finnish names - part two, the folkloric

 

 

During the late nineteenth century in Finland the social/political Fennoman movement was in full swing, inspiring Finns to embrace their unique heritage, neither Swedish nor Russian. This stimulated a great language revival that affected, amongst other things, Finnish names (which we'll cover in the next post) and Finnish literature.

Perhaps the largest literary gift of the Fennoman movement was Finland's most celebrated national folk epic, the Kalevala, written by Elias Lönnrot. The work wove together, into one tale, folk ballads that had been preserved orally over many years.  While his method has been criticized for taking too many liberties in his story telling, the work really opened the door for modern Finnish literature and has done much to preserve an oral tradition, language and national identity which all might be lost without it. The Kalevala not only inspired Finnish literature; J.R.R Tolkien's books are reported be heftily inspired by (or even more directly based upon it, deepening on whom you ask), as well.

All of the images above, from textiles to water color paintings, are illustrations of some portion of the Kalevala. The first and then the sixth & seventh images are textiles done several years ago by Sanna Annukka Smithin for Marimekko. The second row, featuring Louhi & Joukahainen,and then the very last bear image are illustrations by Anna Emilia Laitinen-- they are to accompany a coming Kalevala app for the iPhone by Oliver Blank and Kalle Karjalainen. The third row image is called Kalevala of Love by Tamara Yufa, from the 1960's. The fourth row image is an illustration of the Sampo (a magical machine/artifact) by Joseph Alanen from the 1920's, and the fifth row image (the boy playing music to the animals) is a 1979 illustration on a plate by Arabia of Finland.   

In addition to being completely captivating to read and having inspired such beautiful art, Finnish folklore boasts quite a list of melodic and beautifully simple names. So here they are, a list of names from the Kalevala and other sources of Finnish folklore and mythology:

Ahava (the west wind and father of swift dogs and horses)

Ahti (god of the depths)


Ahto (king of all the waters)


Aino (promised in marriage to Väinämöinen, dies in the water and turns into a fish)

Akka (old lady spirit, partner to Ukko)

Äkräs (god of fertility)


Allotar (goddess of waves)

Antero (protector of magic, a giant)

Annikki  (lady of the forest)


Eteletar (daughter of the south wind)

Henki (the presence of life or spirit in a human body)

Ilmatar (female creative spirit, and spirit of the air, crucial to the creation story--she floats on water for hundreds of years, contentedly, until casting a bird and eggs from her leg, shattering the eggs and creating the earth and heavens.)

Illmarian (the eternal hammerer,spirit of the air, maker of heaven)


Ilpotar (hostess of the northland, may be another name for Louhi, or may be the daughter of the snowflake)

Joulu (the winter solstice)


Joukahainen

Jumi (ancient god)


Jumala (thunder home, sky god, god of all)


Kalervo

Kalevala 


Katejatar (daughter of a pine tree)


Kimmo (patron of rocks)

Kuu (goddess of the moon)

Kullervo (beautiful name, but not such a desirable character to honor.)

Lempo (goddess of wilderness and archery)

Louhi (shamanic lady of the north, powerful witch, hostess of the underworld)

Marjatta


Melatar (goddess of the helm) 

Mielikki (mother of the woodland, hostess of the glen & forests)


Mimerkki (another  name for Mielikki)


Monjatar (another name of the daughter of the pine tree)


Nyrikki (forest deity, builds bridges to help herds migrate)


Otava (great bear of the heavens)

Otso (spirit of the bear)


Paivatar (goddess of summer)


Pilajatar (daughter of the Aspen tree)

Pekko (god of the crops)

Rahko (god of time)


Remmen (or Remu -- father of the hop vine)

Sampo (a luck bringing artifact, a holy grail of sorts, which plays a large part in the Kalevala. Seen by some as a metaphor for creativity and innovation.)


Sampsa (a gnome, helped plant and sow the earth after creation)


Satka (goddess of the sea)


Sima-Suu (means "honey mouth" -- a tiny woodland deity, plays the honey flute to guide hunters.)


