What’s in a Name?

Today, since I’ve been submerged in welcoming a new baby for the past week, I’ve decided to focus on a new subject as a sort of digression.

Did you know Italians have name days? It’s true. Not only do Italians celebrate their birth day, they also celebrate their name day. And since I’m half Italian, I decided this year to implement the name day policy in our home.

My name day is June 29, in honor of St. Peter the Apostle. The only celebration for my name day this year was me mentioning to Vickey while I shaved that ‘today is my name day.’ That was as far as it went. (I guess Vickey didn’t pick up on the hint to make me a cake and host a celebration. And since she was 9 months pregnant, I’m willing to let her off the hook this time.)

Dominic’s name day is January 22, in memory of Domenico, a Benedictine abbot who died in 1031. And coincidentally, January 22 is my brother’s and one of my best friend’s birthdays. We’ll be sure to celebrate for little Dominic on January 22 next year.

Unfortunately there wasn’t information on name days for Vickey or Eliana. The origin of name days is based on patron saints and I didn’t uncover any patron saints named Vickey or Eliana.

As for name meanings, Eliana is from the Roman family name Aelianus, which was derived from the Greek word helios, meaning sun. Meanings we’ve found for Eliana include daughter of the sun and daughter of light.

Dominic is from the Latin name Dominicus and means of the Lord or belonging to the Lord. The name was traditionally given to a child born on a Sunday. Even though our Dominic was born on a Thursday, we’re still grateful and know he’s a gift from the Lord.

Peter is derived from the Greek petros, meaning stone. Hard as a rock, bey-bay (this pronunciation of baby is courtesy of our Indian dry cleaning lady).

Vickey is a pet form of Victoria, an English name and feminine form of Victorius or Victor. Our friend Tracy frequently calls Vickey Ms. Vickey. I think we should teach her to use proper English and address her as Ms. Victoria. Sounds regal, doesn’t it?

And as for Sir Tank Thunderpaw…we created the name just for him to match his very large puppy paws and grey/silver color, like a royal knight. Now he’s just a royal nightmare. Just kidding…really, we love Tank in our own dysfunctional, neurotic way. He is a weimaraner after all!

So there’s some food for thought as you consider what’s in a name.

[Name meanings gathered from various internet searches.]