The author of Wicked finally explains what Elphaba’s unique name actually means

Wicked is full of some very unique names, but Elphaba’s has to be one of the most unique and now the author of the original Wicked book has clarified what her name actually means.

It turns out her name is a reference to the author who originally wrote the Wizard of Oz book, L Frank Baum which was written over 100 years in 1900. In 1995 the author Frank Maguire wrote and published Wicked which included a character called Elphaba.

Via Universal

During an appearance on GBH, the Wicked author explained how he wanted to pay homage to the original author of The Wizard of Oz books and so made Elphaba’s name out of his initials.

He explained: “I invented the name by playing with the initials of the author, Lyman Frank Baum,” he said. “I tried Lafaba, I tried Lafeyba. And then I tried Elphaba. As soon as I got Elphaba, I thought, oh, that’s it.”

There’s also some confusion over whether Ariana Grande’s character is called Glinda or Galinda, so let’s get to the bottom of what’s going on with that.

Via Universal

At the start of the film she’s introduced as Galinda Upland however when she arrives at Shiz University, Professor Dillamond isn’t able to pronounce her name properly and so she ends up changing it to Glinda to both support him and show her protest against his dismissal.

As for the name’s meaning, according to Ancestry, it’s derived from the word “pretty.” The website’s definition states: “The name Glinda finds its roots in the English language and is derived from the word pretty.

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“This name has an enchanting history that can be traced back to medieval times. In ancient England, Glinda was commonly used to describe a woman of exceptional beauty. Over the years, the name gradually gained popularity and became more widely known.”

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