Name Tanaquil
Gender Feminine
Other Forms FormsTanaquila, Tanaquilla, Thanachvil
Edit Status Status
Meaning & History
Latinized form of the Etruscan name Thanchvil which meant "gift of Thana", presumably from the name of a lost Etruscan goddess Thana combined with Etruscan cvil. This was the name of the wife of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome in the 7th century BC. Edmund Spenser also used it (in the form Tanaquill) in his poem 'The Faerie Queene' (1590), where it belongs to a daughter of Oberon who becomes the fairy queen Gloriana. In modern times it was borne by prima ballerina Tanaquil LeClercq (1929-2000).