Character Name
Raina
Raina Raina carries the Slavic-Latin concept of queenliness alongside Shaw's comic deflation of romantic pretension — his Raina begins the play as an impossibly idealistic young woman and ends it as someone capable of recognizing genuine worth beneath unheroic surfaces. The Latin regina root gives the name an expectation of dignity and command, while the Slavic associations connect it to the forested, fiercely independent cultures of Eastern Europe. It suits protagonists whose romantic idealism is their most charming and most dangerous quality.
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Famous characters named Raina
Raina Petkoff
Arms and the Man — George Bernard Shaw
The romantic Bulgarian heroine who discovers that the unheroic Swiss mercenary Bluntschli is more appealing than her idealized image of a warrior, in Shaw's anti-romantic comedy of the Serbo-Bulgarian War.
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More Latin names
Domingo
“The Spanish form of Dominic, from the Late Latin Dominicus meaning "of the Lord, belonging to the Lord", derived from dominus meaning "lord, master". The name was borne by Saint Dominic de Guzmán, the thirteenth-century Spanish founder of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). Domingo is also the Spanish word for Sunday, the Lord's day.”
Verlie
“An American variant of Verla or Verlene, itself possibly a diminutive of Verna (from the Latin vernus meaning "of spring, vernal") or a phonetic variant of Berlie/Birlie from Bertha (Old High German beraht meaning "bright"). The name appears primarily in American Southern naming records from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.”
Delfina
“The Italian and Spanish feminine form of Delphin, from the Latin Delphinus meaning "dolphin" or "from Delphi". The dolphin (Greek delphis) was sacred to Apollo and was his symbol as the protector of sailors, believed to carry the souls of the dead to the Isles of the Blessed. Delphi, the oracle site, derives its name from the same root. Saint Delphina of Provence was a fourteenth-century Franciscan laywoman.”
Jennyfer
“A variant spelling of Jennifer, from the Cornish form of the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar meaning "white phantom, fair spirit" or "white and smooth, soft" — composed of gwen meaning "white, fair, blessed" and hwyfar meaning "smooth, soft, phantom". Gwenhwyfar is the Welsh form of Guinevere, the legendary queen of King Arthur.”
Toney
“A variant spelling of Tony, itself a diminutive of Anthony/Antonio, from the Latin Antonius, the name of a distinguished Roman gens. The etymology of Antonius is debated — possibly from the Etruscan Antun, or from the Greek anthos (flower). The -ey spelling variant is primarily American, often found in male given names in the American South.”
Skylar
“A variant spelling of Schuyler, from the Dutch surname Schuyler derived from the Dutch schuler meaning "scholar" or possibly from schull meaning "shelter, hide". The Dutch surname Schuyler was brought to America by Dutch settlers in New York and became a given name in American usage; the phonetic spelling Skylar emerged in the late twentieth century.”
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