How do you pronounce Beryl? Ask a Sailor Moon fan how to say name of first hurricane
We might need to get used to the name "Beryl."
Hurricane Beryl is motoring west across the Atlantic, rapidly strengthening along the way. It gained hurricane status late Saturday afternoon, and the National Hurricane Center expects the storm to become a major hurricane as early as Monday. Whether it will impact Florida or the American Gulf of Mexico is yet unknown, but Barbados became the first island to institute a hurricane warning Saturday.
The World Meteorological Organization is known to include some unusual names for hurricanes. Last year, Hurricane Idalia was another major hurricane with an unusual name, smashing into Florida's Big Bend region in late August as a Category 4 storm. Names in 2022 included Gaston and Hermine, names you'd find in Disney movies and Harry Potter (yes, we know her name is Hermione) but not often in real life.
How do you pronounce Beryl?
Though the name may look strange to American eyes, it's simple to pronounce: BER-uhl. It rhymes with the more common Cheryl.
Fans of 1990s anime — that's Japanese cartoons for the non-otaku audience — will likely be intimately familiar with the name. Queen Beryl was the main villain of Season 1 of "Sailor Moon," one of the most influential shows of the time.
Where does the name Beryl come from?
Beryl is Greek in origin, according to baby-name site The Bump. It is derived from beryllos, Greek for the color of the sea. It also comes from beryllium, a sea-green mineral or sea stone. According to Behind The Name, the name can be traced back to Sanskrit.
This adds up for fans of Sailor Moon: Queen Beryl's key henchmen are all named after precious stones, too (Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite and Kunzite).
How popular is Beryl as a baby name?
Not very, as you might have guessed. According to The Bump's registry of baby names, Beryl came in No. 10,390 for girls' names in the U.S. in 2023. The name actually is up after a sharp spike from 2008 to 2012.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Hurricane Beryl pronunciation, how to say name, origin
