Name Magpie, and Some News About the Blog

So it is now a few weeks into the start of the new year and it's time that I think of some goals for this little ol' blog of mine.

At the start of this new blog, I said that I was going to move all of the posts from the old blog into this one. You're probably wondering why that hasn't really happened yet. Well, long story short, I have been major-league sidetracked by real life stuff. And while I have been side-tracked, I have occasionally thought about that early promise, usually like this: "Please tell me that there's a better way to do this than manually copying and editing each post individually? Why did I convert to Paganism if it does not allow me to simply will these posts into existence using the power of my mind?" But, of course, there is no better way to do this other than manually. Sigh.

Alright then. I'll try to do at least two name profiles each month. I think that's manageable for me. They might be old ones or new ones, but they will be name profiles. Okay? Okay.

Now that I've got the official stuff out of the way, let's move on to the fun name-related stuff:

Zera. These first four names I found a new-ish blog that I've been eying for a while called Nothing Like a Name. It's Hebrew for "seeds" or "beginnings."

Frediano. An Italian name meaning "cold."

Cherith. It's Hebrew for "winter stream." I like that it sounds so similar to Cherish, which could also be used as a name.

Romet. A name from Estonia that might mean "joy."

Monami. I was looking for images of tattoos, and found a lovely tattooed mother goddess named Monami Frost. My thought process was, "Oh, is she part Japanese? Wait. No. It's French. Mon amie. Got it." After doing a little googling, I learned that it's actually both. In Japanese kanji it could mean a lot of things including "sprout," "billow," and "south." I am really digging this one. Maybe in a few years it'll be in my top 50.

Quilo. I found this one on Kate Lately, although I don't think it means what she think it means. My research indicates that it's a short form of Achilles. And you thought Mary to Polly was a bit of a stretch.

Rey. Hell, you all know where this name comes from. Obviously, I've heard the name Ray before, but it's the spelling that's new to me. This particular spelling is French for "king." Parents are naming their kids Rex these days, so why not?

The Best Books I Read in 2015

As you all could guess, I am a massive reader. Last year, I shared my favorite books that I read in 2014 and included a list of names from all of them. Now I'm back with this year's list.

So here were my favorite books of 2015:

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
City of Thieves by David Benioff
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Well I hated the ending, but that's another discussion.)
Wiccan Warrior by Kerr Cuhulain
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Ready Player One by Earnest Cline
Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Alice

Sally

Gillian

Owens

Antonia

Kylie

Jet

Fran

Ben

Gary

Patrick

Siobhan

Conor

David

Lev

Koyla

Vika

Shaun

Rudyard

Kipling

Mowgli

Akela

Raksha

Bagheera

Baloo

Hathi

Kaa

Shere Khan

Elizabeth

Gilbert

Alma

Prudence

Ambrose

Pike

Henry

Beatrix

Hanneke

Suzanne

Collins

Katniss

Peeta

Finnick

Kerr

Ransom

Jacob

Emma

Millard

Addison

Hugh

Deirdre

Althea

Enoch

Bronwyn

Olive

Claire

Fiona

Balenciaga

Wren

Sam

Esme

Caul

Erin

Celia

Marco

Isobel

Bailey

Penelope

Poppet

Winston

Widget

Tsukiko

Chandresh

Alexander

Prospero

Hector

Amanda

Palmer

Rachel

Seraphina

Orma

Lucian

Glisselda

Lars

Abdo

Okra

Earnest

Wade

Parzival

Samantha

Art3mis

Helen

Aech

Akihide

Toshiro

Daito

Shoto

Nolan

Ogden

Bryan

Katie

Lis

Arthur

Hazel

Max

My Favorite Names (40-31)

I'm happy with the positive feedback with the first part of this list! You guys rock!

Here's the next twenty names in my list, and keep in mind this is all just my opinion:

Girls #40. Peridot. The name of a gemstone that's known for being a light green color (and that is the only color it comes in). The light color of the stone reminds me of the spring, so this name gives me a cheerful, hopeful vibe without being too perky (witch's daughters names should not be perky).

Boys #40. Nicabar. I have to admit, I'm slightly embarrassed about this one. But I felt the list wouldn't be complete without it. It's a Romany name meaning "to steal" or "stealthy." I fell in love with this as a child. Would I use it for a son? Probably not, unless I look and him and he absolutely felt like a Nicabar.

Girls #39. Cypress. The cypress tree is a classical symbol of mourning and life after death. As odd as it is, if someone close to me died around the time I have a child, I would sooner use this name than an honor name.

