Semi-weekly interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1881-1905, 1889-12-20
Origin of Names.

The study of names is one of common
interest common from the fact that all
persons have them. Few, ! presume,
are so void OF curiosity as not to be de.
sirous OF knowing the meaning OF their
appellations. OF course in various in
stances names have undergone so many
changes that it is impossible to get at
their import, in others the meaning is
clear Some point directly to the bust
ness or occupation OF the primitive pos
SCISSOR, some 10 certain personal traits.
When the burly Georges of to-day are
hurrying hither aud thither in their va
rious pursuits. seeking the almighty
dollar" how many, wonder, stop and
reflect that the first George was no mere
idler, but was good farmer, as is shown
by the Greek from Georgikos, compound
ed from &c, earth, ergon, work and the
sufiix ikos, implying ability?
From oiero, aid, amer, man, comes the
potent Alexander. This meritorious H.
tie was given to the Trojan Paris because
when youth, being reared among the
shepherds of Mount Ida, he aided them
by displaying his princely courage in de-
Tending their hocks against robbers and
wild beasts.
In Philip, from Hdippos, composed OF
pLiia., lone, and hippos, horse, We have
one who is fond Of, or loves, the horse,
or, simpler, a lover OF horses.
Plato was so called because he had q
broad forehead, from pldtus, broad. Pla'
to was only nickname given him by his
witty fellow countrymen, his real name
being Aristocles, from dfiStos, best, often
in the sense OF best or noble in blood,
aud ci,os glory, may have been applied
to the philosopher in his youth to indi'
cate that he was sprung from royal, OF
orisio.cratic blood, since, through bis
father he was descended from Codrus
the last hero king from Attica, and thro
his mother from the great law-giver, So
Ion.
The noble Christian father, who gave
us the name Bible, and who suffered ma
NY priyations in his old age on account
OF his answering faith, and from whose
| lips, to use a Homeric epithet, "tlowed
words sweeter than honey by his elo
quence gained the name Chrysostom
gold mouth, from cLiysos, gold, and domo
mouth.
The greatest of Roman authors bore
the name Cicero simply because one OF
his ancestors happened to have a mole
on his face which slightly resembled a
chickpea, eicer.
Whether or not the author OF Germa
mia and Agricola, and OF the ponderous
Annals, was really tacit he surely ~o'
Tacitus.
Albion, according to some authorities,
would be derived from the Latin word,
albus, white, and hence would be Apo
site TO the numerous chalk cliffs of the
wonderful isle, but following others OF
keener appreciation for the Celtic Ian
guage it comes from the Celtic root dib,
signifying hill. So by the latter process,
Albion means hilly country.
Even fair France, which had been the
scene of such vile despotism, and where
at one time liberty seemed locked within
the Bastile, received her name from that
tribe whose people boosted that they
were the freest of the Germans and from
their freedom called themselves Franks
or ireemen. Hence France froia Francis
means frank or frees. n. Smith, Uni
versity of Tennessee, in Southwestern
| journal of Education.