Sinz Family Crest Cordelia Lois Sinz
Born 1:27 PM, Friday, November 28, 2003
6lbs 15oz   20.00 inches

So, everyone asks where we got Cordelia's name from and what it means. We got the name because we liked it and it sounded nice. But, some extra information is here, about where the name came from and what it may mean.

Cordelia is most famously from Shakespeare's King Lear.  She was the good daughter.

Cordelia is also from Anne of Green Gables where Anne Shirley, in the third chapter, wants Marilla Cuthbert to call her Cordelia because "It's such a perfectly elegant name." (BTW - If you have not seen these movies or read the books, you should do so - they are wonderful!) That exchange is just so delightful:

"Well, don't cry any more. We're not going to turn you out-of-doors to-night. You'll have to stay here until we investigate this affair. What's your name?"

The child hesitated for a moment.

"Will you please call me Cordelia?" she said eagerly.

"Call you Cordelia? Is that your name?"

"No-o-o, it's not exactly my name, but I would love to be called Cordelia. It's such a perfectly elegant name."

"I don't know what on earth you mean. If Cordelia isn't your name, what is?"

"Anne Shirley," reluctantly faltered forth the owner of that name, "but, oh, please do call me Cordelia. It can't matter much to you what you call me if I'm only going to be here a little while, can it? And Anne is such an unromantic name."

"Unromantic fiddlesticks!" said the unsympathetic Marilla. "Anne is a real good plain sensible name. You've no need to be ashamed of it."

"Oh, I'm not ashamed of it," explained Anne, "only I like Cordelia better. I've always imagined that my name was Cordelia--at least, I always have of late years. When I was young I used to imagine it was Geraldine, but I like Cordelia better now. But if you call me Anne please call me Anne spelled with an E."

"What difference does it make how it's spelled?" asked Marilla with another rusty smile as she picked up the teapot.

"Oh, it makes such a difference. It looks so much nicer. When you hear a name pronounced can't you always see it in your mind, just as if it was printed out? I can; and A-n-n looks dreadful, but A-n-n-e looks so much more distinguished. If you'll only call me Anne spelled with an E I shall try to reconcile myself to not being called Cordelia."

"Very well, then, Anne spelled with an E, can you tell us how this mistake came to be made? We sent word to Mrs. Spencer to bring us a boy. Were there no boys at the asylum?"

Cordelia is also the title of a novel by Winston Graham, published in 1949.  We just happen to have an original hard-cover copy of that book.

And then there is the moon of Uranus, found in 1986 and named Cordelia.


For looking it up yourself, you can try:

The Oxford Dictionary also claims that Cordelia is "fanciful elaboration of Latin cor or heart"

From http://www.babycenter.com/: they say that Cordelia comes from the latin and means "Heart"

From http://www.babynames.com/: they say Cordelia is "Daughter of the Sea"

From http://www.yourbabysname.com/: they say Cordelia means "Jewel of the Sea"

There is this research on the name Cordelia as used by Shakespeare:

From the Social Security Admin site, Cordelia has not ranked in the top-1000 most popular names for girls.


Copyright (c) 2001-2015 - Michael Sinz