Boys #39. Courage. I also love Brave, but bravery is not the same thing as courage. Courage comes from the Latin word cor, meaning "heart." So courage is being true to your heart. Lying to yourself and others about who you are so that you can "fit in" is extremely common. I want to teach my children the importance of honoring themselves. However, I don't really see this as a first name, so it would probably stay in the middle name slot.

Girls #38. Eponine. An invented French name given to us via Victor Hugo. It's based off of Epona, the name of the Gallo-Roman goddess of horses. I come from a big Broadway musical household and Les Miserables is one of those Broadway shows that I grew up with and always loved. I know a lot of name enthusiasts are all aflutter over Cosette's name, but it's too frilly for me and she's a really boring character. All she does is wait around for Marius! Eponine might be a tragic figure, but at least she stands up to her father and fights on the baricade.

Boys #38. Leveret. French for "young hare." This name was first introduced to me through a Nook of Names post about the Stonewylde series (which I still haven't read, but they are on my tbr pile). It would be a great name for a son born on Ostara.

Girls #37. Lavender. A botanical name that is also a color name. Lavender is commonly used in spells associated with healing and purification. I fell in love with it as a child after reading Matilda by Roald Dahl. It's also a Harry Potter name, but that character is not as great. Purple is my favorite color, so there's that too.

Boys #37.  March. The only month name I really love (although July and November are also very nice). I like the subtle reference to the god Mars, without actually naming a child Mars. Another great Ostara name.

Girls #36. River. A lovely water name that's more popular and familiar than some of the other names on this list. This name also has a lot of nerdy references attached to it, so there's that. This name is rated #453 for girls and #287 for boys, so I feel like it's much fresher for girls.

Boys #36. Llew. A Welsh name with a very complicated etymology. If you live in the modern Pagan world, the name Llewellyn is everywhere. Llewellyn Worldwide is probably the biggest publisher of Pagan 101 related literature. I jumped back and forth a lot, but I've decided that I like Llew (it sounds like Lou) better. It just feels cleaner.

Girls #35. Demeter. Greek for "earth mother." She's the Greek version of Ceres, who's name was already mentioned in this countdown. Demeter has a very serious, queenly energy to it that I love.

Boys #35. Revere. Back when we were all gushing over the names of Rebecca Wolfe's twin girls, she shared that if they had been boys they would have been named Vox and Revere. I latched on to both of them (if this list was going up to #60, Vox would be on it). It's a quite dashing virtue name.

Girls #34. Clove. What was that I said before about all of my favorite names sounding like Hunger Games characters? This is also a botanical name. The plant is commonly used in spells meant to attract good luck and prosperity. There are other great associations I have with this name: the tropical lands on which it grows, delicious chai, and the fact that it's one letter off from "love."

Boys #34. Falco. Latin for "falcon." You might notice a theme with the falcon/hawk names on this list. My last name, Vega, is connected to eagles (there's one on the family crest). My first name is Isadora, "gift of Isis," and hawks are one of the patron animals of the goddess Isis. So it makes sense that I feel like my future family would be very connected to falcons.

Girls #33. Augusta. Latin for "to increase," "great," or "venerable." I love a great Roman ruler name, and that's certainly what this is. I'm actually shocked that this is not in the top 1,000. I mean, August, Augustus, and Augustin all are, so what's holding this one back? Not that I'm complaining.

Boys #33. Caspian. I notice this one shows up on a lot of favorite lists. It's a very cool name. But this name is low on my list because, again, I don't really have a relationship with the literary source material it's best known from. I haven't read Prince Caspian. I guess it could also be a travel name because of the Caspian Sea, and that's kind of how I justify it. But I've never actually been to the Caspian Sea either. So while I do love it, it feels like an empty choice.

Girls #32. Phoenix. Greek for "dark red" and the name of a famous mythical bird. This one is rated #494 for girls and #355 for boys and, again, I think it just feels fresher for girls. There's a rock-and-roll-goddess vibe to it that I really like.

Boys #32. Romulus. Latin for "of Rome." Romulus is the mythical founder of Rome along with his brother Remus, and they're well known for having been raised by a wolf early in life. So it's another great Roman ruler name. This used to be my number one boys name, but it's taken quite a hit since then.

Girls #31. Rumi. Japanese for "water," "beauty," or "lapis lazuli." Like a lot of nerds, I have an affection for the Japanese culture. There aren't a lot of Japanese names on my favorites list (not all of them translate well into the Western world), but this is one that I could definitely see using for a daughter.

