Thursday, October 4, 2012

Alcide

OK, so I have to confess something here. Alcide was my first pick for a werewolf name this month just so I'd have an excuse to post pictures of him. The hottest werewolf on HBO's 'True Blood', Alcide Herveaux is played by Joe Manganiello. If he looks familiar, that's because he also recently appeared as "superdude" Davis in 'What to Expect When You're Expecting', and as a male stripper in 'Magic Mike' with Matthew McConaughey.

What I find most interesting about Alcide is that it was not a name I had really heard before watching 'True Blood', and I think most of the people I know were in the same boat. At first, I thought that his name was possibly a nickname, because it sounded kind of like they were saying L.C. I remember having the conversation with a workmate and fellow fan about what his name really is, and we were both surprised when we found that it was indeed Alcide.

Alcide (pronounced AL-seed) is derived from the Greek word Alkeides, which means 'strong man'. In Greek mythology Alcide was the birth name of the greatest hero Heracles, more commonly known as Hercules. Hercules was considered to be a paragon of masculinity, which is likely where the meaning of the name Alcide comes from.

Alcide charted in America in the 1880's, but has been relatively unseen in the western world since then. It's most commonly used in Italy, where it was the name of the founder of the Christian Democratic Party and a famous footballer.

Alcide is unlikely to become the phenomenon that Jacob became after that other famous werewolf catapulted Jacob into the spotlight. But with a strong meaning and super-masculine example, Alcide is a manly choice for werewolf lovers.

2 comments:

  1. Although I like the look of Alcide, there's something about the pronunciation that I'm not a big fan of. Still, I would love how it's such an ancient name, and I would love to come across one in real life.

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  2. Totally agreeing on the reason to post this as your werewolf name. I actually like Alcide better than Jacob but I agree that it won't rocket like it. True Blood is popular but it has a niche market compared to Twilight. It's like I won't be expecting names from Game of Thrones to skyrocket (Arya is the one exception, but it has other sources as well). I do like the history behind the name. I do like a name from the ancient times.

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