new year's names that sparkle

Happy early New Year to all my lovely readers!!  Are you attending New Year's Eve parties? Will you be wearing sparkles like the ever iconic Francoise Hardy or setting off fireworks with your neighbors?

We'll be having a quiet, intimate celebration here with just the stars in our windows for some sparkle. Or perhaps we'll head out into the backyard to toast the new year over a small fire. But something tells me our festivities will be well ended much before midnight, all our heads dreaming on pillows when the new year comes ringing in. 

However early in the evening, we'll be celebrating. I love the idea that each year we take the time to reflect, to put old issues to rest and create new dreams, wishes, and yes, all those resolutions and promises. I also enjoy thinking about the unique beginning brewing inside the sleepy winter--winter as the cozy, nurturing womb. Winter sure feels that way to me more and more as I get a bit older, like a real rejuvenating resting place.  It's such a gentle reminder of all the great cycles. I'm sure you've all seen the name Season floating around, which I rather like for this time of year. I think there is maybe no time more appropriate for this name than on this holiday where we are, perhaps more obviously than any other time of the year, celebrating the passing of one cycle and the beginning of another. And in keeping with the idea of using this holiday to really reflect on the passing of time, the Finnish Aika ('time') seems a fitting choice. Or perhaps the herb name Thyme may link subtly enough to the idea while serving a sort of double meaning--it makes a lovely middle name. 

2012 is the year of the Dragon in Chinese astrology. The Dragon isn't quite the scary figure here, so names inspired by it could make interesting choices, like the Latin Draco, also the name of the twinkling dragon constellation in our beautiful night sky.  Further, with each animal in the Chinese zodiac, various years are associated with one of five elements-- Where 1964's dragons were wood dragons, for example,  2012's will be water dragons. And there are certainly plenty of water inspired names out there to be sought.

What's your favorite element of the holiday? Do you enjoy the reflection, the new dreams? Perhaps you simply love the glamor of getting gussied up, tossing back something bubbly and lighting a sparkler in the cool air?  I like the kisses!

Here are my favorite names inspired by the glamor, glow, sparkle, festivity and newness of the time of year:


Velvet (an oft chosen fabric for new year's dress)

Muriel ('sparkling ocean' this is so perfect because it encompasses the water element for this year's water dragon, and the sparkling element of new years! And it's just so pretty.)

Merrill (ditto for boy)

Amaryllis ('sparkling and new')

Silver

Sterling

Argene

Taji (Japanese, silver and gold color)

Golden

Ophir ('gold')

Glow

Berdine ('glowing girl')

Zerach ('glowing')

Lalla ( the glamourous heroine of Lalla Rookh. this one feels super festive to me)

Gala

Jubilee

Mab ('joy' and the monarch of the fairies, so perfectly celebratory!)

Blythe (we all wish for this in the new year!)

Festus ('festive')

Fiametta ('flame')

Ziv ('radiance'. I love this name so much!)

Norbetta ('northern brightness')

Norbert (ditto. this is so soft and bold for a little boy, and it can still yield 'Bertie')

Zohara ('light and splendor'. I love Zo.)

Ardith ('spiritual prosperity'...something most of us wish for each year.)

Jethra (abudance)

Venturo ('fortune')

Osher ('good fortune')

Bonaventure (this saintly name also links to 'fortune'.)

Fortune (duh)

Clover (for the luck we all wish for in the new year)

Beryl (a gemstone symbol of good luck)

Berilo (from beryl)

Mouna ('wish')

Wish

Roya ('dream')

Reve ('dream' French)

Draumur ('dream' Icelandic)

Unelma ('dream' Finnish)

Yume ('dream' Japanese)

Oberon (part of one of the most infamous  dreams. love this as a way to get  'Bear'.)

Hermia (ditto Oberon)

Erhard (strong resolve)

Gilbert (bright promise... like a resolution, perhaps)

Pandra (dragon)

Drake (dragon)

Draco

Ryuu ('dragon spirit' Japanese)

Elliot (from Pete's Dragon)

Dover ('water'... for the year's water element)

Tallulah (water name)

Yara ('water girl')

Ondine (have to include this mythological 'wave' name with water names. there's also Undine)

Edmar ('sea')

Ripple


Lake


Umi

Newlin ('new pond')

Nouvel ('new')

Neo

Neoma ('new moon' great to celebrate both cycles and newness!)

Season


Aika


Thyme


Eve


Midnight


Francoise (from image)

(images: one , two, three)