Maleficent

Origin: English
Gender: Female
Meaning: Possibly "evil-doer"
Pronunciation: muh-LEHF-ih-sent
Other forms: N/A

The name of the evil fairy (yes, she is a fairy!) in "Sleeping Beauty". I'm not sure on the meaning of the name; one source says it means "evil-doer", and it is close to the word "malevolent" as well. Maleficent is capable of shape-shifting as well as just plain ol' black magic, she can transform into a huge dragon or a floating light that resembles a will-o'-the-wisp.
I've gotten tons of hits on this post, which really surprises me. I'm pretty sure it even started before the 2014 movie with Angelina Jolie came out.
In it, she is portrayed as more of an anti-hero than villain, and it is her who breaks the curse, instead of the prince, after she grows to love her over the years. It does have a surprisingly soft, feminine sound, and maybe the movie will redeem it, but I think it would probably still be best suited for a cat, or maybe a rat?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Angourie

Image
Angourie Rice Origin: Aboriginal Gender: Female Meaning: Possibly "tail-feather of a seagull or sea eagle" Pronunciation: ann-GOW-ree Other Forms: N/A I've finally gotten around to watching Kate Winslet's new show on HBO, Mare of Easttown, and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's gritty, and perfectly captures small-town life. Her daughter, Siobhan, is played by Australian actress Angourie Rice (her sister also has an unusual name -- Kalliope). Of course, being name-obsessed as I am, I immediately dove into researching the name! Angourie herself is named after a town in New South Wales where her grandmother lived. Angourie is said to be from an Aboriginal word meaning "tail-feather of a seagull or sea eagle". For many of the indigenous people of Australia, the white-bellied sea eagle is an important figure, seen as guardian of the people and land. The seagull as well is highly regarded, and for some peoples it was common to have a small ceremonial car
Read more

Yara

Image
Yara Shahidi Origin: Persian, Tupi, and Hebrew Gender: Unisex Meaning: "Sweetheart", "Strength", "Water Lady", "Honeycomb" or "Honeysuckle" Pronunciation: YAH-rah, YARR-uh Other Forms: Yaara, Iara, Uira To me this name is bursting with potential - it's short, feisty, and has a multitude of great meanings. It's already jumped a massive 312 spots from 2017 to 2018 where it currently sits at #672, and I think that's proof it's definitely one to watch out for. Yara, in Persian, can have two different meanings - "sweetheart" (or as Yara Shahidi's mother put it: "someone close to your heart"), it would seem, for girls, and "strength" for boys. In Hebrew (and more often spelled Yaara) it means "honeycomb" or "honeysuckle" which I think is gorgeous. In Tupi it means "water lady" or "lady of the water" and is the name of a character from Brazili
Read more

Names from the 2022 Winter Olympics

Image
Kaori Sakamoto, who won bronze for her team As I've mentioned before, I absolutely love watching the Olympics, mostly for all the interesting names! Here are some of the ones I liked the best or found the most unusual at this year's winter games. Have you noticed any that aren't on this list that you think should be? Let me know down below! Men: Aoxibofu Dannisi (China) Beat Feuz (Switzerland) Candy Bauer (Germany) Dorian Hauterville (France) Dusty Henricksen (USA) Emilien Jacquelin (France) Enkhtuul Ariunsanaa (Mongolia) Espen Bjoernstad (Norway) Gael Blondeau (France) Irineu Esteve Altimiras (Andorra) Janosch Brugger (Germany) Korbinian Holzer (Germany) Loan Bozzolo (Norway) Nicolae Ciprian Daroczi (Romania) Peppe Femling (Sweden) Pontus Holmberg (Sweden) Romed Baumann (Germany) Sivert Guttorm Bakken (Norway) Szczepan Kupczak (Poland) Teal Harle (Canada) Uvis Janis Balinskis (Latvia) Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen (Norway) Wojciech Chmielewski (Poland) Zbigniew Brodka (Polan
Read more