The islands were named after
Jean Moreau de Séchelles, Louis XV’s Minister of Finance and the name is highly probably a derivation of
sèche (dry). The Íslensk Orðsifjabók mentions a 17th century loan-word
sekk (from French
sec) for "sherry". The French diminutive suffix -elles can be translated by Icelandic -
lingar. I propose
Seklingar for the Seychelles, instead of
Sekklingar though, for the purpose to avoid connotations with
sekkur (sack). The addition of "eyjar" is not necessary, as the
Scilly Islands at the toe of Great Britain were called Syllingar in Old Icelandic, and having a neoexonym sounding similar to an Old Icelandic exonym is always advantageous.
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