Sinetar (goddess of the blue sky)


Sukkamieli (goddess of love)


Suvetar (goddess of the south wind)

Tapio (god of the forrest)


Tellervo (Tapio's daughter)


Terhenetar (daughter of the fog)


Tuametar (daughter of the Alder tree)


Tuletar (goddess of the wind)


Turi (god of the honey land)


Tursas (sea gnome, helped nature an acorn that became first oak tree)

Tuulikki (goddess of animals) 

Ukko (old man. god of sky and thunder)


Uni (god of sleep...oh how I'd like to meet him soon!)


Untamala (daughter of Kalervo)


Untar (goddess of mist and fog)

Väinämöinen (son born to Illmatar, who brings trees and life to the world. he is more of  a shaman in the Kalevala, though)

Wellamo (hostess of the waters)


Vipunen (song giant and shaman)

What do you think of these names, readers? What would you pair with them? I think the creation story is one of the most poetic I've ever heard and I just love that the folklore includes children of various trees. If you could imagine yourself the daughter of a tree, which one would you pick? I think I'd like to fancy myself the daughter of a giant sequoia and a 'Ipe' (can't decide between the pink or yellow, though).

Up next in this series: Finnish nature names and another lovely interview!

(images: Sanna Annukka for Marimekko bearheads, Louhi & Joukahainen by Anna Emilia Laitinen, Kalevala of love by Tamara Yufa, Sampo by Joseph Alanen,1979 Arabia of Finland boy with wolves plate,Sanna Annukka for Marimekko textiles seven/eight, bear-Tuonen Karhu by Anna Emilia Laitinen )

you're my fave - part two

The photos above are all images featured on this blog in 2011; they're either some favorite images of mine or pictures of some of my favorite things.

Yep, more favorites from 2011 today!  I hope it's not too masturbatory to compile favorites from my own posts and lists. The thing is that since I'm often writing on names as they relate to other subjects, I don't always get the chance to talk about which names I simply love the most. 

For today's second and final installation of favorites, I want to talk about my number one names for each sex, your favorite list, and a whopping list of my favorites from all the names and name combinations covered on this blog. (exhale) Heavy!

-- So, what are my number one name crushes right now for each sex?  I never divulge the number one or two names I'm actually considering for my future children (not pregnant right now), but that works out, because my current favorites are actually ones I can't use because they are too close to my own children's names  or don't match in style (and one of them was vetoed by my  husband.)

Girl:

Jane-Reve  (Reve, the french word for 'dream', sounds like rev, as in "rev your engines".) -- This was my number one pick for our second daughter, but my husband refused it based on it's hyphenation. Non-hyphenation was a deal breaker for me (with this particular name), so away it went. Double names are a staple of Southern (American) culture, and a staple that's peppered *all* over my family tree; my adult sister still goes by her double name at all times. I like taking old traditions (double names, smooshing, maternal surnames as middles, etc) and breathing new life into them. The hyphenation honors the frenchness of  Reve and, to me, makes a double name more indivisible. I would also not usually suggest pairing two one-syllable names together, but when it works, it works.  Both Jane and Reve are in my top ten names of all time, and together, they're unstoppable. But they're completely off the table for us now, even if my husband had a change of heart, due their closeness to both June and Reverie, which we've used. This double name will be revisited in a post dedicated to a new generation of double names! 

Boy:

Junius Nightingale 'Jules' or 'Jin'-- While I may very well still use Nightingale, Junius is off the table for this family, considering we often refer to our second as simply 'June'. My love of  the middle name Nightingale on a little boy was completely solidified when I came across the name David Nightingale Hicks, on the father of India Hicks (mother to little girl Domino). I love it because it honors my mother's middle name, Gail, albeit in a very roundabout way.  'Jules' works here, in my opinion, if middle name contains an 'l', and even without-- 'Sally' from Sarah comes to mind, along with tons more examples of nicknames that aren't super straight forward. 

Salvador Bluejay 'Sully'-- I love Sully. If we'd not established a different style, Salvador 'Sully' would likely be a first pick for me.  Bluejay honors my father.

