Grandchildren Names

Many families have traditions in passing along names to their children.  While that is also true in our family, nearly everything else about the names of our grandchildren is very atypical.

In the Russell family, we have a tradition in passing along part of the father's name to the oldest son.  My middle name, Harold, is the same as my father's and my grandfather's.  My wife and I changed it a little and gave our son, Christopher, my first name, Alan, as his middle name.  He, in turn, did the same and gave his first son the name Christopher as a middle name.

My son-in-law's family has a tradition of using biblical names.  His father and grandfather are both named James; his name is Matthew, and so all our grandsons through him have biblical first names as well, albeit ones from the Old Testament instead of the New Testament.

But as I said above, that's about all the tradition that our grandchildren have in their names.  I'll start with my son's children.

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Our oldest grandchild has the name, Aryon Christopher.  Aryon is two syllables - Ar.yon - not three as some try to pronounce it - Ar-y-on - nor as some try to pronounce it as - Aaron.  It's not a name that you are apt to encounter in anyone else.  The name is taken from the Quenya language - that's the Elvish language of The Lord of the Rings, i.e. J.R.R.Tolkein.  In that language it means Heir or Prince, so there is significance to its meaning.  We too thought it was pretty unusual when our children told us - but as it turned out this was only the start of unusual names in our grandchildren.

Our next grandchild has the name, Tiernan Fial.  This name is Irish/Gaelic and means "The Lord is generous/faithful".  So it is equally as significant in meaning, and equally as unusual in US culture as Aryon.

Chris and Pam's final child is our only granddaughter.  Her name is Ilyanna Farea.  While Ilyanna is a little more common name as it also shows up in some eastern European countries, hers is also derived from Quenya where it means "Every gift is sufficient".  So there is significance in the meaning of all the names in their family.

Now let me move to our grandchildren through our daughter, Kim, and her husband Matthew Christman.  As I said earlier, they have all boys - four of them.

First is Ethan Marrok.  While it is probably the least recognizable as a Bible name, there are actually four men in the Bible with the name Ethan.  One is a grandson of Judah, two are Levites who are temple musicians, and one is the author of the 89th Psalm.  But the name Marrok is certainly not recognizable to most people as it comes from Arthurian legend.  Sir Marrok is one of the knights of King Arthur's round table where his "claim to fame" is that he is mentioned as having been turned into a wolf by his wife.  In 1905, a man wrote a book that expanded on this and titled it Sir Marrok.  In honor of the birth of Ethan, I republished this book when he was born, and later expanded it by writing some  hinted at stories as The Complete Sir Marrok.  So Marrok is an English name, albeit a somewhat unusual one.

Next is Isaiah Conall.  While Isaiah is certainly a recognizable Bible name, Conall is definitely not.  However, Conall is quite well known in Ireland, where the first of many famous men with that name was an 8th century Irish King (actually a King of the Picts, one of the tribes in that part of the world).

Next is Caleb Taliesin - pronounced Tal.yes.in with three syllables.  Continuing the theme of names from the British Isles, Taliesin was a 6th century Welsh poet.  Eleven of his poems survive and he was mentioned in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King where he is referred to as the King of Bards.  But again, an ancient and not very common name, especially in the US.

Finally is Asher Bhaltair.  Since his older brother's names were English, Irish, and Welsh, it was only fitting that this name be Scottish in order to complete the list of countries. Another factor was that his name was chosen so that his initials are ABC.  Bhaltair in Scottish means "strong fighter" and it is the Scottish equivalent to the English "Walter".

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So there you have it - the story and the meanings behind the names of all our grandchildren.  A mix of tradition, Old Testament, British Isles, and Elvish.  Let no one say that our family is not creative!