Buffismo: vampiric true names

[tnh]

Angelus wasn't Angelus; he was Liam. Spike was William. "Darla" wasn't a name when Darla was turned. And we have to assume that a pious Catholic family wouldn't have named a daughter Drusilla. What, then, was Drusilla's name

Comments

[filkerdave]

Personally, I think it was Giles in the Study with the Candlestick.

[scifantasy]

I've always been amused that I share a given name with both of the ensouled vampires. *grin*

[tazlet]

And we have to assume that a pious Catholic family wouldn't have named a daughter Drusilla.

Even if Papa was a classical scholar?

[gtrout]

Why wouldn't a nice pious Catholic family name a daughter Drusilla?

Google's of no help here: it's telling me that the name means "sturdy" or possibly "fruitful." Unless the problem is that there isn't a Saint Drusilla out there somewhere? I can only find one, and her hagiography is highly suspect. Anyway, now I Need to Know, and it's all your fault.

(I'm assuming this isn't some kinda in-joke that hinges on knowledge of the Buffyverse, in which I am shockingly lacking. Sooner or later I must take you up on that DVD-lending offer.)

[malkingrey]

Drusilla was the name of one of Caligula's sisters; the more gossipy of the historical sources assert that she was also his lover. (Granted, Caligula was enough of a fruitbat -- even by Julio-Claudian standards -- that gossip could have said almost anything about him and somebody would probably have believed it.)

Anyhow, "Drusilla" would have been a name with decidedly lurid connotations for the classically-educated.

[gtrout]

Yeah. It's much more the sort of name the daughter of a classicist would give herself as an outrageous gesture after being turned.

I think you've got Dru's number, T. Agnes sounds very likely.

[tnh]

More than highly suspect: there is no St. Drusilla. Fortunately, understanding this doesn't depending on knowing obscure details of the Buffyverse.

[tnh]

How did you get away with Cynthia? Was it just a sufficiently well-established pagan name?

My thoroughly non-Catholic family stuck me with two saints: one reputable, one dis-. Later, when I legally changed my name, I added an additional middle name, for reasons that would take a lot of explaining. Thus it was that when I was confirmed, I declined to take a further saint's name, on the grounds that Teresa Barbara Sophronia is enough for anyone.