” in Chinese.

Kanok means “gold” in Thai.

Kulta means “gold” and “dear, darling” in Finnish.

Lipaz means “my gold” in Hebrew.

Olaedo means “gold” in Igbo, a language spoken in Nigeria.

Paz means “gold” in Hebrew.

Souvankham is a Lao name derived from suvan (gold) and kham (golden, precious).

Souvanna means “gold” in Lao.

Spinzar literally means “white gold” in Pashto, though in actual practice means “silver.”

Vanna means “golden” in Khmer.

Vendi means “silver” in Telugu.

Voski means “gold” in Armenian.

Yari is a Spanish–Caribbean name supposedly derived from a Taino word meaning “small gold jewelry.”

Female:

Aranka means “gold” in Hungarian, and is also used as their form of Aurelia, which means the same thing. One of the nicknames is Ari.

Argenta is an Italian name of Greek origin, meaning “silver.”

Arianrhod means “silver wheel” or “round wheel” in Welsh.

Arianwen means “blessed/white/fair silver” in Welsh.

Altynai means “golden Moon” in Kazakh and Kyrgyz.

Altynshash means “golden voice” in Kazakh.

Anacaona means “golden flower” in Taino.

Aouregan means “golden face” or “shining gold” in Breton.

Ardita means “golden day” in Albanian.

Arjeta means “golden life” in Albanian.

Arlinda means “golden birth” in Albanian.

Arta means “golden” in Albanian.

Auria, or Aurea, means “golden” in Latin.

Ayzik means “gold” in Nivkh, a language spoken in Outer Manchuria.

Chrysanthemum means “golden flower” in Greek. I prefer this as a middle name paired with a shorter forename.

Chrysopelia means “golden dove” in Greek.

Dinara is a rare but gorgeous Russian, Kazakh, and Tatar name derived from the name of the Persian golden coin.

Eurddolen means “golden ring” in Welsh.

Eurgain means “splendid gold” in Welsh.

Eurwen is a Welsh name derived from the elements aur (gold) and gwen (white, fair, blessed).

Fidda means “silver” in Arabic.

Genji means “gold” in Chinese, and is somewhat of a rare name.

Ginko means “silver child” in Japanese.

Golda is Yiddish.

Gulazer means “golden rose” in Kurdish.

Hema means “golden” in Sanskrit.

Kanaka means “gold” in Sanskrit.

Kanchana means “golden” in Sanskrit.

Kezîzer means “golden fringe” in Kurdish.

Kula means “gold” in Hawaiian.

Lalzari means “golden ruby” in Pashto.

Lamar means “liquid gold” in Arabic. I’d avoid this in the Anglophone world, where the name (albeit with a different etymology) is exclusively male.

Lujayn means “silver” in Arabic.

Masayu means “pretty/beautiful gold” in Malay.

Millaray means “golden flower” in Mapuche.

Nubia possibly derives from the Ancient Egyptian nbw (gold).

Orabela means “golden-beautiful” in Esperanto.

Oravera means “true gold” in Judeo–Italian.

Órfhlaith means “golden princess” in Irish. Simplified, Anglicized forms are Orla, Orlagh, and Órlaith.

Oria is an Italian name probably derived from the Latin aurum, the Spanish oro, or the French or (gold). The elaborated form is Oriana.

Oriane, or Orianne, is the French version of Oriana.

Orinda is an English name possibly derived from the Spanish oro.

Orovida means “golden life” in Ladino (Judeo–Spanish).

Q’orianka means “golden eagle” in Quechuan, an indigenous South American language.

Qullqi means “silver” in Quechuan.

Quri means “gold” in Quechuan.

Quriquyllur means “golden star” in Quechuan.

Qurit’ika means “golden flower” in Quechuan.

Rukmini means “adorned with gold” in Sanskrit. This was Lord Krishna’s first wife.

Saffron is an English name which refers to the world’s most expensive spice, the flower it’s harvested from, and its orange-yellow colour. It ultimately derives from the Arabic za’faran, and probably a Persian word meaning “gold leaves.” This is also the name of Simon and Yasmin Le Bon’s middle daughter.

Silfrún is a modern Icelandic name meaning “silver secret.”

Simin means “silvery” in Persian.

Solgull is a modern Norwegian name meaning “golden Sun.”

Sona means “gold” in Hindi.

Sonal means “gold” in Hindi, Marathi, and Gujarati.

Sovanna means “golden, dream” in Khmer.

Tala means “gold” in Persian.

Teruworq means “good gold” in Amharic, the language spoken in Ethiopia.

Thangam means “gold” in Tamil.

Tylla means “gold” in Turkmeni.

Urairat means “glass and gold” in Thai.

Vosgedzin means “creator of gold” in Armenian.

Worknesh, or Werknesh, possibly means “you are like gold” in Amharic.

