Nameberry of the Day: Moses
April 23 — Passover
Today on April 23 marks the first day of the Jewish holiday Passover — commemorating the story of Moses’ liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt — which stretches from yesterday before sundown until April 30th.
After receiving a message from God, Moses instructed the Israelites to mark their doors with lambs blood, thus protecting all Jewish people from the coming 8 day-long plague that swept over Egypt — “passing over” their homes.
Moses is often considered an Egyptian name meaning “son”, as the prophet was given the name by his adopted mother (the Pharaoh’s daughter). Others consider the name — and the original Hebrew form Moshe — to be of Hebrew origin meaning “to pull out of water”.
Moses, thanks to this spiritual namesake, has been a well-used name for centuries and has never left the US Top 1000. Today it ranks #517 — a familiar but underused classic.
In case you missed these Nameberries of the Day:
Nameberry of the Day: Fiona
Today’s featured name is Fiona, in honor of the feisty heroine of the Shrek franchise, which premiered on April 22, 2001 at the Mann Village Theatre. Following its release, Shrek was an instant box office success, and received critical acclaim for how it subverted expectations of fairytales, heroes, and notably, princesses. It won the first ever
Nameberry of the Day: Darwin
Naturalist and biologist Charles Robert Darwin died on April 19, 1882 at the age of 73. Widely remembered for his contributions to evolutionary biology, Darwin’s theories of natural selection and descending from a common ancestor were revolutionary in the world’s understanding of today’s living beings.