October Name Project: T

THEODORE :
Pronounced: THEE-o-dor
Origin(s): Greek
Meaning: From the Greek name Theodoros, which meant “gift of god” from Greek theos “god” and doron “gift”. The teddy bear was named for American president Theodore Roosevelt, who refused to shoot a helpless bear so he could win a hunting trophy while on a hunting trip to Mississippi in November, 1902.

THERESA :
Pronounced: te-REE-sa
Origin(s): Greek
Meaning: There are several theories on the origins of this name: “summer” from Greek theros; “to harvest” from Greek therizein; or “of Thera”, referring to the Greek island of Thera (the main island of Santorini). After a career in modeling that began at age 12, seductive and daring actress Theresa Russell made her film debut in The Last Tycoon (1976). She played the alluring serial killer in Black Widow (1986).

Information sources include Behind the Name, Baby Zone, and Fact Monster. I don’t know why I decided to do this little project, but I’m going to post two names each day for the month of October. The names for each day will begin with same letter, and I’ll work my way through the alphabet until I do “Z” on October 26th. The names for the rest of the month will come from reader submissions.