How New Zealand wines led me to a breton sounding pacific island named 'Kermadec'
I was intrigued yesterday while reasearching New Zealand wines to first find out about Kermadec Restaurant located in Auckland. The restaurant referred to the Kermadec Islands as the inspiration for their name. Both names got my attention because they really sound Breton to me (as from Brittany where I was born). A little research of Breton family names confirmed my suspicions. Kermadec is formed of "Ker" which means hamlet, village and "Madec" is derived from the adjective "Mad" which means good. This bit of research also indicated that a number of sailors from Brittany brought their families some notoriety by baptizing islands they discovered with their name.