"Joker"

[Victor Steinbok]

Not sure about Tamerlan, but Timur is a fairly common Russian name as
well as name used in North Caucasian region (both Christian and Muslim
groups) and in Central Asia. Timur is less associated with Tamerlane
than with a popular book by an author who wrote a number of books for
children (I would estimate for 8-13 year olds, but that's only a rough
estimate). I just checked Wiki and they credit him with "Timur
movement"  among "pioneers". He was covering the front as a war
correspondent, got caught with the troops in an encirclement, joined the
partisans and soon died in combat. (or so we are told) Of course, he
named his son Timur (not sure if it was before or after the book, but
likely the son was the inspiration for the book).

     VS-)

On 4/25/2013 3:56 PM, Cleve Evans wrote:
> I'd just like to point out that in the absence of either direct information from the person himself or his parents, and without knowing anything about how common the name Tamerlan has been historically in Chechnya and Dagestan, the idea that Tamerlan was some sort of "burden" this guy had to "live up to" may be just as silly as speculating that the actions of an American named William, George, or Al have something to do with trying to "live up to" the memory of William the Conqueror, George Washington, or Al Capone.

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