# From whence this name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 6, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494 "2010-03-06T02:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/1 "2010-03-06T02:24:00Z")
I worked once with a guy whose given name is Thorro. I’ve wiki’d it, googled it, and asked around about it and not a soul has the slightest idea of the name. I ask here so that wild guesses would be okay. Thanks, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/2 "2010-03-06T02:25:43Z")
Oy. I really, seriously, truly hope that his parents weren’t trying to name him after Thoreau. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/3 "2010-03-06T02:34:37Z")
Hith parenths had a lithp and had lived a life of thorrow. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/4 "2010-03-06T02:37:12Z")
Well, obviously, his parents couldn’t decide whether they wanted to name him Thor or Zorro. Most awesome name ever! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/5 "2010-03-06T03:22:45Z")
I wonder if his parent are thorry they named him Thorro. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/6 "2010-03-06T03:46:08Z")
Have you done a completely Thorro Google search for the name? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/7 "2010-03-06T03:49:41Z")
Root name: Thor. Thorro: variant of Thor. A Lucy is still a Lucille. A Mandy, Amanda. Topher? Christopher. Ving? Irving. And so it goes. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/8 "2010-03-06T14:37:00Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > Oy. I really, seriously, truly hope that his parents weren’t trying to name him after Thoreau. That was my first thought, and I asked him about it. He said “no”, and didn’t elaborate. I left it at that. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/9 "2010-03-06T14:47:03Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Root name: Thor. Thorro: variant of Thor. > > A Lucy is still a Lucille. A Mandy, Amanda. Topher? Christopher. Ving? Irving. And so it goes. That would be kinda cool, but unlikely. Fod one thing he had a christian upbringing. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/10 "2010-03-06T16:01:27Z")
Forgot, but wanted to mention I know a pierced, tattooed, crystal-wearing, dance-around-the-oak-trees, New Age single dad who named his little redhaired son “Thorin” (from The Hobbit). Some people were aghast, but why NOT? Last I heard, he was happy and leading a normal life. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/11 "2010-03-06T16:06:53Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > From whence this name? [nitpick] “Whence” means “from where.” [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/12 "2010-03-06T16:49:24Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > [nitpick] > “Whence” means “from where.” > [/nitpick] You’re gonna have to find yourself another nit. 😉 From m-w; > [@](#): > > : from what place, source, or cause \ > — from whence : from what place, source, or cause \ I was trying to be poetic, dang it! ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/13 "2010-03-09T16:05:03Z")
My husband works with a Thor. What’s best is that he’s got a stereotypically Hispanic last name (like Gonzales, but that’s not it). In Minneapolis. And he’s a blond nordic type. It just tickles me to no end. Rather like the restaurant chain Carlos O’Kellys. Meet Thor Gonzales, the well known Norwegian Colombian! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/14 "2010-03-09T17:36:00Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > [nitpick] > “Whence” means “from where.” > [/nitpick] As **mangeorge** notes, this is a nit not worth the picking. While “whence” by itself means “from where”, the phrase “from whence” is not only not solecistic, but probably as well attested as the “from”-less usage. _Je ne sais pas_ why English-language mavens have such an issue with acceptable redundancies. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/15 "2010-03-09T17:43:41Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > That would be kinda cool, but unlikely. Fod one thing he had a christian upbringing. I googled for “Saint Thorro”, because sometimes parents have to really stretch to find a good name for the saint’s day their child was born. No hits, but there’s at least three other people named “Thorro” and a vacation cottage. Maybe his parents went on holiday there and named him for where he’d been conceived? ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/16 "2010-03-09T18:08:18Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I worked once with a guy whose given name is Thorro. I’ve wiki’d it, googled it, and asked around about it and not a soul has the slightest idea of the name. > I ask here so that wild guesses would be okay. > Thanks, > mangeorge Must be fans of the “gay blade”. So much so, they gayed up the name (by giving it a lisp). 🙂 (Hey, I have a lisp, I can (and do) make said jokes.) > [@mangeorge](#): > > That would be kinda cool, but unlikely. Fod one thing he had a christian upbringing. So? My name is David (Hebrew name) and I have a Christian upbringing. Christian names come in all types and sizes. Thor would be a useful name I would think regardless of upbringing - not too many people worship the old Norse gods anymore … ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/17 "2010-03-10T01:13:00Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > So? My name is David (Hebrew name) and I have a Christian upbringing. Christian names come in all types and sizes. Thor would be a useful name I would think regardless of upbringing - not too many people worship the old Norse gods anymore … That’s a stretch, don’t you think? Christians and Jews worship the same god (I’m neither). Paganism is a way different story. Isn’t it? I don’t recall for sure Christians’ attitude toward false gods. BTW; is that apostrophe right? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/18 "2010-03-10T07:05:39Z")
He’s a [bold renegade](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorro), carving [The](http://www.studyspanish.com/pronunciation/letter_z.htm) with his blade. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/19 "2010-03-10T16:28:36Z")
Is it his actual given name, or is it a nickname? And are you certain about the spelling? Could be Nordic, some variant of Thor, Thorvald, Thorfin, etc. Could be Hispanic, a variant of Toro, meaning “bull” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494/20 "2010-03-10T18:49:40Z")
You said you were open to wild guesses, so here are a few. I’m going for an obscure variation of Arthur/Arturo, Theodore, Thorsen, or Thurston. George Thorogood has had a long career, so it’s possible Thorro’s parents were fans. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-whence-this-name/531494.md?page=2)