The Hellenic Air Force Academy designates each of its cadets as an 'Icarus', and even the official name of said institution in Greek reads something like 'School of Icaruses'. Icarus sounds neat in our native language, and also the initial letter is the same for a word signifying an aviator (Ιπτάμενος - flying one).
Funny thing, the Academy was founded with a professional, 'dry' name in 1930s, but the popular press of the time started using 'Icarus' as a nickname for its graduates...The Air Force considered it bad luck (not to mention the disobedience connotations), and refused to use it officially. In the popular mind and heart, however, Icarus stuck as a symbol of youth, boldness and skyfare. Three decades later, it became *the* official term.
You've probably also written about these types of resonances with personal names; when I first encountered someone named Cassandra, I had a moment of "Did your parents ever read about Troy?"
I steer clear of critiquing baby names — I have so many Very Unpopular Opinions, and besides, it's not my area of expertise — but yes, I’ve had the same thought about Cassandra. (My guess is that as “Sandra” fell out of favor parents looked for a way to keep the sound while giving it a loftier, trendier look*. Hence Cassandra and also Alexandra. No doubt Laura W. at the Namerology blog has better insights than I on this topic.)
*But not looking as far as actual source material.
My guess is many people don't bother to dig very deeply into the mythological associations of baby names--there's a lot of aesthetics involved, especially for girls. Sandra took off because of Sandra Dee (whose legal name was Alexandra but that was too long and ethnic); Cassandra took off in the late 60s probably in part as a long form for Sandra, alexandra not til the 90s really
Great Slave Helicopters (GSH) is a helicopter company with a long standing reputation for safety, a diverse range of specialized services and logistical support. With over 36 years of successful operations to our credit, our fleet of single and twin engine turbine helicopters, along with our team of experienced professionals continue to meet the needs of our customers in the public and private sectors.”
A company founded in 1989 that naming themselves after the Great slave Lake in Canada was a good idea.
Great slave lake is a racist name but not for why you might think. It’s a derogatory name for Cree people, who were often enslaved by white settlers/fur trappers, and other native tribes allied with them.
Unapologetically racist on many levels.
They seem to have consistent maintenance issues that lead to crashes. At least 2 major ones in The last 5 years.
9 since 2007 with the most recent crash happening in June 2024.
There's another name, though not from a classical source (merely a classic novel), that was very inaptly used a few years back. Some company in the UK introduced a bed designed for young girls and called it, I kid you not, the "Lolita". After a rather negative reception from the public, a company spokesman said, "We actually had never heard of Lolita, but we know who she is now."
'Tragedeigh' is a stunning name. Plus, sad if it is real, and clever if it is made up.
Besides Icarus Flying Academy, I thought that I had heard of airlines named after various flightless birds (emu, penguin) or flightless and extinct birds (dodo), so I did a Google search, to check whether my memories were correct, starting with 'penguin airline'. The unrequested AI overview at the top of the search results began with: '"Penguin Airlines" refers to both a board game and a real-life airline called FlyPelican.' Quickly scanning some of the search results, I found that Penguin Airlines is a real game and FlyPelican is a real Australian airline. However, I don't understand how the AI could possibly make 'penguin' and 'pelican' equivalent, and I am not going to click on the AI overview to investigate, in case Google monitors my click and thinks that I want more AI slop.
What has always puzzled me about the Icarus legend is the focus on Icarus. Daedalus survived and so his wings must have worked. Why didn't Daedalus or someone else continue developing human-powered flight back then? Why did we have to wait thousands of years for the Wright brothers?
I know that penguins and pelicans are completely different birds (for a start, penguins are flightless, while pelicans fly and have a huge beak), but it was Google's AI overview giving me information about an airline named after 'pelican' when I had asked about 'penguin' that deeply concerned me. The AI had made a fundamental error confusing the two birds. If it can get such a simple thing wrong, why would I trust it for anything else?
“I steer clear of critiquing baby names — I have so many Very Unpopular Opinions…”
Haha—Me too! Every once in a while I dip into the subreddit r/tragedeigh* for anonymous laughs. Sometimes you hear from the grownup children of these (IMHO) unfortunate names.
Mostly I shake my head and wonder if Denmark’s limits on what parents can name their children is a smart idea. Then again, 7,000 names altogether for both boys and girls seems absurd.
*Tragedeigh = a given name that has been deliberately misspelled or completely made up to appear more unique than it actually is.
One example is a woman who named her daughter “Lylyt Yvyh Yryhl, read as
'Lilith Eva Uriel.’ Seriously. Where the ‘y’ takes on a different sound within each name. One wag said she will be known as “Sometimes Y” for its use as the only vowel…
These names are favored because they're recognizable in a non-offensive context, not because they give a fair and reasonable representation of the myth they were pulled from. A Mexican mom naming her son Jesus is not expecting her son to be nailed to a cross any time soon. I thought this article was going to be about people like Hugh Janus MD or something. An actually bad name, not some marketing nonsense.
Trojan condoms!!!
“They'll never see you coming”
If it breaks . . . “Don’t be mad at us! It simply does what it says on the tin!” 🤣
Interesting. Some trivia regarding Icarus:
The Hellenic Air Force Academy designates each of its cadets as an 'Icarus', and even the official name of said institution in Greek reads something like 'School of Icaruses'. Icarus sounds neat in our native language, and also the initial letter is the same for a word signifying an aviator (Ιπτάμενος - flying one).
