Category Archives: Naming Stories

Like your name, so are you.

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I recently read this quote that is in the Bible about names:

Like his name, so is he.

At 10 years old you have shown me that you have grown into all that your name means and more.  When your father and I chose your name, no one knew that 10 years later I would be a Baby Name Expert (it would seem that the day that you were born was the beginning of many things for me too).

In choosing your name we followed our tradition and named you for people that we loved who had passed away. Your first name, Hannah is for my mother’s best friend, Heather Ann. Heather passed away shortly after your father and I met and they never had the chance to meet each other. I can tell you though, that I was so happy that she knew that your father was special and it made her very happy. My mother used to say, to know Heather is to love her. That was true of her and it is true of you. Heather was warm, kind and generous. She lit up the room. I would describe you, Hannah, the same way.

Your middle name, James, is for both of my grandfathers. I never knew my father’s father, he passed away not long after my parents met. My mother’s father, however, I knew so well and I was crazy about him. He was fun to be around and always had candy in pockets. He was a deeply religious man, who went to synagogue every Saturday and a few mornings a week before he went to work. He was a hard -working man who took great pride in his business.  He was a tailor. One of my most vivid memories are the costumes that he would make himself for Halloween.  He spent hours at this sewing machine sewing together patches of fabric to make these crazy suits. What I loved the most about him is how much he loved his family – we were everything to him. He adored my grandmother since the day they met when they were teenagers.

Me and my Zadie Joe (James)

Your Hebrew name, Chana, of course, is the Hebrew version of Hannah, but more than that, it was my grandmother’s Hebrew name. My father’s mother loved to be with her family. She had 5 brothers and sisters and they were all very close. My father grew up with strong family ties, great relationships and respect for his Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. One of my favourite memories of our wedding day was seeing my father dancing with all of his cousins. I remember my grandmother as a loving and warm woman with a fantastic sense of humor and a great laugh.

And finally, your last name, Alper. While we did not choose it for you, I want to tell you a bit about what it means to me. Even after having been married for more than 12 years, when people call me “Mrs. Alper”, I think that they are talking about your grandmother. You are blessed to have this name because you share it with your grandparents and with your father and me. What the four of us have in common is that we have strong marriages and relationships. To each of us, there is nothing more important than each other and our children.  One of my greatest wishes for you is that one day (a very long time from now) your husband will be the love, strength, partnership and companionship that your father is for me, and that his parents are for each other. That is what Alper means to me.

We drove by Alper Street one day and we knew we had to take a photo. We drove down the street looking for a sign that was not on a major street and came across this one, Allgood Street. This is us. Alper/Allgood.

It is with the greatest love and joy, that I wish you Happy 10th Birthday. I’m looking forward to the next 10 years! And the 10 after that. And the 10 after that. And the 10 after that. As Bubbie Sarah would say, “Until 120″.

 

Introducing Carter and Cash ~ Mom draws inspiration from The Man in Black

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Things that I love: family, music and baby names that have a great story behind them.  When I met Christella Morris, whose blog is called Crawl The Line, Mom of two boys named Carter and Cash, I knew that this was a story that I needed to hear.Christella is a fan of music and since she was a little girl, loved Johnny Cash, whose music she came to love through her grandmother who raised her from an infant. Long since before she had kids, she knew the names she was going to choose for them, regardless of their gender – Carter and Cash.

Giving these names to her boys goes deeper than paying tribute to The Man in Black and his wife, June.  “I think their story, their relationship, is a great example of overcoming every obstacle to find yourself in another person. Johnny in particular overcame so many things: hardships, addiction, his past, to become a widely known and critically acclaimed artist. He had the ultimate comeback in music. I think their life and family is a great example of sticking to what you want, no matter how hard it gets.” It’s not just about the music, it’s who they were as people and a couple that also inspired her.

It came as no surprise to her family and close friends that she chose these names and for the most part, when she introduces her boys together as “Carter and Cash”, people immediately make the connection.  Sometimes, she notes, “about ten minutes into a conversation they’ll stare blankly for a minute and then be like ‘ohhhh I get it!’”

The name of Christella’s blog, that she started while pregnant with Cash, is likewise inspired by Johnny Cash. A friend had given her some onesies that said “Crawl The Line”, a reference to the movie about Johnny and June “Walk The Line”.  She explains, “When I was coming up with names for the blog, Crawl The Line was so fitting since being a parent is teaching your children how to walk the balance of life, or “walk the line.” We also all start with crawling, so it doubles as a cute name that suits my kids perfectly and a metaphor for us growing together.”

