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1. Unity Valkyrie Mitford. She came from a fascism-supporting family, as far as I remember.
2. The opera (Die Walküre) by Wagner, who was an anti-semitic and "germanic and norse mythology-activist" composer. He was really beloved in the 3th Reich.
3. See Melissa's post
4. Pablo Picasso called his beloved Maria-Teresa Walter (I'm not sure if the spelling is correct) Valkyria/Valkyrie because of her fair hair and blue eyes.

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= Valkyrie is, (at least to me) as Array and some other posters have pointed out, a complete "supermacy in action" name that has a smell of nazism. Maybe I'm overreacting, but every single time I hear about this name used I think authomatiaclly: "Are there some ideological reasons behind it?". :P

The Valkyries were a group of female deities in Norse Mythology. They chose the most heroic warriors and carried them to heaven. They are often depicted as beautiful shieldmaidens or wild horses.
I think the meaning is a good one. Not many names have that stories behind them.
I don't know about the white supremacy links people are talking about, I've never heard of it.

I really like Valkyrie - and think it's infinitely preferable to Valerie and similar sounding names. I don't get the white supremacist associations at all - but do tend to get an image of a large busty blonde, with a double horned hat, belting out an aria - which is sort of unfortunate for such a great sounding name :)

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re: the history - Wikipedia notes that in Norse mythology the valkyries purpose was to choose the most heroic of those who had died in battle, and carry them off to Valhalla, where they were to support Odin in his pre-ordained battle between good and evil. Certainly not as bloodthirsty as the legends/backgrounds to many Greek/Roman or even Saints names? (and it would be genuinely cool to resurrect the odd battle maiden - outside of Matilda :)

If I'm correct, Valkyries aren't goddesses, just warrior-maidens, the Northern counterpart of the Amazons of the classic world. As Array pointed out, as a name it would have strongly white supremacist connotations (possibly because of Wagner's operas, even though Wagner himself probably wasn't a white supremacist but that's another story) , which is a bit of a shame because otherwise I'm all for the idea of warrior-maidens.

This message was edited 5/26/2008, 3:16 AM

I like it a lot. I don't think the meaning sucks, and I disagree with Array about it "sound[ing] like white supremacy in action." Wow. Harsh.

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I only have two pet combos for it, but I really like them both.

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Valkyrie Allyriane
Athena Valkyrie

How about Valerie?

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In addition to being my middle name (:-)), it sounds similar and has a better meaning.

I have the same problem. The meaning is what gets me. I think, because of this, I would only use it in a book.

It sounds like white supremacy in action.

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Which is too bad, because there's something vaguely appealing otherwise. But maidens leading fallen Nordic heroes into the promised land? It's imagery that appeals a great deal to a certain brand of people, the sort who think that naming babies Aryan Justice is a wonderful way to prepare them for life.

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Array

This message was edited 5/25/2008, 6:31 PM

Its pretty but I would not use it on a real-life human.

It's got a certain sexiness about it, but, no, I don't think it's a good idea. Valkyrie has kind of come to mean, like a sexpot or an amazon, bug busty beauty. Not good.

Eh, the name was ruined (for me) by this video ("How to Kill a Mockingbird"), where they play the Ride of the Valkyries.

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http://www.stanford.edu/~scodary/tkam.htm
(In case you want to see it. Warning: It's incredibly stupid)

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Now when I see Valkyrie, I think of that.

This message was edited 5/25/2008, 6:09 PM

I used to absolutely love this name. I still think it's cool, but it's just not one of my favorites. The meaning may be brutal, but it's awesome.