Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Names

The other day I stumbled upon a list of names that we were considering for "our kids" before we went to Ukraine. Liana was in the room when I found it, and she asked me to read them to her. The list also had the name meanings on it, and she was tickled to see her own name at the top of the "Girls" list. I was happy to tell her that her name meant "My God has answered me" and then with her middle name it meant "with a Valentine." She instantly said, "YES, He DID answer me with a Valentine! YOU!" I hadn't considered that she'd think it meant that God had answered her too! I instantly teared up, and we had a big ol' hug-fest right there on the spot. What a sweetie!

Then, Liana insisted that we show her brother and sister the list, and showed them what their names meant. (Though Aleksandra's name was in the boy column, because I had figured we'd have two boys, and have an Adam and an Aleksander.) Anyway, when I told Adam his name meant, "Man who is like God" he just beamed. Then Aleksa asked what her name meant. It means "Defender of Mankind" (and then her middle name has to do with the Greek God Zeus.) Anyway, when she heard her own name meaning, she grimaced and said, "Mama, can we pick something different?"

Lol. Nope! (Poor Girl!)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sharon Zinaida. Um. Nuh-uh. Aleksandra Zinaida is much better. Kinda. ;O) (There wasn't a whole lot we could do about her middle name. It was non-negotiable that we keep her birthname as her middle name. Even if it were Zinaida. She'll like it some day. Right?) But really though, she does have an exotic princess name as is! "Princess Aleksandra Zinaida" (That's pronounced "Zee-nigh-YEE-duh" btw) I'd believe someone if they told me that was some princess' name. Now, if they said the princess' name was "Princess Sharon Zinaida," I might not be so sure.... ;O)

Anonymous said...

Okay, you guys are really too funny!

btw- Mom wanted to name me Xenia when I was born- Dad (who isn't Ukrainian) put the brakes on that one.

Xenia Pacosa-Sicilian- how's THAT for a mouth full!

xo Lisa S. :)

Anonymous said...

I guess it sounds about as good as Princess Shally Ann. (Remember when Grandma called me Shally Ann?) *shudder*

Soap Box Topic:
What is it btw, with America's affinity for stupid middle names? Ann, Lynn, Lee, Sue, etc. are those dumb little names that never meant a thing to the parents other than they "sound good" with the chosen first name.

I really like other countries' customs of using a patronymic or the mothers' maiden name. At least our names would MEAN something then! I think we dropped the ball by not picking up those traditions in naming our kids. Dontcha think?