A big question that I posed to Christella was about what would she name a third baby? While she admits that she thinks that their family of four is complete, you can “never say never.” Since all of their names start with a “C” – her husband’s name is Colin – she’ll start there.  Christella and Colin both share a love of music and so thinking about naming another baby, they go down that path with the following ideas: Crosby ( paying tribute to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), Chanson, pronounced Chan-Son (“Song” in French) and Cecilia (Simon & Garfunkel song.)

Other musically inspired names that we have come across at Name Your Tune include:

  1. Jagger
  2. Hendrix
  3. McCartney
  4. Lennon
  5. Jude
  6. Marley
  7. Cohen
  8. Presley
  9. Dylan
  10. Caroline

As sure as night is dark and day is light, I keep my eyes wide open all the time for your story on baby names.

Email me with YOUR story at candace@nameyourtune.com

 

About Christella:

A twenty-something blogger and marketing maven extraordinaire, Christella loves all things teal, especially when they’re from the dollar store! Christella has two boys only 18 months apart, Cash (2) and Carter (8 months) and writes daily on her blog Crawl The Line. Her family is also currently in the midst of filming a show airing January 2013 on the Oprah Winfrey Network, Million Dollar Neighbourhood. You can find Christella on Twitter @Christella_Says

A Name Story ~ When everything falls into place

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I met Chrystina and her son Lev at The Babytime Show last spring. We had a long talk about his name and the meaning behind it. I have held on to this special name story to share at just the right moment. With Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought the timing was perfect to share the story about how little Lev was given his name, as told by his Mom:

Here’s the story behind our son, Lev’s, name. I must admit, it’s a good one :)

A little background on my husband and I. My husband Aaron is Canadian with German and Irish blood (mixed with some Native American and Canadian Indian on both sides), although his family has been here since the 1700′s. I was born in Canada, but blood-wise, I am 100% Ukrainian. My father is from Lviv, the Western, patriotic capital of Ukraine and all my grandparents are also from Western Ukraine.

Several of Aaron’s male relatives bear the name Richard, so we knew from the start that our baby boy’s middle name would be Richard.
We wanted a Ukrainian first name for our son.  We wanted to honour my heritage and it would allow for a traditional name that—in Canada—would be unique.  We didn’t want something different just for the sake of being different. Our top four choices were: Nykolai, Roman, Theodore (pronounced TEH-OH-DOOR) and Lev.  We couldn’t decide on one name because we loved them all, so I proceeded to research each name, starting with Lev.

I speak Ukrainian, so I already knew that Lev means ‘lion’ in Ukrainian.  This is partly why Lev was on our list: our son is a Leo and my husband and I LOVE animals, especially cats.  I also knew that the city that my father’s from—Lviv—is named after the founder’s son, Lev Halytsky.  A quick online search revealed that Lev means ‘heart’ in Hebrew, an undisputedly beautiful word, which appeals to the yogi side of my character.  My spiritual and yogi friends also adore how Lev also sounds a lot like ‘love’.  My online search also revealed that Lev is short for Leviticus (as in the Book of Leviticus in the Old Testament) and the Leviticus priesthood is descended from none other than Moses’s brother, Aaron.  This fact took my breath away: ‘This is unbelievable’ I thought to myself, ‘Lev is descended from Aaron and Aaron’s my husband’s name!’

I called my husband immediately and shared with him this amazing information.  It’s at this point that we decided we’d name our son Lev.  “If we don’t”, we thought to ourselves, “surely we’d get struck down by lightening.”  It was a nice touch that naming our son Lev Richard (in other words, the ‘lion-hearted’ Richard) would also reflect my husband’s love of Medieval history.

 Fast-forward to three-and-a-half-months after my son’s birth.  I was reading Eat, Pray, Love and Elizabeth Gilbert was explaining how in the Balinese culture it is not the your birth date that’s important, rather it’s the day of the week that you are born that bears significance.  She used Thursday as an example.  This piqued my interest because Lev was born on a Thursday.  Gilbert explains a bit about Thursday’s child and she goes on to say that he has two guiding animal spirits—the lion and the tiger.  This floored me!  Not only is Lev a Leo, but—according to the Chinese calendar—he’s a tiger!  What’s more, he was born in 2010 and this was an auspicious year in that it was the year of the white tiger, which happens only ever 60 years.

So that’s my humble story of my Little Lev’s not-so-humble name. I don’t think I have to tell you that we’re stumped for names should there be a baby number two!

 

I love a good name story! Are you ready to share yours? Email me at candace@nameyourtune.com.

I would love to make a monthly feature sharing your stories here.