Mary, your name is really cool! It’s an ancient name that has soared in popularity for thousands of years. It’s so old that we don’t exactly know its meaning. We have many, many possible meanings based on linguistic research. There are two main theories. First is that it’s an old

Samuel, your name is really cool! It’s the name of a biblical figure and has been borrowed into many languages, wherever Abrahamic religions show up. It has two possible meanings. The first is Shmū’ēl “Name of El Elyon.” The second is based off the passage in the Torah describing why

Melissa, your name is really cool! And cute. It means “honeybee.” We find it in Greek Mythology as the name of the Nymph who saved and raised Zeus, and it has changed little from antiquity. I also happen to really love how this name sounds, but I’m a weirdo linguist,

Jennifer, your name is really cool. It’s a cognate of an Irish goddess’s name, known as Findabair. Or Finnabair. Or Fionnabhair. It’s a lovely name with a long history, likely reaching back to Proto-Celtic languages. It’s most likely a compound of “Gwindos – White” and “Sēbarā – Spirit/Fairy/Phantom.” Sindarin Sindarin

There’s this weird misconception that translating a name should be a simple one-to-one process. That a translator should be able to just supply you with an Elven name, like you’re asking for the Sindarin word for “hat” (Carab, by the way). But, there’s so much more to it than that,