Brigid Daull Brockway is technically a writer

Brigid Daull Brockway is technically a writer

A blog about words, wordplay, and etymology, with slightly more than occasional political rants.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Defender of men

First, things first, congrats to Charles and Megi who have just created life. Or, I suppose they created life 9 months ago and life finished its fetus phase and has begun it screaming, pooping, and drooling phase. Baby Alexander is absolutely beautiful and has the great advantage of having been born to amazing parents.
The name Alexander comes from the Greek name Alexandros, for defending men, from the Greek word alexo, to defend. We are not, under any circumstances, to call him Xander
Xander is a nickname for Alexander that was quite uncommon before the show Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. While the name doesn't even rank on most popular lists before 1997, when the show premiered, it's now the 205th most popular boys' name in the US, according to BehindtheName.com
Which amuses me, considering the character Xander is, well, kind of a weenie. Which is precisely why Charles banned the whole Xander thing. I mean, the kid is being born to two of the biggest geeks on earth; he'll have enough bullying to deal with even without being named after a weenie. 
My name, by the way, enjoyed a brief heyday in 1966, when it was the 981st most popular name in the US, after which it ceased to even be a blip in the rankings. I am named after my mom's dad's mom who was not, I'm assured, a weenie.

2 comments:

VEG said...

Perhaps weenies are the new geeks and the label that many attention seeking young ladies donning spectacles they don't need, will be waering on their t-shirts this year? Or....not! Happy new year B.!

VEG said...

Wow. Waering. Really???

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