Auberon

We finish Week A with another old name that I think seriously needs a second look at.

The similarity between Auberon and Oberon is notable, and the pair are almost certainly linked. The name Oberon is a literary one – coming from A Midsummer’s Night Dream, where the character of Oberon was the king of the fairies. The name is also celestial, as one of the moon’s of Uranus has been dubbed Oberon.

Probably one of the most noted pieces of TV this year is the fight between Prince Oberyn Martell and Ser Gregor Clegane on HBO’s Game of Thrones. I remember sitting in the kitchen when my friend’s upstairs were watching it together, and hearing a collective 5-person scream that marked the climax of the fight. Prince Oberyn Martell is probably one of the more famed uses of the name in the media at the moment.

The name Auberon derives from Alberich, a name which derives from two Germanic elements:

• alfi, which means elf
• ric, which means ruler

Hence, the name means king of the elfs, which is a mighty fine name meaning if I do say so myself.

As well as relations with Oberon the name Auberon is also related to Aubrey, whom also derives from Alberich. These days, you’re more likely to meet an Aubrey of either gender than an Auberon, with the name ranking at #850 for the girls and #959 for the boys in England&Wales in 2013, whereas Auberon ranks at #3822. In fact, if you meet a girl called Aubrey, she might just be spelling it as Aubree, which with a rank of #750, outranks Aubrey. This is a marked change from when in 2012, the names shared a rank of #1253.

It’s also worth noting that if you go to the USA, the chances of meeting a little girl named Aubrey is quite high as in 2013 the name ranked as high as #18, and #52 if spelled Aubree.

With the name Auberon you have a name that holds his own charms, despite these days been completely overshadowed by his more famous cousins. He’s a little bit quirky, but fabulous in his own rights with a meaning that kinda rocks.

Sibset of the Week: The Fiennes

I could only cover one family this week – I almost posted this on Friday after finding out about some of the names but held back a few days, I even resisted the temptation to post some of the names on Twitter.

Mark Fiennes was an English photographer and illustrator. He is a cousin of the noted explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes. He met and married a lady named Jennifer Lash in the 1960s. As an aside, his wife was more often known as Jini, and was a noted artist and novelist. Sadly, these days neither are still with us, but together they welcomed no less than seven children:

Martha Maria

Ralph Nathaniel

Joseph Alberic (twin of Jacob)

Jacob Mark (twin of Joseph)

Sophie Victoria

Magnus Hubert

We could stop here, but if you dig a little deeper, there are plenty more wonderful names to discover. Let’s start with Jacob, who is married to a lady named Melanie. Together they have two children, born in the early 2000s:

Teale Isabella

Nathaniel

Whilst both Isabella and Nathaniel are relatively heard of, the choice of Teale as the name for their eldest child is certainly unexpected. Nathaniel could simply be a family name, given that young Nathaniel shares his name with Uncle Ralph, for whom the name is a middle name and with one of his cousins whom I shall mention shortly.

I also wanted to mention the children of Magnus, with his wife Maya, born in the late 1990s:

Cheyenne Allegra

Shanti Atalanta

The name Shanti was recently championed over at Name Fancy, and I certainly was surprised to see it used on a child so soon after reading the post. But alas, it is the last sibset which really inspired this post. It was inspired by a rather humourous email from a friend asking whether I was aware the the actor who played a young Lord Voldemort was called Hero. How ironic, I remember thinking.

Martha is married to George Tiffin, and together they have three children:

Titan Nathaniel

Hero Beauregard (m)

Mercy Jini Willow

Some scoff at using Hero as a girls name, despite the historical usage, so I kindly present them with a male Hero, born in the late 1990s. It’s worth noting that Hero’s uncle, Ralph Fiennes, plays Voldemort in the films.