Barach

[novapsyche]

Interesting. As it's St. Patrick's Day, the President has been touting his Irish heritage (through his mother's bloodline). He stated that his first name is an old Celtic name. (I must say, I winced slightly when he said that with a soft C.)

I decided to look it up:

Borach, Barach, Borrach [cf. OIr. borrach, proud, pretentious person]. Character in the Deirdre story not named in the medieval text Longas mac nUislenn [Exile of the Sons of Uisnech]. On Conchobar's urging he prepares a feast which detains Fergus, who was to be Deirdre and Noíse's surety for a safe return to Emain Macha; when Fergus is delayed, Noíse is killed. Many modern retellers of the story have given the character much colour; James Stephens, Deirdre (London, 1923) makes him a shark-catcher.

I wonder if his mother was aware of the actual etymology of the name or if she just borrowed the name from the old story.

Comments

names

[devon.livejournal.com]

My parents named me Deirdre because it's pretty, but they also knew the bloody, tragic story. I'm still not sure what was up with that. Everybody dies. Deirdre kills herself after Naoise dies in order to keep herself from being married/raped by King Conchobar. Dashes her head against the rocks, I think. Nice.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I understood the etymology of his name to be Semitic: related to Hebrew 'Barak'/'Baruch' and Arabic 'Mubarak'/'Baraka' meaning "blessed." Maybe both are true and he was given a name intended to reflect the cultures of both parents.

[moiety-tx.livejournal.com]

His dad's name was Barack, so it seems unlikely that the name was chosen for him for reasons other than that. It's awesome that it's an Irish name too, though.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Yes, I see that too, now that I broaden my search. But also in Hebrew the name means 'lightning' or 'glittering of weapons'(!).