On names
I was once again marveling to Edith about the fact that her best friends at school are Grace, Faith, and Serenity. She didn't understand at first, until I asked her to think about the meaning of each name. I suspect it would make my life better simply to sit down to lunch each day with Grace, Faith, and Serenity.
"You should have named me Joy," she said.
I forgot to tell her that Mercy was on the table at one point. Can you imagine? We'd have had to send them all to school in white robes and wings.
***
Thinking about her other friends, Edith wanted to know if Ki'ara meant anything in the virtues vein. No, I said, Ki'ara fits another category in her class: the Ks. The roster includes
Ki'ara
Kyra
Kayla
Kayla
Kaylea
Kaleena
Kylee
Kaylea also fits into the Kaylea, Hayley, Bailey trio (all girls).Kylee
Last year Edith's class included Nola, Norah, and Noah (not all girls).
Her church choir of twelve children includes three Jacks and a Jackson.
She goes only by Edith at school, so there won't be an Edie / Evie problem.
***
Speaking of Faith, think about what that name might look like if the first grader printing it on her paper (1) drew the vertical line on the F down exactly to the line on which the name was sitting and (2) made the vertical line on her lower-case a a bit tall.
I was looking over the math work sent home with Edith on Monday, wondering why she seemed so wildly inconsistent from one worksheet to the next. Whoops.
***
One consequence I never foresaw in keeping my own last name and giving my children their father's: my daughter's proprietary right to tell me I'm not pronouncing her name correctly.
"No, Mom," she insisted tonight. "It's LANK."
"Right, LANK. That's what I'm saying."
"No, Mom, you pronounce it LAK, or almost LIKE. We pronounce it LANK."
I guess that's how her parents taught her to say it, growing up. Oh, wait.
***
Alice was in the backseat on an errand with me. "Mom, we only have four people in our family. Just you, Daddy, and me, and Edith. Just four."
Yes, I agreed. But then we have other family who live other places.
Like who, she wanted to know.
Who lives in North Carolina, I asked.
"Mor-mor and Grandpa! And Uncle Peter [sic]!"
Right, they're our family, too. And who lives in Delaware?
"Mom-mom and Pop-pop!"
Yes. And then we have cousins....
"Yeah, but Mommy, I'm not counting them. I don't have many fingers, and I don't want to waste any more."
3 comments:
This name stuff was just for me, right? ;) Love it all. One of my cousins has a daughter named Kiara, who I believe is also in first grade. Are there any Khloes around?
What about variants on Braden/Jaden/Caden/Aiden? Or is it too soon -- maybe those will be in Alice's class, or a year or two behind her? Another of my cousins has a baby about a year old named Jayden...
We have a new nephew, as of Monday! Braylon Clifford Bailey. Fitting right in on trend, I would say, at least with the first name. (As for the middle, we are wondering if Clifford is a family name on my sister-in-law's side; Eric doesn't recognize it as coming from his family anywhere.)
I just told Eric about this post, and he has now suggested that, in the virtues vein, we put the name "Philanthropy" on our list (for still-very-hypothetical boy OR girl). "Phil" for short. :) (BTW, I don't think I knew you'd considered "Mercy.")
Congrats on the nephew! Yes, I'd say that Braylon sounds like a very natural morphing of Brayden, right about on time as the Brayden/Caden/Jayden/Hayden/Aidan trend gets too established for some. (I actually think the front end of that trend is probably nearing middle school at this point!)
Well, Phil for Philanthropy would work (arguably even for a girl, as it did for Philippa in Anne of the Island, although now all Philippas are likely to become Pippas), but there's also the more established Charity, in the same vein meaning-wise. I liked the meaning of Mercy but not the sound of it so much (Murcy/murky/etc.) But as I pointed out to Edith, there's also the liability of virtue names coming back to bite you. I told her to imagine what it's like when Serenity's parents are angrily yelling, "SERENITY!" We then had a funny breakfast conversation... imagining a Grace tripping over everything, Faith announcing she's an atheist, etc.
You're going to have so much fun with naming, RLB.
...or, Faitheist? :) Eric and I had basically that same conversation about the perils of virtue names after he put Philanthropy out there. Eric's suggestions are all typically about as useful and realistic as that one, by the way. Topping his list at the moment is Leif -- because, you know, "Leif, Eric's son." I will have fun with naming, you're right, but I'm not sure I will be getting any actual help from my husband... :)
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