Message: "Natércia" - Behind the Name

Natércia

by overtheclouds

7/12/2012, 4:00 PM

Does anyone know the meaning of the name Natércia? The gender is female and the usage is probably Portuguese.
It's the name of the mother of this Portuguese writer's wife: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_Lobo_Antunes

#Natércia

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- Rene +3

7/13/2012, 2:15 AM

I found several sites (in Portuguese) which say that Natércia was coined as an anagram of Caterina by Luís de Camões, a Portuguese poet in the 16th century, to hide the true name of his girlfriend Caterina, e.g. here:

http://inforum.insite.com.br/fernandopessoa/8309769.html

Interesting. If true, this would be the first such "anagram" case that I ever heard of (just reading things backwards does not count.)

- ClaudiaS +1

7/13/2012, 6:42 AM

Another anagram

Supposedly the poet Fulke Greville created the name Myra by rearranging the letters of Mary. I'm sure there are other examples that could be dug up; anyone?

This message was edited 7/13/2012, 6:43 AM

- clevelandkentevans

7/15/2012, 6:49 AM

Iracema, a name found in Brazil, is a sort of "half-example". Though it may mean "made of honey" in the Tupi language, the author Jose de Alencar seems to have chosen it for the heroine of an 1865 novel because it also is an anagram of "America".

- overtheclouds

7/13/2012, 5:05 AM

How interesting. Thanks!

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