N00B NAME CHALLENGE: the reveal!

[qatarperegrine]

Before we reveal the answer to all these riddles, Justin and I thought we'd share some of the name hints that didn't quite make the cut (most of which were rejected when we decided to allow Googling):

• The first historically notable bearer of this name was an empress.
  
• Were proper names allowed, playing it would be worth 12 points in Scrabble.
  
• It is paired with Logos to form one of the emanations of God in Valentinian Gnosticism.
  
• It only has one more letter than syllable.
  
• According to Wikipedia, a small tribe of this name lives in the Amazon; one of its unusual cultural practices is that men celebrate the birth of their offspring by cutting their legs with rodent teeth. Justin does not intend to follow this tradition.
  
• It has been in the top 1000 girls' names in the US 71 of the last 100 years -- though not in either of the years we were born.
  
• The top Google hit of this name is of an actress. (However, making universal statements about top Google hits seems dangerous in this age of personalized search results!)
  
• It is the name of this cat.
  
• It is the name of one of President Bartlet's daughters.

The n00b's name is actually Zoë. :-)

Comments

[jcreed.livejournal.com]

I'd wager as (American?) English speakers we don't really believe the diacritics are really necessary, that Zoe is the "same word as" Zoë. Unlike (amirite, bhudson?) Benoit being a terrible misspelling of Benoît?

[chrisamaphone]

i find it amusing that Pine erased all the diacritics in the email notification version of this comment.

[ikeepaleopard]

When I was learning latin, I could never see the long marks, because my brain refused to believe they mattered.

[jcreed.livejournal.com]

SO TRUE

[stepleton.livejournal.com]

Some august bastions of American English do believe in diacritics and marked diaeresis and would appreciate your coöperation in your rôle as a blogger.

[qatar.livejournal.com]

AHEM, I believe you mean diæresis. ;-)