I know, right?

The French translation for Dionysus is Saint Denis.

Saint Denis is also the name of a village in France. Some folks from this village came to England as part of the Norman Conquest; and kept the name of their village as part of their name.

Over time Saint Denis morphed into “Sy-dney” and eventually Sydney.

One such descendent from this village, still bearing the name was Thomas Townsend, the Viscount Sydney.

When the British founded their colonies in Australia during the late 1700s; the town of Sydney was named after the Viscount.