27-08-03 07:34, Piotr Gasiorowski wrote:
> "Hollywood was founded in 1888 by Harvey Henderson Wilcox and his
> wife, Daeida, as part of a residential development. It was Daeida who
> selected the name after she met a lady on a train whose summer home
> was called Hollywood."
>
> http://www.beachcalifornia.com/tonight.html
As the (genuine) connection with Celtic *kolinno- 'holly' (MIr.
cuilenn, W. celyn [*]) has already been mentioned, let me emphasise
the fact that despite the role of holly in Christmas-time imagery and
the similarity of sound there is no etymological link between <holly>
(OE hole(g)n, presumably belonging to the word-family of PIE *kel-
'prick, pierce') and <holy> (OE ha:lig < PGmc. *hailaga- < *kailo-
'healthy, whole, intact' + *-ko-).
[*] Irish surnames such as Cullinan(e) and Quillinan (<-- Ó
Cuileannain) have 'holly' roots.
------------
As for fantastic folk-etymological associations, conoisseurs of bold
ignorance may draw some perverse pleasure from examining "The Strange
Connection between the Cross and Hollywood":
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/cross.htm
Enjoy the glitzy layout, too. When I first stumbled across the page, I
was sure my leg was being pulled. Then I looked again and cold shivers
ran down my spine as I realised that I'd been wrong.
Piotr