As Gonzalo bears down on us, we have done some research into the derivation of the hurricane’s name.

The name Gonzalo was popularised by William Shakespeare’s 1610/11 play The Tempest — inspired, in part, by accounts of the Sea Venture castaways’ exploits in Bermuda in 1609. An honest and trusted adviser to King Alonso of Naples, Gonzalo is stranded on a remote island when Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, conjures up a storm — the tempest of the play’s title — to wreck a ship carrying his usurping brother Antonio and the complicit king. Gonzalo is a given name and a family name, purportedly derived from the old German word “gundis” — meaning “war”. Other sources say it derives from the Visigoth name Gundisalv meaning “battle genius” or “war elf.”