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Quiz about Whats in a Name
Quiz about Whats in a Name

What's in a Name? Trivia Quiz


Imagine if we were called by the meaning of our names rather than by the names themselves. Some of us might have a hard time living up to our appellations! Can you figure out the names that match these meanings?

A multiple-choice quiz by Cymruambyth. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
Cymruambyth
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
310,745
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Very Difficult
Avg Score
4 / 10
Plays
635
Question 1 of 10
1. This quiz was inspired by Snowman's quiz about his Uncle Monty and the names he gave the stations on the London Underground. It reminded me of the Rector of my former parish who baptized our younger son. He could remember our younger son's name but not our older son's name (our older son was two when we moved into the parish), so in order to avoid hurting Number One son's feelings, he called them by the meaning of their names - Christ-bearer and Well-beloved. What did we name our children? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. My mother would be hailed as 'Good victory', so what was her name? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. My Welsh grandfather was 'Gift of God', so what was his (Welsh) name? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The head girl at my English school was Torch, or, possibly, Moon. Etymologists give both meanings for this name. What is it? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. My best friend could just as easily be named Erica. Erica is the genus of over 700 species of plants of the family Ericaceae. What is my friend's name?

Answer: (One word, seven letters. Think purple or white.)
Question 6 of 10
6. I wonder if my father knew that his name meant 'army ruler'? Considering that he never served in any military capacity, the name certainly doesn't match the man! So what was my dad's first name?

Answer: (One Word, Six Letters. Scandinavian origin)
Question 7 of 10
7. My own name, which is Greek in origin, means 'peace', a fact that has my family falling about laughing. Not that I start fights or anything, but I'm not one of nature's doormats. I have strong opinions and I'm prepared to defend them, which sometimes creates more turbulence than peace! So what's my name?

Answer: (One word, five letters.)
Question 8 of 10
8. My daughter (in-law) hates her middle name. It means 'prosperous in war' and does not jive at all with my mild-mannered daughter, who avoids conflict as often as she can. So what's her middle name? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. My friend Phyllis is an ardent gardener and her name is entirely appropriate. What does Phyllis mean? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. I have a friend who has sons named Ian and Evan. Their names are the Scottish and Welsh versions of their father's name, which is ...?

Answer: (One Word, Four Letters. Nice guy, but no saint, unlike the name!)

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This quiz was inspired by Snowman's quiz about his Uncle Monty and the names he gave the stations on the London Underground. It reminded me of the Rector of my former parish who baptized our younger son. He could remember our younger son's name but not our older son's name (our older son was two when we moved into the parish), so in order to avoid hurting Number One son's feelings, he called them by the meaning of their names - Christ-bearer and Well-beloved. What did we name our children?

Answer: Christopher and David

Christopher means 'Christ-bearer' and David means 'Well-beloved'. Christian means exactly what it says, while John means 'God is gracious'. The Hebrew name from which the anglicized John is derived is Yochanan. Andrew means 'Warrior', and Curtis is an Old English surname that comes from the Old French 'corteis', meaning 'courteous'. Cain derives from the Hebrew 'qanah', meaning 'to acquire', and Abel derives from the Hebrew 'havel' meaning 'breath' or 'vapour'.

Modern Biblical scholars, however, tend to agree that the two names have their roots in the pre-Christian South Arabian words 'qyn' and 'ibil', meaning 'metalsmith' and 'herdsman' respectively. I should imagine that very few people who follow the Judeo-Christian or Islamic traditions would be likely to name a son Cain, because according to Genesis and to the Qur'an, Cain was the world's first murderer.
2. My mother would be hailed as 'Good victory', so what was her name?

Answer: Eunice

My mother's name was Eunice, the anglicized version of the Greek Eunike, meaning 'good victory' - in ancient Greek 'eu' meant 'good' and 'nike' meant 'victory'. (Nike was also the Greek goddess of victory and, nowadays, athletic shoes). How did my very Welsh mother get a Greek name, and the anglicized version at that? According to family history, my grandmother had a difficult time bringing my mother into the world and the baby almost died in the process (obviously she didn't, because I'm here to tell the tale). My maternal great-grandfather, who was something of a classical scholar, named her Eunice to celebrate her survival.