--Your favorite list? O girl! has definitely been your favorite list.   You can see my most popular posts to the right, but not all of them are categorical name lists. And while the Japanese names list has had more page hits, many of those visits are coming from various google searches which have little to do with names. When I subtract those searches, O Girl! absolutely becomes my most popular list.  And let me say, while O girl! goes *beyond* Harlow, Marlo, Willow, and Shiloh, I am in no way dismissing these four beautiful names! While it's not really my style to publicly trash any name--they're all attached to real people to be sure-- the aforementioned names we're moving "beyond" in this post are names I do actually like; I'm simply using them as a take-off point for more -o ending names, since these four have been such hot topics of discussion already.  Provided you aren't just tacking an 'o' onto the end of a name/word, you will almost never hear me dismiss an -o ending name. period. My favorites, other than the one we used for our own daughter? At the moment I'm really liking Billow, Farrow and Yarrow. 

-- Now, for my favorites from all the names featured here in 2011-- how many favorites are too many, such that the word sort of looses it's meaning?  Yes, this list is long -- be prepared-- but it's really only a small fraction of the total names I've featured so far on this blog. So here it is, my favorite names featured so far.

Girls:
Artemis

Ardith


Agnes


Anjou


Anouk 


Anais 

Albertine ('Birdie')

Azalea ('Zizi')

Berenice


Beryl


Betti (b/c I haven't featured Betty yet.)


Bim

Betsy (many ways to get here, but I love none of them as much as this nickname)

Billow (Billie)

Bloom


Blythe 


Bijou


Calypso


Cassiopeia

Cim


Cosette 


Concordia 


Claudine


Clove


Cypress

Daisy (by way of Margaret, Marguerite, Theodosia, or on it's own, I love Daisy forever)

Dovi


Eglantine

Edith

Elka

Elsa 

Emerald

Eple

Endellion 

Ernestine 

Este (so many ways to get this nickname, mostly love them all)

Eudora

Eugenie 

Farrow

Flo (by way of Florence or Fallow)

Frances

Francoise

Frida (Frie)

Garden

Gardenia (this might be my favorite flower name right now)

Georgine

Gita


Gladys (with Alice so fetching these days, a similar sounding name with 'glad' in it sounds increasingly lovely to my ears)


Greta

Henriette

Hesper

Hestia

India

Ilta

Jane (top ten favorites)

June 


Juhl 


Koemi


Leonie 


Lillo

Liv

Lova


Loxia

Lula (by way of Louise or Tallulah)


Mabel


Maple


Maja


Malgosia 


Marlene


Marjoram (though really I like the french version Marjolaine or Marjoline better, I haven't technically featured them)

Marigold


Maude


Mathilde

May (as a first name, it still isn't used so frequently. I love it paired with Margaret)

Maxine (my own aunt goes by 'Mackie')

Meadow

Maybelle

Midori

Mim (by way of Miriam or a MM alliterative combination like Mary Matilde)

Muriel

Nell

Neige

Neoma

Nettle

Nitsa 

November

Oona

Ondine

Odette

Omena

Ommel 

Opal

Pilvi

Rosamond

Rosalie 

Reve

Ree

Rita

Rue

Saffron

Sable

Sauma

Sigrid

Sine

Suzu

Sumi

Sachi

Suki

Suvi

Tuli 

Umi


Uni


Veda


Verabel


Violette 


Viola

Virgina (top ten favorite names of all time)

Willet 


Xanthe


Yarrow


Yuki


Zenith


Zinnia


Zelda


Ziv

Zuzu (by way of Susannah, Suzume, or Zulema)



Boys:

Albertus


Abraham 


Aloysius

Arthur


Atlas


Aubrey


Augustine


Barnaby


Beaumont


Benny 


Bello


Beppe 


Booker


Casper


Cedar


Claude


Clement


Clovis


Dorian 


Dov

Ernest (or Earnest)

Eno


Etienne

Fritz

Franco

George


Gilbert 

Hachi

Herve

Hector


Hank


Hickory


Hoke

Hubert (Hugh)

Hugo


Humphrey

Ignatious (Iggy, of course)

Ivo


Judah 


Junius

Leopold (Leo)


Louie


Nao


Ormand


Oscar


Ovid


Philo

Pomeroy ('Roy')

Ptolemy

Rupert (Ru)

Remy

Raphael (Ralph)

Ringo


Robin


Rowe

Roald (Ro)

Salvador

Sigmund (Siggy)

Simon


Sol (has to be in my top ten for it's simple beauty)

Sully (by way of Sullivan, Salvador, or on it's own. Sully is my favorite boy's name these days, I think.)

