masc. proper name, from Latin Caecilius (fem. Caecilia), name of a Roman gens, from caecus "blind" (see caecum).

traditional name of the supposed author of the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," from Latin Homerus, from Greek Homeros. It is identical to Greek homeros "a hostage," said to also mean in dialects "blind" (the connecting notion is "going with a companion"). But the name also has been otherwise explained.

trademark name, 1954 (in use from 1936), from a monk of that name (1638-1715), blind cellarmaster of the monastery of Hautvilliers near Epernay, France, who was said to have discovered the advantage of corked bottles in fermentation.

Dom was a title of authority or dignity in some monastic orders, from Latin dominus "lord, master" (from domus "house," from PIE root *dem- "house, household"). From the same source comes dom, the Portuguese and Brazilian form of don (n.).

mythical river of Hades (whose water when drunk caused forgetfulness of the past), in Homer, a place of oblivion in the lower world; from Greek lēthē, literally "forgetfulness, oblivion," from PIE root *ladh- "be hidden" (see latent). Related to lēthargos "forgetful" and cognate with Latin latere "to be hidden." Also the name of a personification of oblivion, a daughter of Eris. Related: Lethean.

generic or mock-heroic name for a horse, mid-14c., from Old French Baiard, name of the bay-colored magic steed given by Charlemagne to Renaud in the legends, from Old French baiart "bay-colored" (see bay (adj.)). Also by early 14c. proverbial as a blind person or thing, for now-unknown reasons.

The name later was used attributively of gentlemen of exceptional courage and integrity, in this sense from Pierre du Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473-1524), French knight celebrated as Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche. The surname is perhaps in reference to hair color.

masc. proper name, most famously in classical history king of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great (compare philippic); the from Latin Philippus, from Greek Philippos "fond of horses," from philos "beloved, loving" (see philo-) + hippos "horse" (from PIE root *ekwo- "horse"). Skelton made it the name applied to a common sparrow (perhaps from resemblance to the bird's call). In 16c., Philip and Cheyney was a way to say "any two common men."

You remember the story of the poor woman who importuned King Philip of Macedon to grant her justice, which Philip refused : the woman exclaimed, "I appeal" : the king, astonished, asked to whom she appealed : the woman replied, "From Philip drunk to Philip sober." [Emerson, "New England Reformers," 1844]