I need to be working
... not blogging. But this is cool:
RUSSELL m English
From a surname that meant "little red" (French). A notable bearer of the surname was the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell who wrote on many subjects including logic, epistemology and mathematics. He was also a political activist for causes such as pacifism and women's rights.
ALEXANDER m English, German, Dutch
From the Greek name Alexandros, which meant "defending men" from Greek alexein "to defend, help" and aner "man" (genitive andros). Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, is the most famous bearer of this name. In the 4th century BC he built a huge empire out of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. This was also the name of emperors of Russia, kings of Scotland and Yugoslavia, and eight popes. Also, Sir Alexander MacKenzie was an explorer of the north and west of Canada in the 18th century.
ANA f Spanish, Portuguese, Slovene, Bulgarian, Romanian
Form of ANNA: Latinate form of HANNAH. This is the main character in Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina', a woman forced to chose between her son and her lover. HANNAH: "favour" or "grace" from the Hebrew name Chaanach. Hannah was the mother of Samuel the prophet in the Old Testament.
From the Behind the Name website (found at Meryl's Notes blog.)
-Russ