Historic Nicknames Don’t Tell It All

What people call you isn’t always what you are. Names can be descriptive, but they can also give the wrong impression. This article looks at some famous names from history and what they really meant.

Bill Moore

What can we tell from the names given historical characters? Well, Harold Bluetooth didn’t have a blue tooth, but William the Bastard, technically, was. But, what of Ethelred? Ethelred II, The Unready was king of England between 968 to 1016. When he was seven years old, his father, King Edgar, died, and his half-brother, Edward II (the Martyr), became king. At ten, after Edward was murdered, Ethelred succeeded him to the thrown.

In 1013, because of Viking invasions, Ethelred fled to Normandy, seeking protection from his brother-in-law, Robert of Normandy. He married the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy whose great-nephew, William (the Bastard) of Normandy, used this relationship as the basis of his claim to the throne of England in 1066.

But why was he called The Unready? Turns out it doesn’t mean that he was ill-prepared. Unready derives from the Anglo-Saxon word unraede which means lacking counsel. The people felt that Ethelred wasn’t able to make any decisions on his own. He relied heavily on the Witan council which wasn’t all that good an idea. So, his reign was plagued by poor advice, and it didn’t help that he was suspected of being involved in his brother Edward's murder.

Speaking of William the Bastard, which he was, having been born out of wedlock, he was the illegitimate son of Duke Robert I of Normandy and the daughter of a tanner. Ordinarily, that would have been the end of it, but when his father died, William was recognized as the heir to the title, which was a rather important exception to the general rule that bastards can’t succeed – to the title, that is. At 15, he was knighted, and in 1066, he became William I or William the Conqueror – a step up from being a Bastard.

About this blue tooth; King Harald Blatand was a 10th century Danish king whose name translated into English means blue tooth. So, it wasn’t a physical description – only a family name. His father was Grom the Old, though we don’t know if it was because of his age of sagacity, and his son was Sweyn Forkbeard although there’s no solid evidence that he had a forked beard.

Was Ivan the Terrible so terrible? Probably not in the way we use terrible as a pejorative that indicates being harsh or fearsome. Ivan’s name, in Russian, was Grozny. The original meaning of that word is closer to the English awesome or formidable. Maybe Ivan the Fearsome was what the people had in mind after his impressive success in battle and not because of how he treated his subjects. Still, we can’t ignore his shortcomings. Toward the end of his reign, his personal militia terrorized the country, and he was known to have tortured and executed thousands of his subject. So, however you translate it, maybe he was pretty terrible after all.

On the other hand, I think the names Jack the Ripper, Typhoid Mary, and Vlad the Impailer pretty much say it all. 

Bill Moore is the author of Write Rite Right. This compendium of homophones, homonyms, and frequently misapplied words is a necessary resource for anyone who writes for others to read. (Available on backoftheroom.com, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com) Bill works with businesses, focusing on organizational development and corporate training with emphasis on communications and product presentation. He helps his clients sharpen communication and selling skills and reach targeted audiences effectively. He’s a freelance trainer, researcher, and technical writer with over 30 years professional experience. Visit his Website, www.WriteRiteRight.com for more information on words and writing. You can contact him personally at bill_moore@WriteRiteRight.com