Wednesday and Thursday nights at our house are all about American Idol.

Eric makes his famous popcorn as Hannah cheers on for her favourite Idols.
This week the Idol stage was missing perhaps one of it’s most dynamic
and passionate performers of Season 10 – Naima.

My daughter, Hannah, is 8 years old and has been watching American Idol with
us for the past couple of years. If there is a common thread in the
contestants that she roots for, it is that they are parents. Last year her
pick was Crystal Bowersox, mom to a toddler. This year, from the very
start, she favoured mom of 2, Naima Adedapo.

Her personal life aside, we loved to watch her take to the stage to “make it
her own”. She put all of herself into each song and she was a joy to watch
because it was more than a song, it was a performance. Everytime, she was
undeniably “Naima”.

Being an avid connoisseur of all things to do with names, my most memorable
Naima moment came from an interaction between her and Idol judge, Jennifer
Lopez.

“You’re like an exotic flower in a rose garden,” J-Lo told her. Naima’s
surprised and proud response: “That’s what my name means!” Jennifer
responded, “that’s exactly what you are.”

In an interview Naima shared that she was named after a ballad by jazz
composer John Coltrane. He wrote the song Naima for his daughter and
named it for his wife, Juanita Naima Grubbs. Additional searches for the
meaning of her name found that her name is of Arabic origin and means
delight and contentedness.

When parents choose names for their babies, they often consider the origin
and meaning behind them. When you choose a name based on what it means, you hope that in some small way, it has an impact on who they become. For Naima Adedapo, it clearly did.