GANDER

GANDER. The bird. The name of the celebrated Genseric, the Vandal chief, is believed to be Teutonic, and to signify like the modern Germ. gansericJi, a gander. Wliy (as Prof. Donaldson remarks) a great warrior should liear such a name is not very obvious ; " but, if anyone feels disposed to smile at such a title, he may correct the impression b)' recollecting that names of birds are not always imposed on the principles suggested by our modern associations." Cambridge Essays, 1856, p. 42. The professor proceeds to exemjjlify his observ-ation in Attila's chief opponent, Actius, 'the aquiline,' synonjanous with Orloff, the name of the Russian plenipotentiary at the Congress of Paris. In like manner Woronzow, a name equally well known in recent history, means "raven like;" and the classical as well as the modern nomenclature of families supplies us with nmnerous analogies. It must not be forgotten, however, that gandr in O. Norse means a wolf

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.