Avrora - Name Origin The name Avrora is derived from the term aurora borealis, a Latin phrase meaning "the dawn of the north". It refers to a spectacular phenomenon also known as the "Northern Lights", where charged particles streaming from the sun are caught and channeled by the Earth's magnetic field. The proper name Aurora was used by the Romans to refer to the personification of dawn as a goddess. When our project was being named, we simply replaced the u with a v; the first three letters then are avr, referring of course, to the AVR architecture from Atmel. Avrora is pronounced as "Av-roar-uh". Interestingly, in Russian history there is a famous battleship named Aurora, spelled as Avrora. Named after the Roman goddess, it was the third of the Diana Class Russian cruisers, commissioned in 1900. For more information and pictures, look here. This battleship has a long and troubled history, and has come to be regarded as an icon of the Communist revolution in Russia. We respectfully claim no such association.