living up to our names
Oma came to visit us last week. Maia could not have been more delighted. These two are like two peas in a pod. I think it's very special that she has such a close relationship with my mom, even though they sometimes go months without seeing each other. I love watching them find delight in each other. Giggling abounds when these two are together.
Maia's middle names are Audrey Anne, after my mom and Tim's mom. I've always believed there's much in a name and that we often live up to the meaning of our names.So their special bond got me thinking more about about the meaning of names.
Maia's name has so many origins
(Spanish, Hindi, Russian) that every time I look it up I find new meanings. The ones I knew of before she was born were "wisdom", "affection", "a divine creative force", and "water". Since her birth, I've also heard Maia in other cultures means "star", "great", "mother" and "dream". That's a lot to
live up to! Poor child.
Audrey means "noble strength", which I see my mom gaining more of over time, especially through the trials she faces. And Anne means "favoured grace" or "gracious" -- a word that comes easily to describe my mom-in-law, who battles Parkinsons with much grace and whose words are so often 'seasoned with grace'.
So this got me thinking about my name again. Monica means "advisor" or "counsellor". Funny that the older I get, the less I try to give advice. I only learned today that it can also mean "solitary". I've always tended to be a bit of an island -- to do things on my own, or keep things to myself, or not ask for help when I could use some. As I've been becoming more aware of this, I've been trying to initiate more of a 'community life'. Just started into Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community". More on that later. The other meaning of my name is "woman of prayer" -- a name I'd like to live up to more and more.
Tim means "to honour God". I love that. And I've always seen that in the core of who he is and what he wants to do with his life.
So... what does your name mean? And you living up to it?
posted by Monica @ 7:06 a.m.
6 Comments:
At March 09, 2007 4:34 p.m.,
Krista Jefferson Photography said…
I love meanings of names! Krista means "Christian" - hope I can honour the name of Christ.
Our girls names were picked because of the meaning. Madison means "Gift from God" and Eden means "Delightful" - and they both are that for sure!
Eden was also chosen because the Garden of Eden was the one time we had it right with God - something we hope she'll strive towards.
Mark's one meaning means "one from Mars" - ha! ha!
At March 10, 2007 12:28 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
Hannah means "gracious", "full of grace" or "grace of God". I'm not certain I would say that it is an 'easy' name to live up to, expecially through the teen years and on grumpy days. 'Tis a name that I am looking forward to growing into.
Middle name Joy. This portion of my name doesn't seem to figure so predominantly into my thoughts about living up to my name. Perhaps that will be for another season.
Last name coming from the root "stem", meaning "upright", "firmly rooted", or "stable".
Kind neat, eh?
At March 12, 2007 3:57 a.m.,
One Mountain At A Time said…
Okay, I'd like to know where everyone is getting their information from. I did a Google search and came up with,
From a surname which was taken from a Norman French place name meaning "domain belonging to THRACIUS"
It's also the root name from the Greek name "Theresa" which means Summer and Reaper. Hmmmm, that's interesting since I was born in August. I wonder if my mom knew that.
My mother said she named me after St. Terese - the little flower. My dad just liked the way Tracy sounded. Tracy Lyn Joy Temple Gagnon Pepper!
Lyn means Pretty One, a cascade, waterfall, snake (nice eh), lime tree, linden tree, idol... and Joy... well that is self explanatory... Temple means A Sacred Place...
I was a real child of the 70's!!!
Natalya means Birthday; especially the birthday of Christ. That's lovely.
Chantelle means singer, to sing, song. Goodness... she has absolutely no tone or rhythm!
Brian means strong and hill... very fitting. He's spent his life working on horses or tractors up steep hills.
Gosh, that was fun!
At March 12, 2007 10:39 a.m.,
Anonymous said…
.... my name has some good history behind it........, as a child my mom grew up fairly poor, but each Christmas she would get a brand new doll and each new doll would receive the name Anita Darlene..... and when I was born, I became her real doll and am blessed with the name Anita Darlene
At March 12, 2007 11:18 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
Don't forget your name also means "woman of prayer" that's why I painted that pic of you praying... goodness, that was about 10 years ago already!!
The only meaning we've found for Kaedmon is wise warrior (and it's actually for Caedmon)
~Vanessa
At March 16, 2007 9:45 p.m.,
organica said…
Danica means morning star, which is interesting because my moms name is Dawn- similar meanings. We just found that out a couple of years ago and think thats pretty neat as we are a lot alike.. and neither of us morning people :S
She actually named me after her brother who drown when they were kids, Daniel, and didn't like Danielle so heard Danica and liked that. She's also just one for bizarre names (sisters: Royal and Abra). Caitlins my middle name.. which is from Katherine (I have an aunt Catherine, and aunt Kathleen, and a grandmother named Kathryn) and my Dad insisted on something Irish in all of his daughters names (sisters on his side: Shannon Patricia and Megan Casey) so it became Caitlin, which means "pure", or sometimes (and maybe more fitting) "torture"!!
There is a store near my place in Toronto called MAIA with a giant sign, so I don't go many days with out thinking of that name!
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