The 23 children of Darejan Dadiani

Painting of Darejan Dadiani

In 1750, Georgian noblewoman Darejan Dadiani married the twice-widowed Georgian king Erekle II (who, at that time, ruled the historical region of Kartli).

From the 1750s to the early 1780s, Darejan gave birth to 23 children (though some sources say it was just 19).

Here are the names of 22 of those 23 children, listed alphabetically:

  • Alexander
  • Anastasia
  • Archil (son)
  • Beri (son)
  • Ekaterine – the Georgian form of Katherine.
  • Elene – the Georgian form of Helen.
  • Ioane – the Georgian form of John.
  • Iulon
  • Ketevan (daughter) – the Georgian form of the Persian name Katayoun.
  • Khoreshan (daughter)
  • Levan – the Georgian form of Leon.
  • Luarsab (son) – the Georgian form of the Persian name Lohrasp, which is a form of Aurvataspa, which means “swift horse” in Avestan.
  • Maryam
  • Mirian (son) – the Georgian form of the Persian name Mihran/Mehran.
  • Parnaoz/Pharnaoz (son) – the Georgian form of the Persian name Farnavaz.
  • Salome
  • Solomon
  • Sophia/Sophie
  • Soslan-David – Soslan is the name of a hero/trickster god of the Nart sagas (Caucasian mythology).
  • Tekle – the Georgian form of Thekla.
  • Teimuraz (son) – the Georgian form of the Persian name Tahmuras, which is a form of Takhma Urupi, a character in the Avesta (the Zoroastrian religious text). The name means “strong body” in Avestan.
  • Vakhtang (son) – a form of the name Warkhtanag (“wolf-bodied”), a character in the Nart sagas.

(Wikipedia says the 23rd child was a boy named Aslamaz-Khan, but I can’t find any sources to back that up.)

Darejan’s own name also has an interesting history: it comes from the literary name “Nestan-Darejan,” which was coined by Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli for the name of a fictional princess in his epic poem The Knight in the Panther’s Skin (ca. 1200). The name was based on the Persian phrase nest andare jehan, meaning “unlike any other in the world” or “no such beauty in the world.” Both components — Nestan and Darejan — are now used as given names in Georgia.

Sources:

Baby born in the Farallon Islands, named Farallon

Houses on Southeast Farallon Island
Houses on Southeast Farallon Island

Located 28 miles off the coast of California, the Farallon Islands (or “Farallones”) are “211 acres of rocky islets that are home to 28% of California’s sea birds.” Their name — assigned by Spanish explorers during the early 1600s — comes from the Spanish word farallón, meaning “sea cliff” or “sea stack.”

They islands have always been sparsely populated, but a lighthouse was built on Southeast Farallon in 1855 and a series of lighthouse keepers (four at a time) lived on that particular island — often with their families — from the 1850s until the 1940s.

The first of several babies born on the island during that time period was the daughter of keeper Cyrus J. Cain and his wife Mary Ellen. The baby girl arrived in April 8, 1898, and was named Farallon Wilhelmina Cain, after her birthplace.

(She was the seventh of nine children. The sibling names I know of are Catherine, George, Cecil, Harold, Charley, and Loretta.)

Sources:

Image: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

[Related posts: Ida Lewis, Avalon]

The 15 children of John Tyler

10th U.S. President John Tyler (1790-1862)
John Tyler: 10th president, 15 children

John Tyler became the unexpected 10th president of the United States in 1841, upon the sudden death of William Henry Harrison.

He wasn’t a particularly impressive commander-in-chief, but he was notable for at least one thing: having more legitimate children than any other U.S. president.

He married this first wife, Letitia Christian, in 1813. They had eight children:

  • Mary (b. 1815)
  • Robert (b. 1816)
  • John (b. 1819)
  • Letitia (b. 1821)
  • Elizabeth (b. 1823)
  • Anne Contesse (1825-1825) – John Tyler’s paternal grandmother’s maiden name was Contesse.
  • Alice (b. 1827)
  • Tazewell, called “Taz” (b. 1830) – He “was named by the older children after the Tyler family’s close friend, Littleton W. Tazewell.”

Letitia had a stroke in 1839, and died in 1842.

John married his second wife, Julia Gardiner, in 1844. They had seven more children:

  • David (b. 1846)
  • John (b. 1848)
  • Julia (b. 1849)
  • Lachlan (b. 1851) – Julia’s mother’s maiden name was McLachlan.
  • Lyon (b. 1853) – Probably named in honor of Julia’s ancestor Lion Gardiner.
  • Robert Fitzwalter, called “Fitz” (b. 1856) – He was “[n]amed Robert Fitzwalter in honor of Julia Tyler’s ancestor of thirteenth-century England.” (I found several contenders, but my guess is this guy.)
  • Pearl (b. 1860) – She “was originally to be named Margaret, but she was christened Pearl instead.”

The grand total? 15.

Which of the Tyler kids’ names do you like best?

Sources:

Manx names: Aalid, Gilno, Creena

Isle of Man
Isle of Man

The last native speaker of Manx Gaelic — a fisherman named Ned — died in the mid-1970s.

Since then, one of the ways the Isle of Man has attempted to keep the Manx language alive is through baby names.

In mid-2003, the government released a short booklet, “Some Manx First Names” (pdf), to encourage expectant parents to give their babies traditional Manx names.

In recent years there has been an increase in the use of Manx names but often prospective parents were only aware of the more common names. The booklet includes the more popular names, for example Juan (well born) for a boy and Breeshey (shining) for a girl and less commonly used names for example Fintan (a little fair one) for a boy and Blaa (flower) for a girl.

I have yet to see any Manx names at the top of the Isle of Man rankings (e.g., 2020), but perhaps they’ll get there one day.

In the meanwhile, here’s a sampling of names from the booklet. The booklet’s original definitions are in quotes, and I’ve added some extra info in parentheses.

Male Manx Names

  • Austeyn, “venerable” (form of Augustine)
  • Conylt/Conal, “love” (form of Conall, “strong wolf”)
  • Finlo, “fair Scandinavian” (form of Finlugh, possibly “fair Lugh“)
  • Gilno/Dilno, “saint’s servant” (from the Manx words for “servant,” guilley, and “saint,” noo)
  • Mayl, “like God [Michael]”
  • Ramsey, “place name” (Ramsey is the Isle of Man’s second-largest town; “wild garlic island” in Old English)
  • Stoill, “with a will” (I can’t figure out the derivation here)

Female Manx Names

  • Aalid/Aelid, “beauty” (from the Manx word for “beauty,” aalid)
  • Ailstreena, “feminine of Alister” (both come from Alexander, “defending men”)
  • Creena, “wise” (from the Manx word for “wise,” creeney)
  • Malane, “magnificent [Madeline]” (form of Magdalene, “of Magdala“)
  • Onnee, “grace [Annie]”
  • Renny, “a fern” (from the Manx word for “fern,” rhennee)
  • Vorana, “great” (I can’t figure out the derivation here either)

Do you like any of these names?

Sources: A Manx name for your baby (2005), Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Wall and Milner’s Tower by Glyn Baker under CC BY-SA 2.0.