From a friend who knows my love of wild flowers.
The scientific name derives from Hyakinthos, a mythical Spartan prince who was a lover of Apollo. One day in a sporting apollo accidentally killed Hyakinthos with a discus. This (or some other, its not certain what flower was meant) plant was said to have sprung from the blood of the unfortunate youth.
The name hyakinthos (ὑάκινθος) is etymologically interesting. Greek words with -nth- in them, such as plinth or Corinth have an ancient pre-Greek and pre-Indo European origin, so I suppose the name hyacinth harks back to the language of a Bronze Age Mediterranean people.