Did you know that there are actually not one but two words for fear of Friday the Thirteenth? Friggatriskaidekaphobia combines Frigga — a Greekified form of Frigg, used to represent Friday (the day named after her) — with triskaideka “thirteen” and phobia, while paraskevidekatriaphobia combines paraskevi “Friday” with dekatria “thirteen” and phobia.
Useful nuggets which might come in handy if you happen to have a pub quiz lined up for tonight…
If you dare…
Superstitions surrounding Friday the Thirteenth only seem to date back to the nineteenth century.
The Friday bit is easily understood; Fridays have been considered ill-omened in general since the Middle Ages because of the Christian belief that Jesus was cruxified on a Friday.
As for the number 13, that’s also had a bad press for centuries. In many cultures and periods, the number 12 represented completion. Countless things come in groups of twelve, from Christian apostles to Olympian Gods, old pennies in a shilling to the twelve days of Jól/Christmas, Labors of Heracles to the signs of the Zodiac. The list goes on and on.
Thirteen, therefore, early acquired a reputation for being aberrant, imperfect (even though it’s a prime number), corruption, rebellion — bad luck.
The old Norse belief that if thirteen sat down to dinner, the first to rise will die lingers to this day so much so that at the Savoy in London, they have a wooden cat called Kaspar who joins the table to make the number up to fourteen and thus ward off the bad luck.
So, what to do about it, if you subscribe to the belief that Thirteens that fall on Fridays are unlucky? Especially, if your baby is due or arrives on one?
Well, there are many ways to ward off bad luck generally, without resorting to the Pagan Roman method of dealing with inauspicious days, which basically involved bolting all the doors and windows and staying in bed!
Chief among them is simply stay positive. Like attracts like. If you’re positive, you’ll attract good things and good fortune, if you’re negative, the negative will come. Simples.
When it comes to names for a Friday the Thirteenth baby, balance out the potential “bad luck” by chosing a name with as positive meanings and associations as you can.
Lots of happy, cheerful names to “cancel out” the day’s negativity can be found in my post, Io, Saturnalia.
Other names with strong associations with good luck include:
- Avedis ♂ — Armenian: “good news.”
- Ayman ♂ — Arabic: “right-handed,” “lucky.”
- Behrooz ♂ — Persian: “fortunate.”
- Bonaventura ♂ — Italian: “good luck.”
- Bonaventure ♂ — English and French form of BONAVENTURE.
- Boniface ♂ — from Latin bonum “good”+ fatum “fate.”
- Chance ♂ ♀
- Dalia ♀ — Lithuanian: “luck.” The name of the Lithuanian Goddess of fate, childbirth and weaving.
- Daria ♀ — feminine of DARIUS.
- Darius ♂ — Latin form of Greek Dareios, the Hellenized version of the actual Old Persian name: Dārayavahush < dāraya “to hold” and “to possess” + vahu “good.”
- Euclid ♀ — Greek: “good-glory.”
- Eudoxia ♀ — Greek: “good-fame.”
- Eulalia ♀ — Greek: “good-talking”
- Eunice ♀ — Greek: “good-victory.”
- Euphemia ♀ — Greek: “good-speaking” (in the ancient world, the link between saying the right thing in a ritual and its ultimate success was considered very important).
- Euphrasia ♀ — Greek: “good-cheer.”
- Eydís ♀ — Icelandic: “fortune-goddess.”
- Eysteinn ♂ — Icelandic: “fortune-stone.”
- Fatmir ♂ — Albanian: “lucky.”
- Faustina ♀ — feminine form of FAUSTUS.
- Faustus ♂ — Latin: “lucky.”
- Felicia ♀ — a medieval feminine form of Felix.
- Fortuna ♀ — Latin: “good fortune;” the Roman Goddess of good luck.
- Fortunata ♀ — feminine form of FORTUNATUS.
- Fortunatus ♂ — Latin: “happy,” “lucky.”
- Fortune ♀ ♂
- Gad♂ — Hebrew: “fortune.”
- Ganesh♂ — the Hindu God of good fortune.
- Gluke♀ — Yiddish: “good luck.”
- Kalden ♂ ♀ — Tibetan: “auspicious.”
- Kichiro♂ — Japanese: “good luck son.”
- Kreszenz♀ — German form of Crescentia, from crescens “growing.” Considered an auspicious name in Germany, bestowing good health on the bearer.
- Laima♀ — Lithuanian: “luck.” Lithuanian Goddess of good luck and childbirth.
- Lakshman♂ — Sanskrit: “bearing auspicious marks.” Rama’s brother.
- Lakshmi♀ — Sanskrit: “sign.” Hindu Goddess of good fortune.
- Luck ♂ ♀
- Lucky ♂ ♀
- Lykke ♀ — Danish: “good luck,” “happiness.”
- Masood ♂ — Arabic: “lucky.”
- Monifa ♀ — Yoruba: “I am lucky.”
- Nashira ♀ — Arabic: “good news.” Considered a lucky name in Arab lands.
- Navid ♂ — Persian: “good news.”
- Onni ♂ — Finnish: “good luck.”
- Prosper ♂ — Latin: “fortunate,” “lucky,” and “prosperous.”
- Prospera ♀ — feminine form of PROSPER.
- Prospero ♂ — Italian form of PROSPER.
- Sa’adat ♀ — feminine of SA’D.
- Sa’d, Sa’id ♂ — Arabic: “luck.”
- Sa’di ♂ — Arabic: “lucky.”
- Sa’dia ♀ — feminine of SA’DI.
- Sa’ida ♀ — feminine of SA’ID.
- Samnang ♂ ♀ — Khmer: “lucky.”
- Shreya ♀ — Sanskrit: “lucky.”
- Sina ♀ — Portuguese: “destiny,” “fortune,” “fate.”
- Srečko ♂ — Slavic: “luck.”
- Szczęsny ♂ — Polish “luck,” “fortune.”
- Tawfiq ♂ — Arabic: “good fortune.”
- Tomiko ♀ — Japanese: “fortune child.”
- Tyche ♀ — Greek: “fortune.”
- Tycho ♂ — Greek: “fortune.”
- Uğur ♂ — Turkish: “good omen.”
- Veasna ♂ — Khmer: “good fortune.”
- Xiang ♂ ♀ — Chinese: “lucky.”
- Yoshi ♂ ♀ — Japanese: “good luck.”
- Yoshiko ♀ — Japanese: “good luck child.”
- Zenzi ♀ — short form of KRESZENZ.
- Zorion ♂ — Basque: “fortune,” “good luck.”
There, lots of positive energy. Who’s afraid of Friday the Thirteenth? ;)
