What's in a name?

I have been asked a lot over the years, in many different media, what the name "Amodtha" means, and where it comes from. 

I have long been interested in Germanic and Norse Mythology and a few years ago I came across this name while trying to find a name for a new puppy I had gotten. I thought it was beautiful and meaningful, and so she was called Moda. 

I found the name on the Viking Answer Lady page, as she has excellent etymological break downs of names.

Here's the break down of "Amodtha".

Ámóða - The etymology of the first element Á- is uncertain, as it may come from several possible origins: < *ana-, the intensive first element, "all"; < *anu- "ancestor, forefather"; or from < *az- "point, edge" or "anxiety, fear". The second element is a weak side-form of -móð, from Germanic *-móðó, which becomes OW.Norse -móðr, "temprament; wrath; courage". A runic example occurs in the nominative case as omuþa. A short form of feminine names in -móð is Moda.

I liked this name so much that I couldn't just keep it as my dog's name - I began to use it for online gaming, as well, as I wanted the names of my avatars to be meaningful and express something that I admire. I wanted them to have strong, powerful names.

Needless to say, that is why in Second Life, my avatar is "Amodtha Barineaux" or "Moda" for short.

I obviously tweaked the spelling a bit, but the sound is the same. I did this because most English speakers won't recognize the symbol "ð" and the consonant string "dth" is a good representation of the sound that symbol signifies. It's a hard "th" like in "bathe" or "scathe".

I hope you all enjoyed the explanation! 

See you in-world :)

Moda!