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In doing some research for something I'm writing (it's in its infancy right now), I discovered that the historic Kingdom of Northumbria was in fact two different kingdoms until almost the end of the 7th century: Kingdom of Bernicia, and Kingdom of Deira.

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Bernicia is the Latin name for the kingdom - it appears in Old English texts as both Beornice and... Bernice! Though I know the modern personal name Bernice and Bernicia have different etymologies and the similarities are a coincidence. Still, I wonder if Bernicia could be usable in the present-day.

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Regarding Deira, I believe it's pronounced DAYR-uh. (In Old English texts it appears as Derenrice and Dere.) Google also tells me that Deira is the name of a historic district of Dubai, though that etymology would also be completely different. Deira sort of reminds me of the Irish name Dara, of which I've admittedly seen more feminine than masculine usage.

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Anyway, wdyt?

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