Archives for April 16th, 2004

Just for the hell of it, here’s a list of the incoming EU member states, how many hits they have on Google (via their English name) and what the most popular result is:

You’re probably thinking to yourself: “What’s the point of all this?”

Well, as Captain Hill says to Eriksson in Casualties of War: “There ain’t no point, Eriksson. I’m simply trying to illuminate the terrain in which we currently find ourselves deployed.”

A list of Slovenian names, and their origins, can be found here.

I was surprised to see that the ubiquitous “Maja” isn’t on the list. According to this site (and I don’t vouch for its accuracy) the origins of Maja are German/Polish/Scandinavian. I always thought of it as Slavic.

Also missing from the list is one of the earliest known Slovenian names; one that is currently (and unfortunately) making a comeback here: Gal. I can’t say I enjoy that one. It makes me think of “gall”, as in “gall bladder,” which brings up all sorts of unpleasant images. It’s a masculine name, by the way.

You can go here for the rest: Behind the Name: Slovene Names.