Frank Alfred Odysseus: The meaning behind the name of Carrie and Boris Johnson’s third child
On Tuesday 11 July, Carrie Johnson announced that she and former prime minister Boris Johnson have welcomed their third child together. Frank Alfred Odysseus Johnson was born on 5 July ay 9.15am, Carrie revealed in an Instagram post before joking: “Can you guess which name my husband chose?” Much has already been made about the choice of names on social media, with people quick to point out that the former PM is a fan of the Greek poet Homer and his epic poem The Odyssey, which tells the story Odysseus. But what does the name – and the child’s other names – actually mean? Odysseus takes its moniker from Homer’s poem, which follows the legendary king of the island of Ithaca on his , who is returning home at the end of the 10-year Trojan War. His journey takes an additional 10 years, during which his crewmates perish and he must face a number of threats. In the poem, which covers a decade-long journey, Odysseus is portrayed as exceptionally intelligent and courageous. He is one of the most influential Greek mythology heroes and the name is often associated with wisdom, pride, and heroism. As for the newborn’s first and second names, Frank comes from the Medieval Latin term, “Francus”, which means “free, at liberty, and exempt from service”, according to etymonline.com. It’s also thought to be connected to the Old French word, “franc”, which, similarly, means “not servile”, with other associations including sincere, genuine, open, gracious, generous, worthy, noble, and illustrious. However, Merriam-Webster claims that the name Frank itself comes from the Franks, “a West Germanic people who lived long ago”. The dictionary continues: “In the early Middle Ages the Franks were in power in France. (It was from them that the country got its name, in Latin Francia.) “The Franks eventually merged with the earlier Gaulish and Roman inhabitants, and their name (Francus in Latin) lost its ethnic sense and referred to any inhabitant of Francia who was free, that is, not a slave or bondman.” As for Alfred, the name is believed to mean “elf counsel” and is derived from the Old English name, Ælfræd. It’s a name often associated with wisdom and is most commonly associated with famous Alfreds, including the ninth-century king, Alfred the Great, filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, and the poet Lord Alfred Tennyson. In 2019, the former PM was accused of misquoting Lord Tennyson while discussing Brexit, pledgingthat Britain would leave the EU on 31 October “do or die, come what may”. The phrase is often linked to Tennyson’s poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade, except the quote is, “Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die”. Read More Carrie Johnson announces birth of third child with Boris Johnson: ‘Guess which name my husband chose’ How many children does Boris Johnson have? Buckingham Palace responds to Joe Biden’s ‘protocol breach’ with King Charles Rishi Sunak to meet King Charles as Truss defends her record - live Johnson was ‘begging people for votes’ in a ‘demeaning’ way, says IDS Welcome, PM Sunak – the last best option to take over from Truss
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“Oh my goodness me!” screamed ITV’s lead Formula 1 commentator James Allen, words struggling to comprehend the sheer craziness of what was being witnessed. “We’ve got a lunatic on the track!” When a group of protestors from Just Stop Oil invaded the circuit last year during the opening lap of the British Grand Prix, it wasn’t Silverstone’s first run-in with track invaders. Contrarily, 20 years ago, the 2003 British Grand Prix was 10 laps in before deranged Irish priest Neil Horan sprinted up the fiercely quick Hangar Straight. Many drivers had to swerve to avoid him as Horan, dressed in a brown kilt, madly ran into the racing line of F1 cars speeding at 200mph while waving banners which read: “Read the bible” and “The Bible is always right.” The result could have been catastrophic if it wasn’t for the quick awareness of the drivers and the marshal stationed at position ‘Hangar 1’. Volunteering at the British Grand Prix once again, Stephen Green ran into the void of the unknown. “I didn’t really think, adrenaline just kicks in,” Green, now 72, tells The Independent. “I made the decision anyway to wait until most of the pack had gone past. I actually watched it last week on YouTube – it seems like the guy is running up there forever and a day before I get to him. “I think I just barged into him! Then he fell over and I just grabbed his wrists and dragged him. There was a white transit van with security waiting behind the debris fence. I remember what I said to him but it’s not printable!” It was an astonishing scene. While pitch invasions and streakers have for many a long year popped up at various sporting events across the country, a live racetrack is an entirely different situation altogether. More so than any wider cause, lives in the immediacy are at risk. For Green, though, it brought a sense of notoriety not familiar to the men and women in orange suits. Soon after, once the police investigation had subsided and Horan was charged with “aggravated trespass”, the marshal was the second man awarded the BARC (British Automobile Racing Club) Browning medal for outstanding bravery. The first was David Purley, 21 years earlier, following his attempts to save Roger Williamson from a fire at Zandvoort. Meanwhile Horan, laicised by the Catholic Church, did not stop there; in fact, Silverstone was just the start of his bizarre interventions. A year later, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, he ran into the path of lead Brazilian runner Vanderlei de Lima in the men’s marathon and pushed him into the crowds, ruining his path to gold. Months earlier, he was caught by police at the Epsom Derby. He also appeared on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, performing an Irish jig. Yet that day 20 years ago brought together two very different people from two very different walks of life. A point not lost on Green when, peculiarly, Horan got in touch. “Strangely enough, he emailed me five years ago to ask how I was,” Green says. “We exchanged a couple of emails and that’s about it. “Strange chap, shall we say!” The subject of protestors is top of the agenda at Silverstone this weekend. If not for last year’s near-catastrophe, then for Just Stop Oil’s recent interventions at Twickenham, the World Snooker Championship, the Ashes and just this week, Wimbledon. “At a national event, you always run the risk of idiots turning up and doing whatever they’ve got in mind to do,” Green says. “There was a huge tightening of security after the 2003 incident. “Last year I just got messages from my mates saying ‘why are you not at Silverstone?!’ There is a difference between Just Stop Oil and Horan though, I think everyone would say that Just Stop Oil are actually trying to achieve something. “Motorsport is lucky in many ways that we don’t get as much as we could’ve done. It is very tightly controlled – given F1 goes all over the world, I think it does pretty well.” Green, who still marshals at events across the UK after previous F1 stints in the Middle-East as well as Silverstone, had the rarest of race interactions on that day in ‘03. F1 and the police are on red-alert this Sunday to ensure a repeat does not occur, with the threat level at an all-time high. Read More Lewis Hamilton supports ‘peaceful’ protests at British Grand Prix this weekend Just Stop Oil ‘vital’ says Dale Vince as sports fans are backed to intervene Arrests at Wimbledon after Just Stop Oil protesters storm court twice Lewis Hamilton must be ‘cold-blooded’ in new Mercedes contract negotiations F1 release 2024 calendar with radical change to start of the season F1 descends into farce again after results shake-up – the FIA has to be better
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