Teak


Timo


Thurman


Tobias

Tulliver (Tully)

Wiloughby


William


Wilfred

Whimbrel ('Whim')

Virgil


Vito


Xylo


Yesper

Unisex:
Arrow 


Balu


Clemence


Domino


Frost


Garnet 


Golden


Helmi 


Indigo


Kit


March


Myrrh

Ren or Rin

Rumi

Rune

Sunny


Vetiver


Weaver


Wren (I know several male Wrens and I think it's lovely)



Names I love in the middle (or right upfront for the more daring) and I know I'm leaving some out:
Baywren


Bellbird 


Bluejay 


Cedarmoss 

Dahlia (she seems the perfect balance to so, so many names)

Fieldfare 


Fleet


Goldfinch


Illiad


July

Margaret (to balance a more adventuresome first name, especially if it's slightly hippie leaning)

Meadowlark


Moonlily 


Nightingale


Pear

Philomeno / Philomela

Woodrose


Rosegold


Rustylark


Spring


Snowdrop


Tigerlily (thank you to Nook of Names for turning me onto this one!)


Web


Wilde 


Favorite combos (some of these are from real people and some are my own or guest's creations):

Ada Margot


Artemis Liv

Autumn Apple Windseed (while I might not use it myself, it makes me so happy to see it!)

Carole Calliope (Coco)


Daisy Marlene


Doris Kite


Enid Cleona 


Esther Swan


Ina May


Gita Pomeline

Henrietta Dove


Joan Riverlily


Maple Calliope


Mary Zest

Marigold March (I listed it last time, I know, but dang-- alliteration, nature, word name, wow.)

Olimpia Olive


Philomena Marylove

Reve Concordia Wilde

Sally Kate

Sequoia Cas (Suki)

Sun Margaret 

Suzu Argene

Thisbe Dove

Umi Vrai

Viola Fair

Clovis Rin

Ernest Snow 'Ernie' 

Fritz Edward

John Henry


Johnny Garnet


Junius Lively 


Oriole George

Otis Francisco (from Ina May's Guide to Childbirth)

Raymond Dov


Vito Thespis


Whimbrel Frank



Of course, not all of my favorites are here, because I've yet to write about them all!

What are your absolute most favorite names? What would you name a child if you were giving birth soon? Any that you love in pairings, if not so much on their own?




(Images: 1 is mine, 2 by Zoe of Le Dans La, 3 by Jeana Sohn , 4 from The Farm in Summertown TN found here, 5 by Natsuko Hagiwara of Me & Arrow, 6 is mine, 7 by Ariana)

More from The Glow

With the winter solstice approaching, I thought it appropriate to focus on images filled with beautiful light. I immediately thought of The Glow and their stunning portraits of creative families in their beautiful homes. It's been a little while since I last featured the beautiful project over at The Glow, and three new families have been brought under the light, along with their fantastic names, stylish interiors and interesting interviews.

--Christiane Lemieux and her children, Isabelle and William are the most recent feature. Their place is totally open and light. Equal parts exposed pipe, natural woods and ivory linens, it's a perfect place for dreaming and climbing.

"It’s indoor/outdoor living here."

This one sentence of Christiane's perfectly sums up my dream home.

--Cynthia Rowley was featured with her girls, Kit and Gigi. I fell in love with these little ones and their gold piano!

"I’ve been told by my husband that it would probably be better for our marriage if I stop answering the question, 'How many kids do you have?' with, 'Three, if you count my husband'".

Love it.

-- Athena Calderone and her son Jivan are so sweet and tender together. This really makes me want a little boy! I love that he's riding his skateboard in the living room! Again, I'm so fond of those sparse, open spaces that lend themselves equally to lounging in simple beauty or wild playing. I love the idea of every room in  a home belonging equally to each family member, from the most artful adult to the youngest baby--toys can be pretty, and the prettiest spaces can also be designed to welcome even the grabbiest of little hands and encourage freedom and exploration. Beauty and fun for all!

