Acadia

Meaning: (Place of Plenty, Idyllic Place, Place name: Acadia was the name given to the area of the French colonial empire of New France, in Northeastern U.S. & Canada. The 17^th Century settlers of Nova Scotia named it Acadia after the name of a river there. The Acadians are descendent of 17^th Century French settlers who moved to Acadia in the Canadian maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Islands, and the American state of Maine. In the mid-18^th century, the British deported many Acadians from the Maritime Provinces. Many of them settled in Louisiana and came to be known as Cajuns, while others left for France. When the British conquered New France, the French colony Acadia was renamed Nova Scotia.

It originated from the Latin name Arcadia. The origin of the designation Acadia is credited to the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, who on his 16th century map applied the ancient Greek name "Arcadia" to the entire Atlantic coast north of Virginia (note the inclusion of the 'r' of the original Greek name). "Arcadia" derives from the Arcadia district in Greece which since Classical antiquity had the extended meanings of "Refuge" or "Idyllic Place". The Dictionary of Canadian Biography says: "Arcadia, the name Verrazzano gave to Maryland or Virginia 'on account of the beauty of the trees,' made its first cartographical appearance in the 1548 Gastaldo map and is the only name on that map to survive in Canadian usage. . . . In the 17th century Champlain fixed its present orthography, with the 'r' omitted, and Ganong has shown its gradual progress northeastwards, in a succession of maps, to its resting place in the Atlantic Provinces."

Also the name of an automobile model by GMC. Acadia National Park, Maine, U.S.)

Origin: (Algonquian-Wakashan, French)

Pronunciation: (ah-KEY-Diy-ah, ah-KAY-dee-ə, Go to this site and run your cursor over the name Acadia to hear how it is said:  http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=acadia )

Gender: Female

I have been seeing things on TV recently talking about Acadia National Park in Maine. I have heard this before but until recently I didn't think of it as a persons name. Now I think its unique and pretty. I like the meanings as well. It has an interesting history too.