Cool ancient names

[Kyriakos]

One of the coolest names, in my view, is Telemachos (Τηλέμαχος, Telemachus/Telemach).
The son of Odysseas/Odysseus, his name means "fighter from a distance" (tele + mache/machia) and just sounds excellent as well as having a potentially positive meaning- or mostly positive, in the sense that one who fights from a distance probably is less prone to be harmed during the fight.

If i ever have a son i probably will not name him Telemachos, due to the obvious linquistic/mythological connection to Odysseus. But still, it is an amazing name. Ikaros/Icarus (Ίκαρο&#962 is ok too, although i do not know its special etymology if it is also a hybrid name. Daedalus is not really a nice name for a small child, though...

As for Minotaur (i know people called Asterios, which is the actual name of the minotaur, minotaur being pretty much a title or definition of his species).

 

[Arakhor]

Calling a child Icarus might be considered to be tempting fate.

 

[Kyriakos]

You are right :/

Although in some sense we all are Ikaroi.

 

[Absolution]

I was just thinking how cool some ancient names sound. If I ever have a son I just might name him after some obscure Mesopotamian ruler. Although if his name was Gilgamesh Kloeckner he'd probably be beaten daily by his peers, but he would have really a cool name. I think I'll stick to naming my pets these gnarly names for now.
Here are some of my favorite ancient names that should be brought back:
Nebuchadnezzar,
Assurbanipal,
Sargon,
Xerxes,
Mulwatallish,
Labarna,
Hammurabi,
Ramesses,
Minos,
Tilgath-Pileser

Just to point out - If you ever hear how the native speakers pronounced some of those names you will never view them as "cool".

 

[cybrxkhan]

Just to point out - If you ever hear how the native speakers pronounced some of those names you will never view them as "cool".

That's very true. A lot of times people pronounce ancient words without realizing they shouldn't be pronouncing them as English words.

I do like medieval (i.e. Byzantine-era) Greek names, anyhow, both pronounced in native Greek or what was Greek back then and in the bastardized Latin/English versions. My favorite is Andronikos (Ανδρόνικο&#962 and the Palailogos (Παλαιολόγο&#962 dynasty.

I also like the bureaucratic titles in the Byzantine Empire they have on wikipedia. Not sure how accurate Wikipedia is, but some of those names sound hilariously awesome and epic to me. Like Spatharokandidatos (σπαθαροκανδιδάτο&#962, Spatharokoubikoularios (σπαθαροκουβικουλάριο&#962, or hyperprōtopansebastohypertatos (that last one is ridiculous).

Man, I say, people think Latin is an epic language, I say Greek makes it look lame. I like to think of Greek as what Japanese would look like if it was actually cool like all those Japanophiles wish it were. (No offense to actual Japanophiles)

 

[Kyriakos]

^

hyperprōtopansebastohypertatos

That is, indeed, awesome I didn't know that it even existed... Thanks.

If one goes by what the terms mean today, that should have the meaning of something like:

above-all-first-respected-by-all-utterly-highest. Cool title

 

[Plotinus]

I like to think of Greek as what Japanese would look like if it was actually cool like all those Japanophiles wish it were. (No offense to actual Japanophiles)

Attic Greek isn't entirely unlike Japanese - both use pitch instead of stress to accent words. So in that element of pronunciation (if in little else), Attic Greek is closer to Japanese than it is to modern Greek!

 

[Kyriakos]

Indeed the Greek language suffered the loss of some elements such as multiple signs of pronounciation. It more or less happened in the middle of the 20th century, though, since up to then the official version of Greek was still an almost unchanged Byzantine-era Greek, termed the "kathareuousa" (it means "purified, or tending to be pure". Sadly the aftermath of ww2 (and also 1922) meant that certain people rose to power who were pretty much pests and destroyed a part of the language. Thankfully they did not utterly destroy it, and the kathareuousa had its own problems too (although it was the language of Papadiamantis, and to a degree also Cavafy, both the greatest post 1821 Greek prose writers and poets), so the version now used still keeps some of its glory of old, particularly due to the fact that the people themselves cancelled the more extreme changes of the new version.

Personally, as one using current Greek in my actual prose work, i am very happy i can express myself in this language. It is unrealistic by now to return to previous versions of it, but i do hope it won't be further destroyed.

 

[metatron]

Susan?

 

[cybrxkhan]

Attic Greek isn't entirely unlike Japanese - both use pitch instead of stress to accent words. So in that element of pronunciation (if in little else), Attic Greek is closer to Japanese than it is to modern Greek!

Ah, right, that's a good point.


Personally myself I like turning Japanese into "Greek" by taking a bunch of random Japanese words and adding -s every other word or so. Works decently in most cases.

 

[Mouthwash]

Plato. Plato. Plato. That feels good on the tongue.

 

[Væringjar]

Sargon
Nebuchadnezzar
Assurbanipal

 

[Leifmk]

Magnus

Still in common use around here (we plundered it from the Latin towards the end of the Viking age and it's been popular ever since).

 

[gangleri2001]

Plato. Plato. Plato. That feels good on the tongue.

It's not a name, it's a nickname.

Still in common use around here (we plundered it from the Latin towards the end of the Viking age and it's been popular ever since).

The bad thing about Latin names outside the sphere of the Romanc languages is that people now reads them as if they were English and that's just wrong.

 

[Arakhor]

You mean like how the Latin names in Italy evolved into Italian (Circus Maximus/Circo Massimo)?

 

[gangleri2001]

You mean like how the Latin names in Italy evolved into Italian (Circus Maximus/Circo Massimo)?

No, the classic spelling: KEER-koos MAX-ee-moos.

 

[Arakhor]

So when you talk about Julius Caesar and Cicero, you make a point of saying Yoo-lius Kai-sar and Kick-ero?

 

[Paul in Saudi]

The naval hero Peter Tordenskjold was ennobled as Lord Thundershield. If I am ever in the witness protection program, I shall take that as my new name.

Recently a pioneering surfer died. He went by the name Tubesteak.