Ransom

I'll bet you didn't even know this was a name. Or maybe you did. It's another of those odd names that appears in the history of my family, where it appears multiple times. It's obviously not a common name, because of the common meaning of "ransom" simply as a word. When you investigate the word itself, though, and the origin of it, it's easy enough to see how "Ransom" has been used as a name. Ransom comes from Old French "rançon", which comes from Latin "redemptio," which of course became "redemption" in English. "Redemption" is a pretty big deal in Christianity, and, particularly in America, due to many of our Puritan roots, names that refer in some way way to the bible or biblical principles have been quite popular--as with Faith, Hope, and Charity. So, Ransom is listed in some cases (when its used as a name,) as meaning "redeemer," or "redeemed," or just plain "redemption." I'm also seeing listings on the 'net that say that Ransom is an Old English name meaning "son of the shield," so (note to self)I'll have to see if I can find more information/confirmation on that, and what relation, if any, to the "redeemer" meaning it might have. Interesting (to me at least) fact about the name Ransom. The Oldsmobile gets its name from Ransom Eli Olds. He also founded another car company, REO. One of REO's products was the REO Speedwagon...and most of us who remember the 1970's and 1980's can hum at least part of at least one REO Speedwagon song.