I was recently inspired to check a name research site, which has the following: http://www.behindthename.com/php/view.php?name=vladimir [Begin cite] Means "to rule with greatness" or "to rule with peace", derived from the Slavic element /volod/ "rule" combined with /mer/ "great, famous" or /mir/ "peace". This was the name of an 11th-century Grand Duke of Kiev who is venerated as a saint because of his efforts to Christianize Russia. It was also borne by the founder of the former Soviet state, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin [End cite] It's interesting that it is so completely Slavic. I seem to recall that there were hints that the Northmen (that is, the men from north of Fenario) were Slavs. Perhaps Vlad's mother was of those people? And while SKZB probably just thought the name sounded Cool, and while names are not destiny, in any way, shape or form [1], it is amusing to think about that "to rule". "*Then* I'd meet some girls, I'll bet." __________________________________________________________ [1] I recently read an anecdote of a father who named one son "Winner", and, by some strange and inverted sense of humor, named his next son "Loser". Their respective fates after they grew up were in fact the inverse of their names. Truth is stranger than fiction; fiction has to at least make *sense*.