Funny thing, the Academy was founded with a professional, 'dry' name in 1930s, but the popular press of the time started using 'Icarus' as a nickname for its graduates...The Air Force considered it bad luck (not to mention the disobedience connotations), and refused to use it officially. In the popular mind and heart, however, Icarus stuck as a symbol of youth, boldness and skyfare. Three decades later, it became *the* official term.
You've probably also written about these types of resonances with personal names; when I first encountered someone named Cassandra, I had a moment of "Did your parents ever read about Troy?"
I steer clear of critiquing baby names — I have so many Very Unpopular Opinions, and besides, it's not my area of expertise — but yes, I’ve had the same thought about Cassandra. (My guess is that as “Sandra” fell out of favor parents looked for a way to keep the sound while giving it a loftier, trendier look*. Hence Cassandra and also Alexandra. No doubt Laura W. at the Namerology blog has better insights than I on this topic.)
*But not looking as far as actual source material.
My guess is many people don't bother to dig very deeply into the mythological associations of baby names--there's a lot of aesthetics involved, especially for girls. Sandra took off because of Sandra Dee (whose legal name was Alexandra but that was too long and ethnic); Cassandra took off in the late 60s probably in part as a long form for Sandra, alexandra not til the 90s really
Here’s one that left me Flabbergasted:
https://www.gsheli.com/
GREAT SLAVE HELICOPTERS
ELEVATE YOUR EXPECTATIONS
“Discover...
A HIGHER EXPECTATION
Great Slave Helicopters (GSH) is a helicopter company with a long standing reputation for safety, a diverse range of specialized services and logistical support. With over 36 years of successful operations to our credit, our fleet of single and twin engine turbine helicopters, along with our team of experienced professionals continue to meet the needs of our customers in the public and private sectors.”
A company founded in 1989 that naming themselves after the Great slave Lake in Canada was a good idea.
Great slave lake is a racist name but not for why you might think. It’s a derogatory name for Cree people, who were often enslaved by white settlers/fur trappers, and other native tribes allied with them.
Unapologetically racist on many levels.
They seem to have consistent maintenance issues that lead to crashes. At least 2 major ones in The last 5 years.
9 since 2007 with the most recent crash happening in June 2024.
There's another name, though not from a classical source (merely a classic novel), that was very inaptly used a few years back. Some company in the UK introduced a bed designed for young girls and called it, I kid you not, the "Lolita". After a rather negative reception from the public, a company spokesman said, "We actually had never heard of Lolita, but we know who she is now."
I wrote about the Lolita gaffe back in 2008: https://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2008/02/bad-product-nam.html
'Tragedeigh' is a stunning name. Plus, sad if it is real, and clever if it is made up.
Besides Icarus Flying Academy, I thought that I had heard of airlines named after various flightless birds (emu, penguin) or flightless and extinct birds (dodo), so I did a Google search, to check whether my memories were correct, starting with 'penguin airline'. The unrequested AI overview at the top of the search results began with: '"Penguin Airlines" refers to both a board game and a real-life airline called FlyPelican.' Quickly scanning some of the search results, I found that Penguin Airlines is a real game and FlyPelican is a real Australian airline. However, I don't understand how the AI could possibly make 'penguin' and 'pelican' equivalent, and I am not going to click on the AI overview to investigate, in case Google monitors my click and thinks that I want more AI slop.
What has always puzzled me about the Icarus legend is the focus on Icarus. Daedalus survived and so his wings must have worked. Why didn't Daedalus or someone else continue developing human-powered flight back then? Why did we have to wait thousands of years for the Wright brothers?
"Tragedeigh" is a spoof of the Chalkboard Mom names (it's Chalkboard Mom's image in the r/tragedeigh profile). https://www.reddit.com/r/tragedeigh/comments/1he4p9y/the_chalkboard_mom_lore_lives_on/
Pelican is a separate bird https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelican
I know that penguins and pelicans are completely different birds (for a start, penguins are flightless, while pelicans fly and have a huge beak), but it was Google's AI overview giving me information about an airline named after 'pelican' when I had asked about 'penguin' that deeply concerned me. The AI had made a fundamental error confusing the two birds. If it can get such a simple thing wrong, why would I trust it for anything else?
Sorry, I read it wrong
“I steer clear of critiquing baby names — I have so many Very Unpopular Opinions…”
Haha—Me too! Every once in a while I dip into the subreddit r/tragedeigh* for anonymous laughs. Sometimes you hear from the grownup children of these (IMHO) unfortunate names.
Mostly I shake my head and wonder if Denmark’s limits on what parents can name their children is a smart idea. Then again, 7,000 names altogether for both boys and girls seems absurd.
*Tragedeigh = a given name that has been deliberately misspelled or completely made up to appear more unique than it actually is.
One example is a woman who named her daughter “Lylyt Yvyh Yryhl, read as
'Lilith Eva Uriel.’ Seriously. Where the ‘y’ takes on a different sound within each name. One wag said she will be known as “Sometimes Y” for its use as the only vowel…
Krystal Night Limos
Tinker Bell Home Cleaning 1-855-5TINKER
Oh, interesting!
These names are favored because they're recognizable in a non-offensive context, not because they give a fair and reasonable representation of the myth they were pulled from. A Mexican mom naming her son Jesus is not expecting her son to be nailed to a cross any time soon. I thought this article was going to be about people like Hugh Janus MD or something. An actually bad name, not some marketing nonsense.