Partly on Topic - a funny

[KayFL]

My son is a junior at USF. He just called and asked why the hurricanes with Russian names seem to attack the New Orleans. Katrina, Ivan, Gustav. And he thinks what if - these Russian named storms attack Georgia.

Sorry if it is partly off topic - I thought it was funny and wanted to share it.

Kay

[HURAKAN]

Name: Gustav

Gender: Boy

Origin: Germanic

Meaning: Stave of the Goths

Pronunciation: (GOO stahv) [Guide]

Link: http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.co ... ustav.html

Gustav is not a Russian name!

[HURAKAN]

Katrina is Greek and means "pure" and Iván is Hebrew and means "God is gracious."

Link: http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/

[KayFL]

LOl well it just goes to show what they learn in college these days.
Kay

[HURAKAN]

LOl well it just goes to show what they learn in college these days.
Kay

What is funny is the meaning of the names. Very opposite to what we experienced in their hurricane form!!

[Cleveland Kent Evans]

Katrina is Greek and means "pure" and Iván is Hebrew and means "God is gracious."

Link: http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/

Sorry, but you are tracing the origin too far back. Katrina is descended from Aikaterine, the same Egyptian name which yields all the forms of Katherine in various languages, but the usage of the form Katrina is primarily Germanic and Scottish. Ivan is descended from the same Hebrew name which yields John, Sean, Evan, etc. in other languages, but Ivan itself is definitely a Russian form of that name.

The most accurate site for name etymology on the web is usually behindthename.com. Babynamesworld, like a lot of other sites put up by people who really aren't focusing on etymology, is often inaccurate in its discussion of name origins.

http://www.behindthename.com/name/katrina

http://www.behindthename.com/name/ivan

http://www.behindthename.com/name/gustav

P.S. But it is true that neither Gustav nor Katrina is Russian.