From today's inspirations:

Christiane (the prettiest of smooshes, and perfect for those wanting to honor either a woman of design or journalism, or both)

Isabelle (another classic smoosh. I'm partial to it over Isabella.)

William (I love this classic name so much. I'd love to see a little William called 'Wim'.)

Whimbrel (okay, this isn't really a part of today's list, but it has a logical likeness to William for me. I really thought about this when I was writing on bird names-- 'Will' and 'Whim' are so alike on several levels, so it seems equally approachable as William. If you love the idea and feel of William, but want something less classic, I think this is a great option!)


Cynthia (such a pretty name, and she links to some of my other favorites....)

Artemis (Cynthia was one of Artemis' names.)

Hestia (another of the virgin goddesses)

Vesta (the Roman version of Hestia and a nickname of Silvestra)

Kit (a great nickname for so many lovely names-- Catherine, Katerina, or fantastic by itself!)

Gigi (most commonly, a potential nickname of Georgia, Georgiana, Virginia or Gilberte. I wonder if it's short for anything here.)


Athena (another virgin goddess)

Minerva (the Roman version)

Pallas (Pallas is to Athena as Cynthia is to Artemis. I love both 'wise' names.)

Jivan (a fantastic 'life' name. I so love it.)

Vito (another favorite 'life' name of mine for a sweet, little surfer boy!)

Such great meanings here today in this list-- we have names linking to wisdom, purity, earth, and life, itself.

Any favorites from today's list? Have you been enjoying The Glow? Are you participating in any "light" festivals this week? I think we may go to a Saint Lucia festival on Saturday, complete with all sorts of craft activities for the girls!

P.S.   Still having font troubles, so I just switched everything to a clean, simple font while I get it all figured out. I love the idea of my title being in cursive, because um, it's a play on notes in the margins, which I'm pretty sure are never typed. Alas, the only other cursive fonts available (my previous one is malfunctioning) are just too thick and stout for my liking. Any recommendations for a pretty, petite cursive font? I like em long and lean.... and tidy.  I really enjoy basic, clean fonts on other blogs, but the current set up isn't right for the mood here, I'm afraid, so I'm eager to get back to the old style. Any favorite font shops?

(images: all courtesy of The Glow, by Kelly Stuart)

Birth as performance art? What will the name be like?

It's birth week on Marginamia! (I define 'week', by the way, as starting this Monday and ending at close of the day next Monday.) We'll be celebrating the act of childbirth in various ways this week from birth announcements, to birth stories, looks at childbirth pioneers, and name consultations.

There may end up being a double post today.... so stay tuned!

We start with a very attention grabbing headline from Brooklyn, NY. 

Marni Kotac, Brooklyn based performance artist will be using the Microscope Gallery as a birthing center. Birthing her child will be her latest bit of performance art. Needless to say, this was one of the funnest lists ever to comprise. 

I know there must be some extreme reactions to this birthing choice, but the museum is set up just like a birth center (with, I imagine, even more safety measures for legal purposes) so it's at least as safe as a normal home birth or birth center birth (which I happen to think are totally safe for normal pregnancies--I had one, myself.) 

And ultimately, who attends a woman's birth is her business, whether she needs solace (me), twenty family members and a ten person medical team cheering her on, or an audience of strangers in a museum. It's the one time in a woman's life when she should unabashedly have what she wants.

I do hope for her that she feels no pressure from the spectacle of it all and can really experience her birth, but at some point in labor, that happens without our control, even.  There's a point  after which a birthing woman can't get away from or out of the experience; she's no longer separate from it, and most of us, no matter who's watching, are going to do what we need to do with zero self-consciousness.

Aside from mother nature's modesty ban during labor, something tells me Marni has some practice at getting on with her experiences in front of an audience, sort of tuning them out, or not minding them at the very least. This may be a setting in which she feels totally comfortable. 

