It's no question the NHL is full of Europeans and extremely European sounding names. And it's no question that they're far more interesting than the white names in basketball and the just plain made up names in football. But seriously, where do some of these names come from? I have taken the liberty to make a guide of some of the extremely strange and awesome names from the NHL Draft this year and their meanings.
Slater Koekkoek, Tampa Bay, 10th Overall, First round: Slater is an old English name meaning the "hewer of Slates" meaning a person who creates slates with an axe. Basically an extremely badass name. But his surname is what turns heads. Koekkoek is a Dutch name meaning "Cuckoo". A crazy man with an axe? sounds like a hockey player to me!
Zemgus Girgensons, Buffalo, 14th Overall, First round: One of the few Latvians in the NHL system now, Zemgus is a powerful Center who will be a great asset to Buffalo's third or fourth line when he's ripe. But it's a pretty ridiculous name that is going to have announcers in stitches; of embarrassment. He spoke about his name on the Hockey Hotline, and expressed the rarity of his first name. Girgensons as the internet's information goes, is a mystery.
Brady Skjei, New York Rangers, 28th Overall, First round: Seriously? There are way too many consonants in his last name. I mean, Brady is a good Ol' American boy name, as he is from Minnesota, but how would you even begin to pronounce that? But, I do know the names etymology. Yay for being Nordic and Scandinavian. The name Skjei is an English translation of the Old Norse name Skirnir who in Nordic mythology was a servant of Freyr, the god of Ice. God of Ice? Also sounds like hockey! Maybe there's some sort of secret code to naming your children so they're good at hockey. Conspiracy Theory.
Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago, 18th Overall, First round: I will now use my worthlessness as a Finnish language speaker to amaze the masses with how cool Finnish and Nordic names are. Now, if you read the Old Norse texts, this name was the moniker of one of Loki's servants (The God of Mischief) and right hand men. If you break the name apart in Norse and older era Norwegian, it's "the worker of the earth" which in the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden and Finland is either a farmer or a builder. Teuvo on the other hand, is originally a Greek name that was stolen by the Nords (those horned bastards) which means "the gift of God" and here, we don't speak of the Christian God, but of Odin.
Radek Faksa, Dallas, 13th Overall, First round: Don't Czech's have such raspy, rough sounding names? It sounds more intimidating than German if you ask me. Radek was once a ruler of the Czech Republic back before it was Czechoslovakia. The name is a form of Roderick which was also a powerful rulers name, and the name literally means "famous ruler". Faksa doesn't appear to be a Czech surname, but more of something of Dutch origin, probably something translated as Faxa.
Hampus Lindholm, Anaheim, 6th Overall, First round: I don't think I've heard a name this Swedish since Borje Salming played for Toronto. But, if it can't be a Finnish name, it has to be Swedish. They have awesome Etymology and their names are so wrapped in Nordic mythology, you learn a story just by them telling you their name. Hampus is basically the Finnish Jussi and the English Hank. Many people think that Henrik is the Swedish form of Hank, but that's just a popular nickname. Lindholm literally means "Linden Island" where Linden is a species of tree that is found in the Nordic areas more commonly known as Tilia.
So Round 2 names will definitely be up and around by tomorrow, with Rounds 3 and 4 following soon after.
Slater Koekkoek, Tampa Bay, 10th Overall, First round: Slater is an old English name meaning the "hewer of Slates" meaning a person who creates slates with an axe. Basically an extremely badass name. But his surname is what turns heads. Koekkoek is a Dutch name meaning "Cuckoo". A crazy man with an axe? sounds like a hockey player to me!
Zemgus Girgensons, Buffalo, 14th Overall, First round: One of the few Latvians in the NHL system now, Zemgus is a powerful Center who will be a great asset to Buffalo's third or fourth line when he's ripe. But it's a pretty ridiculous name that is going to have announcers in stitches; of embarrassment. He spoke about his name on the Hockey Hotline, and expressed the rarity of his first name. Girgensons as the internet's information goes, is a mystery.
Brady Skjei, New York Rangers, 28th Overall, First round: Seriously? There are way too many consonants in his last name. I mean, Brady is a good Ol' American boy name, as he is from Minnesota, but how would you even begin to pronounce that? But, I do know the names etymology. Yay for being Nordic and Scandinavian. The name Skjei is an English translation of the Old Norse name Skirnir who in Nordic mythology was a servant of Freyr, the god of Ice. God of Ice? Also sounds like hockey! Maybe there's some sort of secret code to naming your children so they're good at hockey. Conspiracy Theory.
Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago, 18th Overall, First round: I will now use my worthlessness as a Finnish language speaker to amaze the masses with how cool Finnish and Nordic names are. Now, if you read the Old Norse texts, this name was the moniker of one of Loki's servants (The God of Mischief) and right hand men. If you break the name apart in Norse and older era Norwegian, it's "the worker of the earth" which in the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden and Finland is either a farmer or a builder. Teuvo on the other hand, is originally a Greek name that was stolen by the Nords (those horned bastards) which means "the gift of God" and here, we don't speak of the Christian God, but of Odin.
Radek Faksa, Dallas, 13th Overall, First round: Don't Czech's have such raspy, rough sounding names? It sounds more intimidating than German if you ask me. Radek was once a ruler of the Czech Republic back before it was Czechoslovakia. The name is a form of Roderick which was also a powerful rulers name, and the name literally means "famous ruler". Faksa doesn't appear to be a Czech surname, but more of something of Dutch origin, probably something translated as Faxa.
Hampus Lindholm, Anaheim, 6th Overall, First round: I don't think I've heard a name this Swedish since Borje Salming played for Toronto. But, if it can't be a Finnish name, it has to be Swedish. They have awesome Etymology and their names are so wrapped in Nordic mythology, you learn a story just by them telling you their name. Hampus is basically the Finnish Jussi and the English Hank. Many people think that Henrik is the Swedish form of Hank, but that's just a popular nickname. Lindholm literally means "Linden Island" where Linden is a species of tree that is found in the Nordic areas more commonly known as Tilia.
So Round 2 names will definitely be up and around by tomorrow, with Rounds 3 and 4 following soon after.
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