this post was submitted on 15 May 2025
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That's interesting. I've always thought the name a little weak, so you prompted me to find its origins. According to wiki:
That definitely looks like a backronym! Anyway, the wiki for the Taler coins says this:
So the original root appears to be Thal or Tal i.e. valley (just like Neanderthal/Neandertal). The Taler wiki page goes on:
Was Denmark part of the Holy Roman Empire? Either way, your ancestors would've presumably often traded with Germans using these early Thaler/Taler coins.
I think it's a coincidence and not etymologically related - scandinavian languages use the verb "talar" or variations thereof for "pay" or "tell" and I think it's more related to the German word "zahlen": https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahl#Etymologie