Not being able to judge her particular motives or intentions, I just want to say that this choice doesn't automatically indicate a lack of care for the baby, an unsafe choice, or a self-indulgent dedication to an artistic agenda over the needs of or feelings toward the child.  Viewing her child's life as art, even, doesn't mean she views the child as secondary to some other agenda. It may just very well mean that in a world where art is the best thing, the birth and life of her own child may be the creation most beautiful and most deserving of the title.  Life as art is nothing new, and what lives are more beautiful to us than the lives of our children? And what better wish could we have for our kids than that they live artfully: authentically; intentionally; free; engaged; enraptured; treating each day with passion, dedication and inspiration?

In Ina May Gaskin's book, Spiritual Midwifery (more on that later this week,) there is a birth story end with a similar stage approach (even if not intentional.)  The group who would eventually found The Farm was on the road, via caravan, from California, going to make their new home in Tennessee. Naturally, there were some pregnant women along for the journey. This is, in fact, how many of these women became midwives, by attending the births that occurred on the road. They all ended up receiving a lot of professional training, but their humble beginnings were in actual live births,  whereby their attendance was demanded out of necessity. One of the births happened while the group was pulled over at a university attending some sort of lecture. The woman went into labor in her trailer, and before she knew it, there was an audience. She felt herself to be a sort of performer at first, and was motivated by this to move her labor along with courage and bliss. Then she reached the point we all reach where we just don't care what's going on around us.  This worked for her (so ultimately for her baby), and benefited the audience.

Before making up your mind, read Marni's interview about it.

And... I can not WAIT to see what this child will be named.

 Not that Marni needs my help, but since I suggest creating baby name mood boards (kind of approaching the naming process in an artful sort of way,) we might be perfect naming cohorts.  I have, therefore, made some suggestions for her. Some of the choices are slightly random, but most are related to life, the real (Marni's work is centered on exploring what a real experience is), art, or performance:


Agnes
Artemis (I mean Art is right in it.)
Enid
Fawn
Clytie
Musidora
Rue
Rita
Concordia (the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. I think the concord and harmony of art and life makes this apt. and Concordia Kotak is awesome in sound.)
Lula (love this by way of Louisa or Talulah, or just on it's own)
Liv 
Beatrice, Beatha or Beata (Be Kodack? Being able to call her child Be seems pretty perfect)
Philomena 
Billow
Cliona
Reve
Lark
Vrai 
Verity
Vita
Rhapsode


Lively 
Umi (means 'life', amongst other thing, and works for either gender)
Cyprus


Earnest (so, so apt)
Thespis
Solon
Salamis
Cedar (seen here, thank you Sarah Winward)
Atlas
Rin
Jupiter
Arturo (Art)
Odin
Junius
Yesper
Salvador (just a fabulous name and Dali did performance art, too)
Clovis
Vito (a life infused name and one of her inspirations is Vito Acconci)




I would love to see a name that incorporates life or truth with art or performance:
Vito Thespis
Earnest Arturo
Umi Vrai
Enid Cleona


and based on sound alone (and solely from this list), I love: 
Agnes Lively 
Concordia Rue
Lark Philomena
Vita Rhapsode
Artemis Liv
Billow Beata
Talulah Reve (Lula)
Louisa Fawn (Lula or Lou)
Cyprus Musadora
Beatrice Cleone 
Earnest Salvador 
Clovis Rin
Junius Lively
Cedar Arturo


Best of luck to you, Marni! May you have a beautiful and fulfilling labor and birth in the place of your choice. And may some of your viewers walk away having been touched by the amazing and unforgettable experience of witnessing a live human birth!


Any names you'd add to the list, readers? Any middle names you think just sound lovely with the names on this list?

Any comments on this birth/performance choice? I always welcome lively discussion and divergent opinions!

(images: viewing painting, marni on beach, birth space)

Fates, Fruits, and Bubbies

I don't usually do personal posts here on Marginamia, but I just feel compelled this week. I am, after all, a mother, and you know we love to talk about our children!

My sweet Nona turned four (!!!!) this week. I can hardly believe it.

We had the loveliest day full of stories and memories and laughter and music and books and fingers full of strawberry icing.   We opened our windows to the fall air and watched children throw pretty, white balloons until they were exhausted and ready for more stories.

