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ArchivesRe: Name of my horse
in reply to a message by Eline
"Tallion the Irish Stallion", eh? Well, that's better than Sylvester Stallone, "The Italian Stallion". :)
In *A Dictionary of Surnames* (Hanks & Hodges) I found a reference to the English and Irish surname of "Tallon" with the following definitions:
1. From a Germanic personal name derived from the element "tal" -- meaning "destroy" -- either as a short form of a compound namewith this first element or as an independent byname.
2. Metonymic nickname for a swift runner... from Old French "talon" -- meaning "heel" (a diminutive of "tal", Latin "talus").
For a horse, I think that definition #2 is preferable. :) There is also the possibility that your "Tallion" may be an Irish variation of the Welsh name "Taliesin". In that name, the "tal" means "brow" and the "iesin" means "radiant" -- Hence, "Radiant Brow". Taliesin was a 6th century bard.
-- Nanaea
In *A Dictionary of Surnames* (Hanks & Hodges) I found a reference to the English and Irish surname of "Tallon" with the following definitions:
1. From a Germanic personal name derived from the element "tal" -- meaning "destroy" -- either as a short form of a compound namewith this first element or as an independent byname.
2. Metonymic nickname for a swift runner... from Old French "talon" -- meaning "heel" (a diminutive of "tal", Latin "talus").
For a horse, I think that definition #2 is preferable. :) There is also the possibility that your "Tallion" may be an Irish variation of the Welsh name "Taliesin". In that name, the "tal" means "brow" and the "iesin" means "radiant" -- Hence, "Radiant Brow". Taliesin was a 6th century bard.
-- Nanaea
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