The name choosing has
re-started in earnest. This time Papa is leading the way almost
every day coming up with another girl's name (Indira, Lunise, Magdelena). But, then, we're not having trouble coming up with names for girls.
As for me, I was born with a
fascination for names, changed my own name several times in my growing years,
gave myself a middle name, and once for entertainment invented an entire school
directory listing names of the members of more than 100 families. Age
13, I addressed my diary to Samantha who would be my first daughter.
While in France I discovered new
little gems like Cappucine and Maximillian, Senegal opened up the world of
Muslim names like Safiatou, Ndeye, Maguette (that might be French), and Haiti
presented a fusion of French (Jean Rémy), Catholic, modern (Rocky or Lovely),
old-fashioned (Dieufèl, Bondyela), and invented names (Jeanida, Nifta) many
which are only revealed by a birth certificate since most folks here have
nicknames most often having nothing to do with their official first names (For
example, our friend Marie-France has the nickname Cynthia, our former MCC cook
Lusilya is called Kapab by everyone she knows because she is truly capable of
just about everything.)
To narrow down the options, I devised
the following criteria to be included in a first name, a middle name, and the
unwieldy Van-Geest-deGroot as last name:
· -part Biblical
· - a name that has meaning related to the time and place you are
born
· -pronounce-able in several languages (at least English and
French)
· - beautiful, of course
· - the meaning of your name to resonate with us and our values
To the list Papa suggested that we
take out any names with "S" since both of us parents slur our S's
(although i'm pretty sure it's the S's in words that we slur). Anyways,
Niko can't currently pronounce S's at all. So that would take out: Sofi,
Soren, and Solendon (which I do love but a solendon is an extinct-? indigeneous
Hispaniolan rodent). Hélas!
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