Wuraola means “gold of wealth” in Yoruba.

Zahava, or Zehava, means “gold” in Hebrew.

Zarafshan means “distributor of gold” in Persian.

Zarbaha means “gold” in Pashto.

Zareen means “golden” in Persian.

Zarsa means “like gold” in Persian.

Zaruhi is an Armenian name derived from the Persian zar (gold) and the Armenian feminine suffix uhi.

Zêrav means “golden water” in Kurdish.

Zêrda means “gold” in Kurdish.

Zêrgul means “golden rose” in Kurdish.

Zerrin means “golden” in Turkish.

Zlata means “golden” in Serbian, Czech, Slovenian, Slovak, Russian, Macedonian, and Croatian. The base nickname in most of those languages is Zlatica.

Zlatomira means “golden peace” in Bulgarian, Serbian, Slovenian, and Croatian.

Male:

Afwerki means “mouth of gold” in Tigrinyan, a language spoken in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia.

Altanbaatar means “gold hero” in Mongolian.

Ardit means “golden day” in Albanian.

Argento means “silver” in Esperanto.

Argyros means “silver” in Greek.

Arian means “golden life” in Albanian.

Arlind means “golden birth” in Albanian.

Armend means “golden mind” in Albanian.

Armir means “good gold” or “beautiful gold” in Albanian.

Auksys is a rare Lithuanian name meaning “gold.”

Aureus means “golden, gilded” in Latin.

Aurian means “gold” or “golden” in Latin.

Draupnir means “goldsmith” in Old Norse.

Eurig means “gold” in Welsh.

Eurion means “gold” in Welsh.

Florin means “piece of gold” in Albanian.

Goldmund means “gold mouth” and “golden protection” in German. This is the name of one of the two title characters in Hermann Hesse’s excellent Narcissus and Goldmund, which is set during the Middle Ages.

Kou means “gold” in Hmong.

Nhia means “silver” in Hmong.

Okropir means “gold mouth” in Georgian.

Oriol means “golden” in Catalan.

Pazel means “God’s gold” in Hebrew.

Pazi means “my gold” in Hebrew.

Perak means “silver” in Malay.

Prak means “silver” in Khmer.

Rezart means “golden ray” in Albanian.

Wunna means “gold” in Burmese.

Zilar means “silver” in Medieval Basque.

Zlatan is the male form of Zlata, The base nickname form in most languages is Zlatko.

Zlatibor means “golden battle” in Serbian and Croatian. This is also the name of a Serbian mountain.

Zlatomir is the masculine form of Zlatomira.

Urania and Uranus

Note: The Urania section is edited and fleshed-out from last year’s A to Z post. It was really hard to find anyone from Greek mythology whose name starts with a U (either in the original Greek or Latinized forms), so it was a rather foregone conclusion.

The Muses Urania and Calliope, by Simon Vouet, ca. 1634

Urania (Ourania) is one of the nine Muses, conceived and born when Zeus and Mnemosyne slept together on nine consecutive nights. Some sources name her as the oldest of the Muses. From her mother, she inherited grace and beauty, and from her father, she inherited majesty and power.

She’s the Muse of astronomy, and foretells the future through the stars. Urania most loves those who love philosophy and the heavens. Those who’ve been taught by her are raised into the heavens, since the power of thoughts and imagination lift the human soul to heavenly heights.

Urania, by Giuseppe Fagnani, 1869

Urania wears a cloak embroidered with stars, and a crown of stars. She’s also usually depicted with a celestial globe, to which she points with a staff. Urania keeps her eyes focused on the stars, her realm.

Some sources name her as the mother of musician Linus (by Apollo), and the god Hymenaeus (by Dionysus). Hymenaeus is the winged god of marriage ceremonies, song, and inspiring feasts. He was supposed to attend every wedding, for if he didn’t, the marriage would be a disaster.

In the Renaissance, she became a popular Muse for poets.

Urania is derived from ouranios, “heavenly.”

Uranus (Ouranos) is one of the fifteen primordial deities. He represents the sky, and was asexually conceived by his mother Gaia. Other sources cite his father as Aether, the personification of upper air; still other sources name his parents as Aether and Hemera (personification of day), or cite his mother as Nyx (personification of night).

Since the Greek deities were one big dysfunctional family, Uranus later married Gaia and had many children with her—the Titans, the Giants, the Cyclopses, the Furies, the Meliae (ash tree nymphs), and the Hecatoncheires (Hundred-Handed Ones).

Every night, Uranus coupled with Gaia, but he hated all his kids, and began hiding them deep in Tartarus, causing great pain to Gaia. Since she personified the Earth, these kids were in her physical body and unable to get out. Hoping to end this situation, Gaia made an adamantine sickle and told Kronos to lie in wait to ambush Uranus.

