> > the LOTR Sam was "Samwise". Which is not only
> > not a very common name but not a very
> > complimentary one either
>
> What's uncomplimentary about it?
>
> Gri"just because it's uncommon doens't make it uncomplimentary"shny

Because it means "simple" or "stupid". :) It was an affectionately derogatory name that Tolkien decided to give the loyal little gardener; I guess in the Middle-Earth universe, his parents either weren't very well-versed on what his name meant or thought it would be fun to play a cruel joke on him. Or maybe they just wanted a name that would rhyme with his dad's.

Literally, IIRC, "sam" in Old English means "half" and "wise" means, well, wise. Literally "half-wise", or "half-witted".

As I recall the "Ham and Sam" rhyme was much cooler in the actual Westron than in Tolkien's translation into half-English, but the words have the same meanings; "Hamfast", dislikes traveling ("ham", home, "fast", stuck to), and "Samwise", half-wise.

But all this is, of course, beside the point. What the point was, I forget, but it's somewhere beside this.

Ar"My name means 'bear', you know"thur