Nona has brought such joy into my life and into the world; to know her is truly to love her. I'm so excited to watch her life, to see what she creates, to witness her loving and dancing and discovering and giving and  surprising herself and just being awesome. I'm so tickled that I get to be a part of her amazing story. 

Since this is a blog all about creative endeavors, (and because mothers love to brag talk about all the things our children make and do,) I thought I'd put up some of her creations for this birthday tribute. 

Nona loves to make bouquets out of anything she can find; she hasn't met a plant she doesn't want to honor in a cup or vase.   I love to watch how proud she feels while she's making  and how ginger she is with the flowers. Each time she smells one, you'd think it was the first time anyone anywhere had sniffed a flower.  The photo up top with the dandelions and mushroom was my Mother's day surprise this year.  And she made me the the bouquet just below with rosemary from our back yard and it smelled wonderful. She picked the yellow flowers at the park and carefully tended them all the way home until she could get them into a cup. 

 She stares out this window a lot, so calm, pensive and serious, tapping those sweet little fingers on the window sill, every bird and butterfly triggering stories and queries. She really, really wonders about things, this one. There is nothing in this whole universe I love more than hearing the thoughts and questions that come after  one of her pondering sessions in that window. 

She also likes to make bead necklaces. I gave her two of my old gold chains linked together, some thick string in various colors, and a bowl full of all colors and sizes of beads to make herself some jewelry, but I think she's happiest when I'm wearing them. After modeling them, she informed me that they are, in fact, for me. Note how the beads go from small to big-- of course a child would do it that way! I love wearing them, too! 

Iggy Peck, Architect, by Andrea Beaty (brilliant illustrations by David Roberts) is a book we've been lucky to have available from our local library; now she finally has her own copy! Thank you, Aunt Bug!  The other books were ones that I have not had luck finding at the library, so she got them this year for her birthday. After opening and reading the books, I arranged them so we could enjoy the covers through her celebration!  I can't recommend these books enough, and the illustrations are so, so amazingly great:
For Just One day, by Laura Leuck, illustrated by Marc Boutavant
The Cat at Night, by Dahlov Ipcar
All Kinds of Families by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Marc Boutavant
Around the World with Mouk by Marc Boutavant (we like Marc's illustrations!)

A funny tidbit: I awoke on the big day to Nona sitting on the sofa covered in string and brown wrapping paper, most of her presents already opened. I thought I'd put them at a slightly taunting but unreachable height (not my brightest idea.) She was so proud that she had been able to get them down by standing on a chair and using a long spoon, and she genuinely thought I'd be glad for her. "Look, Mommy! I got a unicorn!"  And yes, I was glad for her.

Alright, enough of my gushing about a topic that quite possibly no one but me finds quite this interesting (thank you for indulging me.) On with the name list!

While I would never really suggest one of my children's names for anyone else, today I dedicate my post to my first born and use her names as the take off point for a list (her name belongs in each of the categories below, of course.)

Names inspired by The Fates from various traditions:
Decima
Morta
Clotho (the Greek equivalent of Nona)
Lachesis
Atropos
Moira
Delphi
Ananke
Nyx
Themis
Iliad
Fate
Coral
Fortunata


Plumish names:
Victoria
Mirabelle
Umeko
Ume
Luumu
Prune
Prunella 


Great names for babes born in October:
October
Opal
Hallow
Chrysanthemum
Autumn 
Aki
Akiko
Suzu
Orchard
Maple
Golden
Rosario
Cliona (a daughter of poet Libra. a bit of a stretch, but it's such a pretty name.)
There's also thesimilar sounding Cleone, which is totally unrelated, but too pretty not to mention.

Names used for grandmothers (both traditional and trendy), which I love for little girls' names (or little girls' nicknames):
Amma
Avo
Oma
Ona
Uma
Momo
Moma
Mimo
Mimi
Lola
Bomma
Yaya
Vovo
Bibi
Gigi
Lilo
Lally 
Soosa

What do think, readers-- Are there any grandmother or grandfather names you've heard being used out there that you think would be equally adorable on a little one?  Any fruit names you love? Your favorites from mythology? Any you'd love to see on babies born in Autumn?