Geb's name...

[mgcc]

In history we just learned about Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian emperor who was conquered by Mussolini. I assume Haile Gebrselassie's name has something to do with this because they're so similar. Does Gebr have some meaning in the Amharic language? Anybody have any insight?

[LHSrunnerXC]

This could be wrong, but I asked an Ethiopian teammate who said it was more that selassie is a common name/part of name in Amheric, the language spoken in Ethiopia, similiar to something like -son in english (e.g. Johnson, Thompson, Whateverson).

For a more running-specific example, look at the Kip- in Kenyan.

[central_region_runner]

This could be wrong, but I asked an Ethiopian teammate who said it was more that selassie is a common name/part of name in Amheric, the language spoken in Ethiopia, similiar to something like -son in english (e.g. Johnson, Thompson, Whateverson).

For a more running-specific example, look at the Kip- in Kenyan.

QFE

[cardsXC]

My Ethiopian high school teacher's middle name was Gebrselassie and said it was pretty common, although they weren't related (but actually hung out on several occasions).

[puttytim]

Geb is oromo, not amharic.