#this was like baby level etymology so if you have anything to add pls do

[brandycranby]

in his name: the heroes

a brief exploration of CE character names and how they match their stories/personalities... or don’t 😗💕

the heroes  ❥ the villains  ❥ the lovers

a/n: finally putting my linguistics degree to good use my frens 😚 i really enjoy sociolinguistics, if i continued w grad ling, i would’ve focused on that i think. i’ve been meaning to make more bulletpoint posts and headcanons bc sometimes!! you're too tired for coherent fic!!

Andy Barber

ANDY is a diminutive of ANDREW, a given name with Greek roots, Andreia.

Meaning “brave”, “manly”, or “valorous”, fitting for Andy who, in canon, is said to be particularly aggressive and masculine as a result of the warrior gene or a MAO-A variant i mean largely played up for the ✨️drama✨️ but u kno

ironic if you consider how he’s often one step away from being soft dark or full dark bc of his aggressiveness but that's also what's attractive 😬

BARBER is what’s known as an occupational surname, very common English last names. some others are miller, baker, and smith. it’s likely that one of his patrilineal grandfathers was actually a barber

Ari Levinson

ARI is a Jewish name and is a variant of Arieh. Both mean lion in Hebrew. (Ari is also a given name in Faroese and Icelandic but since he’s canonically Jewish, we’ll skip those explanations)

LEVINSON is a Jewish patronymic last name where it’s a word made up of a personal name + son/daughter of, so Levin + “son”. Jewish surnames have historically used the Hebrew prefix ben (son of) or bat (daughter of-) and then the father’s name. but bc of decrees in the 18th c. german empire, these traditional surnames were changed to be more “european”

given that in canon, he and his mum tried to escape the continent bc of nazi perscution, we can assume that he’s Ashkenazi Jewish by birth and is able to speak Yiddish alongside Hebrew and English. depending on whether his adoptive family was also Jewish or not and whether he was encouraged to keep speaking Yiddish or assimilate would have had effects on his language skills tho 😕 for more angst, apply forced americanization

Curtis Everett

CURTIS is an English translation of Corteis (Old French) which may sound very similar to “courteous” to you!! hehe that’s bc tho english is a germanic language, it uses dozens of loan words from other languages. so Curtis means “well-bred” or “courteous” stemming from the idea of courtly behavior or etiquette.

the idea of etiquette began snowballing in popularity during the enlightenment when the bourgeoisie adopted upper class manners, aka “polite society” in order to move up in the world. kinda parallel to Curtis' movement from the tail end to the engine

EVERETT is also interesting; originally Everard (Old English), it means “strong/hard as a boar”. boars are notoriously hard to kill and were called "desperate fighters" by the brits that hunted them. special spears had to be made for hunting them whereby the animal would charge and impale itself. i hope bong joonho knows what an apt name it is for our rebellion leader Curtis 💕💕

Frank Adler

We have some options with FRANK. It could be a name in itself, or a shortened form of Francis and Franklin. histotically, Francis is a shortened version of Franciscus and Francesco which mean “Frenchman” or “free man” in reference to St. Francis of Assisi. Franklin is an English name with roots in Middle English, meaning “landowner of free origin”

ADLER is Middle German, stemming from the term “edler Aar” or “noble eagle” which distinguished eagles from falcons and hawks for hunting.

frankie's just a plain ol boy but he is rather noble like an eagle 🥺

Steve Rogers

STEVE is diminutive of Steven or Stephen, stemming from Stéphanos (Ancient Greek) meaning “wreath, crown, honor” as well as “to wreathe around”, which in Steve’s case could imply protection 🥺

but this name is also significant bc of its common attribution to Saint Stephen, a disciple of Jesus that was stoned to death and named the first martyr. slightly prophetic of Sarah Rogers ngl 🥲

Sarah may have also called him Stíofán or Steabhán at home (not on the streets bc that’s how you let racist/nationalist ppl know you’re not from here uwu) but she may have also been a part of the generation in Ireland that didnt get to learn or use Irish bc of British control 🤷🏻‍♀️

ROGERS is… complicated in that it could be an English/Norman surname or an Anglicized Irish surname. Rogers in the Norman sense means “son of Roger”. The Normans (aka early French) invaded England in the 11th century and eventually conquered Ireland in the 12th century bringing the name Rogers.

Alternatively, it could be the English version of Mac Ruaidhrí. We don’t know enough about his dad (besides that he was abusive in the og comics) to decide but since the more common Anglicization of Mac Ruaidhrí is McCreary or McCrory, one of Steve’s ancestors might have just taken the English surname.

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genuinely if you finished this, ty bc this is so niche of an interest 😖💕💕 ily and i'll get the villains out soon 👀

tag list: @punemy-spotted, @thornsnvultures, @sweetascanbee

#andy barber #ari levinson #curtis everett #frank adler #steve rogers #this was like baby level etymology so if you have anything to add pls do #nobody fight me on any of this tho i'm not claiming it's accurate #series: in his name #ce characters