When I was pregnant with our daughter Keith and I had many disagreements about what we should name her. During our eigth month of pregnancy I was reading the Dragon King series by Stephen Lawhead and came across his beautiful, noble queen with the long red hair named Alinea - I fell in love with it immediately. It suits her beautifully and the other day she asked me what it meant. I had forgotten so today I searched for the answer again.
I had written Stephen Lawhead years ago asking if he had the meaning of her name and this was the answer from his website:
Q: We named our daugher after Queen Alinea. Can you give me a meaning to the name, or any history you may have on it?
Q: I am now pregnant and knew from the first time I read the name 'Queen Alinea' this would be the name of my daughter. I am hoping you can tell me what Alinea means, as it will mean very much to me and my daughter when one day she is able to read the series.
A: Most of the names in the DRAGON KING books are medieval names, or older forms of common modern names. The name "Alinea" is a very old name of Germanic origin derived from the popular 12th Century "Adeline," which derives in turn from the old word "athal" which means: noble. It was a name given not only to women of royal birth, but women of sterling character.
