A Kat By Any Other Name Would Be As Odd!

I was on phantomoftheopera.info, which is a great site for essays and general Phantomy-ness, when I discovered an essay about Erik's resemblance to Christ. First off, let me inform you that I think this is nonsense. Erik was not a conventionally "good" man. He was no Christ, not in any way, shape, or form. I was never a Jesus kinda girl anyway, so that's all right. But one thing in this essay interested me. The names. Erik means all powerful, or so said the essay. Whether or not this is true got me thinking. What does a name say about us?

My full name is Kathlyn. I have never in my life been able to find another Kathlyn, or what it meant. Once someone told me it meant mischeif, but otherwise I have found nothing. So I did what any respectable modern girl would have done: I googled it. Not the name, but I did find a great name dictionary. Behindthename.com. Fascinating stuff. Unfortunately, my name is too obscure, so I had to trace it back. Kathlyn is the Scottish version of Cathline, and that is derived from Katherine. So I found the etymology of Katherine. (Whew.)

From the Greek name Aikaterine. The etymology is debated: it could derive from the earlier Greek name Hekaterine, which came from hekateros "each of the two"; it could derive from the name of the goddess HECATE; it could be related to Greek aikia "torture"; or it could be from a Coptic name meaning "my consecration of your name". The Romans falsely derived it from Greek katharos "pure" and changed their spelling from Katerina to Katharina to reflect this. The name belonged to a 4th-century saint and martyr from Alexandria who was tortured on the famous Catherine wheel. This name was also borne by two empresses of Russia, including Catherine the Great, and by three of Henry VIII's wives.

I feel so good about this one. I'm related by name to Hecate, who is the queen of the witches according to some Wiccan ideals! (Eh, her or Acadia, no theology today, guys.) I could also be related to a Greek word for torture - which, I must admit, occasionally makes sense. Bit ironic that it was "falsely" derived from pure. I feel evil, etc.. Fourth century saint? I'll take it. Catherine the Great? Fine. Henry VIII's wives? Er. . .what are you supposed to say to that one? But on the whole, I'm happy with it.

And now, I had to do some of my readers. And of course, a few PotO charries.

Allow me to begin with Raoul.

Raoul: Oh no, not that! Please, not THAT!

Kat: Yes. THAT. Mwahahaha! I just love this. Raoul is the French form of Ralph. Ralph! For no good reason, that makes me laugh. Ralph. . .Ha. Which, in turn, is a contracted form of Radulf (?!) which means counsel wolf. Er. Okay.

Nadir, however, is a good one. Nadir means rare in Arabic, which is so true. Nadir sticks by his friends, never loses his sense of morals, loves his son, loves his wife, and is just a plain old good guy. He may even be the one genuinely good intentioned PotO character. All he wants is a happy ending for all concerned. They just don't make 'em like Nadir any more.

Now for a small amount of reality. Maxwell. Allow me to present this analysis of your illustrious moniker.

Originally a surname meaning "stream of Maccus" from the Old English name Maccus combined with wella "stream". A famous bearer of the surname was James Maxwell, a Scottish physicist who studied gases and electromagnetism.

Stream of Maccus. Great. What's Maccus? Stream of it? Whatever it may be? Er, I don't really get this one.

Gabe, you're next. Mwhahahahahaha!

From the Hebrew name Gabriyel which meant "strong man of God". Gabriel is one of the seven archangels in Hebrew tradition. He appears in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, where he serves as the announcer of the births of John to Zechariah and Jesus to Mary. According to Islamic tradition he was the angel who dictated the Koran to Muhammad.

I like that our resident Agnostic/Atheist has the name with the most religious connotation. Strong man of God, oh iodine hiker of the true greatness and overstuffed pillows. The angel Gabe.

Ben, you're next on the hit list. And Benjamin means:

From the Hebrew name Binyamin which means "son of the south" or "son of the right hand". Benjamin in the Old Testament was the twelfth and youngest son of Jacob and the founder of one of the southern tribes of the Hebrews. This name was also borne by Benjamin Franklin, an American statesman, inventor, scientist and philosopher.

All right. Son of the South? Well, we are from So Cal, after all. Hang on, are you right handed? Is your dad? Am I taking all this to literally?

But the one I really don't get is Spencer's.

From a surname which meant "dispenser of provisions" in Old French.

Um. Er. Erm. Okay. . .Spencer, dispenser of provisions. Dispense away, Patron.

Why did I not look up Christine's name? Or Luke's? Because I'm Kat (Katherine, Kathlyn, Hecate, Katharos, Catherine) and I - wait. Hang on. Catherine is a derivation of Kathlyn - or the other way round - and it looks suspiciously like Christine. . .I refuse to be linked to the ingenue in any way, shape, or form. I mean, look where having a Christine-figure got Erik! Dead, brokenhearted, unmasked, and out one wedding dress.

Oh, and I have an AIM screen name now. You can contact me at UmbraOperae. Guess what that means in Latin? Sadly, you can't sing it with the ALW theme, but oh well.

Go review my fan fictions. Or be punjabbed. Especially since a certain person whose name shall not be mentioned but who is generally called the Ghost Host reviewed Max's. You must all go suffer through my works of genius.

I remain, gentlemen, your faithful and obedient servant,

J.G.