Ben Arnold
What 16 Celebrity Names Actually Mean
- 1/16
Shia LaBeouf means ‘Praise God For Beef’ - Shia, meaning ‘praise God’ in Hebrew, and LaBeouf meaning, simply, 'beef’. So, Praise God For Beef.
- 2/16
Arnold Schwarzenegger means ‘Eagle Power Blacklongridge’ - Arnold, derived from the German meaning 'eagle power’, and Schwarzenegger, meaning 'black’ (Schwarz) and 'egger’, from the word 'eggli’ or a 'long ridge’. Eagle Power Blacklongridge has a ring to it.
- 3/16
Kylie Minogue means ‘Boomerang Monk’ - Kylie, from the aboriginal for 'boomerang’, and Minogue, from the Gaelic meaning 'the descendant of Muineog’ or 'monk’.
- 4/16
Channing Tatum means ‘Young Wolf Brings Joy’ - Channing, meaning 'Young Wolf’, and Tatum, meaning 'brings joy’.
- 5/16
Mila Kunis means ‘Gracious Boldcouncil’ - Mila, from the eastern European meaning 'gracious’, and Kunis being a derivation of the surname 'Konrad’. In turn, Konrad means 'bold council’. Gracious Boldcouncil sounds much better.
- 6/16
Ashton Kutcher means ‘Ash Tree Town Coach Builder’ - Ashton, derived from 'Ash tree town’, and Kutcher, derived from the Jewish 'Kutscher’, meaning a 'coachman’ or 'coach builder’.
- 7/16
Leonardo DiCaprio means ‘Lionbold of Capri’ - Leonardo, a Portuguese name meaning 'Lion-bold’ and DiCaprio, being 'from the island of Capri’ in Italy.
- 8/16
Zooey Deschanel means ‘Life Stepladder’ - Zooey, being derived from 'Zoe’ or the Greek meaning 'Life’, and Deschanel, a variation of 'eschamel’ or 'stepladder’, or from 'Des Chanels’, meaning 'from the channels’ or 'from the little jugs’.
- 9/16
Reece Witherspoon means ‘Enthusiasm Narrow Strip Of Land Where Sheep Dwell’ - Reece, from the Welsh Rhys, which means 'enthusiasm’, and Witherspoon, made up of 'wether’ and 'spong’ or 'spang’, meaning 'a narrow strip of land where sheep dwell’.
- 10/16
Johnny Depp means ‘Johnny Maladroit’ - Depp, deriving from a south German nickname for a 'maladroit’, an inept, clumsy or buffoonish person.
- 11/16
Michelle Pfeiffer means ‘Michelle Pipe Player’ - Pfeiffer is from the German 'pfeife’, a 'pipe’ or whistle, Pfeiffer literally meaning 'pipe player’.
- 12/16
Justin Bieber means ‘Justin Beaver’ - Derived closely from the German 'biber’. Meaning 'beaver’.
- 13/16
Nicolas Cage, aka Nicolas Coppola means ‘Nicolas Flat Cap’ - Cage’s real surname, Coppola, is the name for a traditional type of flat cap worn in Sicily, Calabria and Sardinia. In Sardinia, it’s also known as a 'su bonette’.
- 14/16
John Travolta means ‘John Overwhelmed’ - In Italian, 'travolta’ means 'to be overwhelmed’, but is also now widely used to mean 'to be run over’.
- 15/16
Benedict Cumberbatch means ‘Benedict Cumbrian-Stream’ - 'Cumber’ is derived from 'cumbra’, meaning 'of Cumbria’, while 'bach’ or 'beck’ was the old English word for 'stream’, while 'Comerbach’ is a village in the north of Cheshire, likely where his ancestors came from.
- 16/16
Michael Fassbender means ‘Michael Barrel-Maker’ - Fassbender comes from the Middle High German for 'cask’, or 'faz’, with 'bender’ being 'a binder or joiner’. So a barrel-maker, or a cooper as it’s known in Britain.