A man named Behemoth?


There is a personal name which is so similar to behemoth that I have always tended to think of men with that name as being named "Behemoth", and so I was quite pleased to learn that name was probably based on the word behemoth.

The word behemoth comes from the Book of Job in the Bible, describing a mythical giant creature.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behemoth

An evil Norman warlord, Robert Guiscard, Count of Apulia and Calabria and his first wife Alberada had a son sometime between 1050 and 1058. That son, who turned out be as violent and ambitious as his father, became Prince of Taranto in Italy 1089-1111, and Prince of Antioch in Syria from 1098-1111. The son was babtized with the name of Mark, but was known by his nickname.

Anna Komnene in the Alexiad described him:

His stature was such that he towered almost a full cubit over the tallest men...


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemond_I_of_Antioch#Physical_appearance

If "the tallest men" were 5 feet to 6 feet tall, he would have been 6 feet six inches to seven feet six inches tall, tall enough to be described as a behemoth.

This man named Mark at birth was nicknamed Bohemond for his large size.

Bohemond was christened Marc but nicknamed after a legendary giant named Bohemond.


https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bohemond-I

He was christened "Mark" at his baptism, but was nicknamed Bohemond (after the legendary giant Buamundus gigas), by his father due to his size as an infant.[3]


https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Bohemond_I_of_Antioch

For example: his birth name was actually Mark. Because of his size at birth, he was given the sobriquet of 'Buamundus Gigas' the name (Gigas means giant) of a mythical giant whose story is lost in the ravages of time, according to the author.


https://www.awargamersneedfulthings.co.uk/2023/03/bohemond-of-taranto-crusader-and.html#:~:text=Because%20of%20his%20size%20at,the%20Latin%20term%20for%20Northmen).

The story of the mythical Buamundus Gigas (meaning Buamundus the Giant) is lost, but it is an obvious speculation that the name Buamundus is derived from the biblical behemoth.

And some of the successors of Bohemond I, Prince of Antioch, were named Bohemond.

The name Bohemond is a boy's name .
The first bearer of this majestic name was a 12th century prince of Taranto and Antioch, whose father gave him the nickname of Bohemond (after a mythical giant called Buamundus gigas) due to his large size at birth. The name was thereafter used as a given name by his descendants.


https://nameberry.com/b/boy-baby-name-bohemond

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