He could have named her Victoria, the Latin word for 'victory'. Valerie wouldn't have been a choice at the time because Valerie is the anglicized version of the feminine form of the Latin 'valerius', meaning 'healthy and strong'.
3. My Welsh grandfather was 'Gift of God', so what was his (Welsh) name?

Answer: Tudor

Twdr is the Welsh spelling of Tudor and it's pronounced Tiddir, with the stress on the first syllable. Theodore also means 'gift of God' in Greek, from 'theos'- god and 'doron' - gift. Joshua is a Hebrew name meaning 'God is salvation' and it is the anglicized form of Yesh'ua (Jesus is another anglicized form of Yesh'ua). Joachim, another Hebrew name, means 'God will judge'.
4. The head girl at my English school was Torch, or, possibly, Moon. Etymologists give both meanings for this name. What is it?

Answer: Helen

Helen derives from the Greek word for torch (lampas) or the Greek word for moon (selene). I'm not sure how lampas becomes Helen, but I can see the connection between selene and Helen. In Greek mythology, Helen is the daughter of Leda and Zeus and the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. She ran off with Paris, son of Priam, King of Troy, and started that whole mess called the Trojan War.

Selena obviously derives from the Greek word for moon, while Lucia has its roots in the Latin lux, lucis, meaning light.

Melissa is a Greek name meaning honey-bee.
5. My best friend could just as easily be named Erica. Erica is the genus of over 700 species of plants of the family Ericaceae. What is my friend's name?

Answer: Heather

Eric is the masculine version of the name, as is Heath. Calluna vulgaris, the most common species (the purple and white heather) is native to western Europe. Seeds transported to Nova Scotia in the bedding of Scottish troops in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries took root and have become naturalized in that part of the world.

This common heather can be grown in North American gardens in Zone 4.
6. I wonder if my father knew that his name meant 'army ruler'? Considering that he never served in any military capacity, the name certainly doesn't match the man! So what was my dad's first name?

Answer: Harold

The most famous Harold in history is, of course, the royal chappie who got hit in the eye with a Norman arrow at the famed Battle of Hastings. Hastings was the watershed battle that effectively ended Anglo-Saxon rule in England and replaced it with Norman domination.

Despite his loss at Hastings, Harold lived up to his name. Prior to the fracas with William the Conqueror, Harold had proved himself time and again as a fine military strategist. It was sheer bad luck for Harold that (a) he got hit by that arrow and (b) William was an even better military strategist!
7. My own name, which is Greek in origin, means 'peace', a fact that has my family falling about laughing. Not that I start fights or anything, but I'm not one of nature's doormats. I have strong opinions and I'm prepared to defend them, which sometimes creates more turbulence than peace! So what's my name?

Answer: Irene

Eirene was the Greek goddess of peace (the Greeks pronounced her name Ee-Ray-Nay). In England, where I was born, it's pronounced Eye-Ree-Knee, and in North America it's more often pronounced Eye-Reen. I prefer the English pronunciation, thank you.
8. My daughter (in-law) hates her middle name. It means 'prosperous in war' and does not jive at all with my mild-mannered daughter, who avoids conflict as often as she can. So what's her middle name?

Answer: Edith

Edith is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is a compound name with its roots in 'ead', the Anglo-Saxon word for 'rich' or 'blessed', and 'gyo', which was Anglo-Saxon for 'war'. Aeoel (with a tilde over the o) was the Old English word for 'noble' or 'righteous'.

The name Ethel was not known until the nineteenth century when it was coined during a period of interest in all things mediaeval. Victoria is the Latin feminine form of Victorius, which means 'winner'. Phyllis is of Greek origin and means 'leafy' or 'foliage'.
9. My friend Phyllis is an ardent gardener and her name is entirely appropriate. What does Phyllis mean?

Answer: Foliage or leafy

When I told Phyllis what her name meant, she was relieved. Someone had told her that her name was the female form of Philip, which means 'lover of horses', and she isn't overly-fond of equines, having broken her leg in a fall from a horse when she was young. If you want to name your baby daughter the feminine form of Philip, by the way, it's Philippa.

The unusual name Phyllida is a version of Phyllis but it wasn't known until the 16th century.
10. I have a friend who has sons named Ian and Evan. Their names are the Scottish and Welsh versions of their father's name, which is ...?

Answer: John

Dad's name is John, which is the anglicized version of the Hebrew Yochanan, meaning 'God is gracious'.
Source: Author Cymruambyth

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor CellarDoor before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
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