Where the Tigers Got Their Names -- Part I: Pitchers

The Detroit Tigers are just two wins away from the pennant. This post has nothing to do with that. But if you're looking for something to talk about beside how much you hate the Wolverine or Spartan fan you are watching the game with tonight, maybe a little onomastic information could, um, ease tensions.

What we're doing is name origin. For each playoff Tiger I tried to find multiple references to the same origin but I make no claims of certainty. Enjoy:

Starting Pitchers:

Justin Verlander "Justice from the Lime Tree"
Justinus is a Latin name that derives from "justus," which means what you think it means. As in after surviving through 2003, the Tigers received justice! "Ver" and "land" at first glance might seem to be simple: "ver" is Latin for green, land is land. But that's certainly not it because "land" is a Germanic word. So "person from the green lands" would be Greland, or Vernon. Verlander could be the anglicized version of Verlande, that reduced from "van der lende." The Dutch "van der" just means "from the." Linde means lime. It's a place name: from the lime tree. Or perhaps Lime Hill, which is in the Netherlands.

Doug Fister "Blackwater Baker"
Douglas is a Scots surname (Clan Douglas) from scots gaelic dubh glas, which translates to black/dark water/green. "Glas" is a bitch because gaels use it to mean anything from blue to green to gray and everything that is any of those colors. I guess "blue-green-gray" makes sense for Scotland since everything there is that color. Basically it's the color of water. Fister comes from Bavarian/Swiss Pfister, that from Latin pistor, meaning baker.

Max Scherzer "Great Trickster"
Maxwell is a placename meaning the well or stream of Max or Magnus. All of those "Max" names (Maximinius Maxim Maximus the Max) all come from the Latin "Max" which they used for "great" or "awesome" or "EEEEEEEE!" Scherzer is a German or Yiddish name that means jester. Better translates as fool to be honest, as in "fooled you!" Trickster, deceiver, artist of deception.

Rick Porcello "Piglet of Power"
Samara calls him "Fred Fred" Because his name is Frederick (Fred) Alfred (Fred) Porcello III. There's several first names at play here from different origins. "Rick" comes from German reich (you recognize that) and means "power," whether it's found in "Richard" (Power-Brave) or "Frederick" (Peace-Power). Alfred is completely different ("elf" ie supernatural being, and "raed" meaning well counseled or wise.) Porcello is easy: it's a diminutive of Italian "porco" (pig), so it's a little porco, or piglet.

Brad Penny "The Cheapest Pasture"
Bradley comes from Old English brad (broad) and ley meaning clearing or pasture. Broad pasture. A penny is the oldest unit of coinage in Germanic societies (including England); and was basically the price of rent for the cheapest apartment or smallest parcel of land, so someone named "Penny" was a tenant who paid a rent of one penny. A rough translation may be "signed for the minimum." Someone named "Shilling" is worth 12 times the amount.

More after the jump

Middle Relievers:

Phil Coke "Horse-lovin' Chef"
Philip is an old name, from Greek Philippos: philein (to love) and hippos (horse). Coke is an Americanization of either "Cook" (English) or "Koch/Koke" (German) but they all come back to the Germanic word for cook or chef. He loves to come in and do his cookin' after your horse has done the heavy pullin'.

Al Alburquerque "Famous Noble from the Land of Oak"
Alberto is a Latinization of Albert, a Germanic name meaning noble (adel) and famous (behrt). Alburquerque is a town in a part of Spain that used to be Portugal's royal seat. The name comes from Moorish Abu al-Qurq, meaning land of the "Qurq" which, turn and turn about, is how the Moors spelled "Cork" (the type of oak tree).

Ryan Perry "King of the Quarry"
Ryan is another name that's tough to track down thanks to origins deep in history. It's a gaelic-Irish descendent name (O'Ryan) and has at least three names it could come from: Riarl, Riaghairl or Ruaidhin. Depending on which it could mean king/leader ("ri"), or red ("ruaid"). Perry's English with several origins: Welsh form of Herry, (Henry) which means in Germanic languages exactly what "ri" means in Gaelic. Perry also could be from perrieure, Norman French for quarryman, or Old English pyrige, meaning pear tree.

Daniel Schlereth "As G-d as my judge, a Peaceful Place"
Names in the Bible have remained pretty much intact for thousands of years. Daniel is one of those -- it's a Hebrew name from the time of the Temple. Hebrew is a highly symbolic language so every part of a Hebrew name has a deep, exact meaning. The "Dani" part is the same you'll find in "Adonai" which means "the Lord" (capital 'L') i.e. G-d. The "iel" part means judged. Schlereth is a German placename (Schleerieth). Schleerieth is a tiny town in Germany that was originally a Jewish settlement and has a Jewish name: Shalom-ieth, meaning "peaceful place."

Late Relievers:

Joaquin Benoit "G-d has provided us a blessed son"
Joaquin is the Spanish equivalent of Yoyakim (the English variant is Joachim or Jakim. The name is still popular in Arabic as "Akim"). It means "G-d gave me a son" and we can tell it's older than Daniel because the Sumerian name for the Hebrew G-d is in there, as well as "kim" (related to "kin") instead of the later "ben" (meaning son of). Benoit is the French version of Benedict meaning "blessed."

Jose Valverde "G-d's Growing Green Valley"
Jose is Spanish for "Joe." The name has a similar origin to Joaquin and is the same thing as Joseph=Yosef. The 'Yo' part you know from above. The "sef" is "increases" or "grows." Valverde is Spanish for green (verde) valley (val).