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Help[Facts] Pagona
What could be the etymology of this Greek-Romanian name? And Romanian name Ralu (f)?
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Pagona is quite surprisingly derived from the Greek word "Pagoni" meaning peacock. A "pagona" is a female peacock. The name was somewhat fashionable in the early 20th century -- at a time when kitschy peacock-aesthetics were en vogue. With the advent of minimalistic taste, the name has all but disappeared -- tho one still can encounter elderly Greek ladies with heavy makeup bearing that name in my neck of the woods.
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Don´t joke - a child cannot be named after a peacock! It would be proper in earlier, totemistic stages of society, as with Phryne. Methinks, Pagona is found much earlier as first name and it would be something like Paulina or Pauline. In Russian, peacock is called pavlin and that´s why its female counterpart pavlina excluded the first name Pavlina (Pauline). Not quite orthodox name but it was used besides Pavla, Russian variant of Paula.
So all troubles were launched by a Paulus and a Pavo (peacock for Latin)!
So all troubles were launched by a Paulus and a Pavo (peacock for Latin)!
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Ever met a human Robin?
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A Robyn, as a matter of fact...
...Robyn Hitchcock, one of me favourite songsters :)
...Robyn Hitchcock, one of me favourite songsters :)
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Do you know the 60s song - a UK group, can't remember their name - called Pretty Flamingo? In which all the boys lust after this unattainable woman in a crimson dress who reminds them of a flamingo when she walks?
Not ornithologists! In fact, if they'd ever seen a real flamingo (with its head on upside down and those thi-i-in legs) they'd have known better. Catchy song, though. Bet nobody has ever named their daughter Flamingo after it!
Not ornithologists! In fact, if they'd ever seen a real flamingo (with its head on upside down and those thi-i-in legs) they'd have known better. Catchy song, though. Bet nobody has ever named their daughter Flamingo after it!
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The name was first - the bird later.
Not vice versa.
Not vice versa.
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At the risk of becoming tiresome...
...Pagona is a *contemporary* Greek name. It means peacock and is derived from the ancient Greek word for peacock, paos/taos.
It is patently false that the name came first and the bird later.
...Pagona is a *contemporary* Greek name. It means peacock and is derived from the ancient Greek word for peacock, paos/taos.
It is patently false that the name came first and the bird later.
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That's true in the case of Robin, but . . .
. . . it certainly isn't the case with all bird names. Wren, for example, is occasionally used for girls these days, but was certainly not in use as a personal name prior to its use for the bird
(http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wren). Likewise for Lark (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lark)
Just because you find the use of the word "peacock" as a name a little ridiculous doesn't mean that some Greek parents of the early 1900s did not think it was lovely.
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
. . . it certainly isn't the case with all bird names. Wren, for example, is occasionally used for girls these days, but was certainly not in use as a personal name prior to its use for the bird
(http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wren). Likewise for Lark (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lark)
Just because you find the use of the word "peacock" as a name a little ridiculous doesn't mean that some Greek parents of the early 1900s did not think it was lovely.
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
This message was edited 8/10/2005, 6:29 AM
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I agree Chrisell! Taste for names evolves and there is no accounting for it. In the early 20th century, Pagona was indeed quite chic. Today it is on the picturesque side, unless one is a dedicated ornithologist.
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I am not joking....but you are on the right track
... pagona is the female form of "pagoni" (modern Greek for peacock)which is derived from the classical Greek "paon". "Paon" is, indeed, related to the latin "pavo" (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2380197).
... pagona is the female form of "pagoni" (modern Greek for peacock)which is derived from the classical Greek "paon". "Paon" is, indeed, related to the latin "pavo" (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2380197).
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