Detail of The Mutiliation of Uranus by Saturn, by Giorgio Vasari

Kronos leapt out and castrated Uranus next time he came to couple with Gaia. Aphrodite was born from the severed genitals falling into the sea, and the blood drops falling to the ground created the Giants, the Meliae, and the Furies. Some sources say the blood also birthed the Telchines, the original inhabitants of Rhodes.

After Uranus’s overthrow, Kronos re-imprisoned the Hecatoncheires and Cyclopses in Tartarus. Gaia and Uranus told him he’d be overthrown by his own children, so Kronos swallowed each at birth to prevent this. Only Zeus avoided this fate, due to his mother Rhea and grandmother Gaia’s clever thinking.

On 13 March 1781, the seventh planet was discovered and named after Uranus.

Uranus, like Urania, is derived from ouranios, “heavenly.”

Orithyia and Orestes

Orithyia (Oreithyia) is the daughter of King Erechtheus and Queen Praxithea of Athens. Boreas, the god of the north wind, lusted after her, but Orithyia rebuffed his advances. Since violence came naturally to Boreas, he decided to rape her.

One day, while Orithyia was playing by the river Ilisos, Boreas absconded with her and took her to Sarpedon’s Rock, near Thrace’s Erginos River. After her arrival, Boreas wrapped her in a cloud and raped her. This forced union produced four children, daughters Chione and Kleopatra, and sons Kalais and Zetes.

The girls became wind nymphs, and the boys were known as the Boreads, wind brothers. Her sons later grew wings like Boreas, and joined the Argonauts to look for the Golden Fleece.

The Abduction of Orithyia, in the style of Francesco Solimena, 1730

Aeschylos wrote a satyr play (akin to burlesque) about Orithyia’s rape, which is now lost. Plato also mentioned her, claiming a potential realistic explanation for her story. A gust of northern wind on the rocks of Ilisos may have killed her, and the people believed she was taken away by Boreas. In another account, Plato suggests she were taken from the Areopagus, a prominent rock outcropping by the Acropolis, where murderers were tried.

Orithyia later became the goddess of cold mountain winds. The Athenians prayed and made sacrifices to Orithyia and Boreas during the Greco–Persian Wars.

Oreithyia (Orithyia) is derived from the elements oreios (of the mountains) and thyias (possessed, inspired woman).

The Remorse of Orestes, a.k.a. Orestes Pursued by the Furies, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1862

Orestes is one of the four children of King Agamemnon and Queen Klytemnestra of Mycenae. According to Homer, he was in Athens when his famous father returned from the Trojan War, and thus absent when his mother murdered his father. Seven years later, Orestes came home to avenge his father’s death, and killed both his mother and her lover Aegisthus.

According to the awesome poet Pindar, Orestes was shuttled out of Mycenae by either his sister Elektra or his nurse Laodamia (Arsinoe) when Klytemnestra wanted to kill him. He found refuge in the village of Phanote (now Raveni), on the right bank of the river Thyamis and on Mount Parnassos. King Strophios of Phokis took care of him, and Orestes became bosom buddies with Prince Pylades. Orestes and Pylades are also cousins.

The Return of Orestes, by Anton von Maron, 1786

When Orestes was twenty, his sister Elektra urged him to come home to avenge their father’s murder. Apollo also urged him to do the deed. Orestes came home with Pylades. After committing matricide, Orestes went mad, and the Furies began pursuing him. It was the Furies’ job to punish anyone who’d violated familial ties.

Orestes sought shelter in the temple of Delphi, but to no avail. Finally, Athena admitted him to the Acropolis in Athens and arranged a trial before twelve judges, herself included. The Furies wouldn’t relent, but Orestes maintained he did the right thing, and that Apollo ordered it.

Athena was the last judge to vote, and chose acquittal. The votes were tied, thus resulting in acquittal. To show his gratitude, Orestes dedicated an altar to Athena. According to Euripides, Orestes’s punishment continued even after his acquittal, as Apollo ordered him to go to Tauris, take Artemis’s fallen statue, and bring it to Athens. This quest was meant to provide escape from the Furies.

Pylades and Orestes Brought as Victims before Iphigenia, by Benjamin West, 1766

In Tauris, both Orestes and Pylades were imprisoned, since the Tauris custom was to sacrifice all Greek strangers to Artemis. The priestess entrusted with the sacrifice was none other than Iphigenia, Orestes’s sister. She offered to release him if he brought a letter home. Orestes refused, but begged Pylades to do it for him. In the end, all three of them escaped together with the statue.

Back in Mycenae, Orestes took the throne and killed Aegisthus’s son Aletes. Argos and Lakonia were added to the kingdom. He died of a snakebite in Arkadia.

Orestes means “mountaineer,” and is derived from orestias, “from the mountains,” and oros, “mountain.”