Boys #31. Sylvan. Latin for "woods" or "forest." This name is in the same family as Sylvester and Sylvia, but is a lot less known. "Sylvan glen" is my favorite phrase in the English language, and the connection between my witchy-ness and the forest should be obvious.

Onward to the next twenty names...

Name Profile: Ivy

Along with Holly and Mistletoe, Ivy has long been a traditional symbol of the Winter Solstice. There is even a popular Christmas carol meaning it, "The Holly and the Ivy." But the plant's significance predates the story of Mary and Jesus.

Ivy (pronounced "EYE-vee") comes from the Old English language and it means...well, "ivy." It's hard to believe, but the Christian church once tried to ban ivy due to it's Pagan associations. Ivy is an evergreen vine that was the symbol of eternal life and rebirth among early Northern pagans, due to it's resilience and it's ability to produce berries during the time of year when no other plant is bearing fruit. It's a plant that needs to be closely monitored, because it will pretty much grow anywhere, taking over the sides of buildings and smothering plants. It was also the symbol of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and wine-related debauchery. Ivy used to be placed outside the door of vintner's shops because of this.

The ivy plays a big role in at least two Roman myths. One involves Zeus and his illicit lover Semele. When Hera found out that the two were fooling around she was furious, but she decided to be clever. She suggested to Zeus that he should reveal his true form to Semele. When he did so, his divine flames consumed her and almost killed her unborn child, the god Dionysus. The only thing that saved them was a sudden growth of ivy. In another story, a nymph named Kissos dances for Dionysus. But she does so with such energy that she collapses and dies from exhaustion. In his grief, Dionysus transforms her into ivy.

The Celtic Tree Month of Ivy takes place from September 30th to October 27th. It's Celtic name is Gort. The month of ivy is considered a good time to practice magick that has to do with rebirth, but also for controlling emotion, healing, protection, exorcism, and fertility. Ivy is also equated with fidelity, and is used in binding charms for love.

There are many other beliefs surrounding this plant. There is an old tradition of brides wearing crowns of ivy. This was done for protection, but also think about how ivy grows. It twines and clings hard to buildings and trees. So the ivy was meant to symbolize a strong union. There are also some superstitions surrounding ivy and death. Should ivy not grow on a grave, it is a sign that the burried's soul is restless. But if a woman's grave is covered in ivy, it means that she died of a broken heart. This plant was used to make crowns worn by poets because it was believed that it would give them divine inspiration. The leaves of ivy are in the shape of a five-pointed star, very similar to the Wiccan Pentagram.

Despite all of that, this name's "witchiness" is not super apparent. In America, Ivy is a common girl's name that has never left the girl's top 1000 and is currently at it's most popular at #146. So this name doesn't stand out in a crowd of non-Pagans, but the person who has it will know of it's deeper significance. There was also a time that Ivy was a well used boy's name. It fell out of the top 1000 for boys in 1936. To be fair, the ivy plant has always been associated with femininity. But to be honest, I think this could sound charming on a boy.

A thoughtful, name-loving modern Pagan would use the name of a plant in the hopes that either a child or his/herself would gain the virtues associated with it. So, what qualities does the ivy plant represent? Resilience, fidelity, the protective powers of love, divine inspiration...all good things. Despite it's ever growing popularity, there is really no good reason not to consider it.

Some Name Combos:

Ivy Winter

Ivy Evelyn

Ivy Hathor

Ivy Cosmina

James Ivy

Related Names:

Iva

Ivo

Ivie

Ivey

Ivalyn

Kissos (Greek for "ivy")

Hedera (the plant's scientific name)

My Favorite Names (50-41)

A while ago, there was a theme going on amongst the name vloggers on youtube. They were each making a list of their top 50 favorite names for boys and girls. I immediately thought, "I want to try!"

I'm a name lover. I don't have one or two favorite names, I have hundreds. This was a good exercise in separating the wheat from the chaff and asking the question, "If I were having a child right now, which names would I be campaigning for?"

Have you ever tried ranking your favorites? It's really hard to do. I'm also a little nervous about sharing this list because I like odd names and those always seem to invite derision. But a lot of people like to see other's favorite name lists, and posts of my favorites were always popular back on the old blog. So hopefully, you can appreciate this journey into my thought process.

So let's start, shall we?

Girl #50. Anais. Let's start with a name that I keep going back and forth on. Anais is widely thought to be a variation of Anna, but it might be more likely to come from the name of the Persian goddess of love. But I love this name because of Anais Nin. If you don't know who that is, she was a famous author who was very forward thinking in terms of sexuality and was something of a feminist quotation generation machine. The only thing that I can't get over is the pronunciation. I've listened to recordings of people saying it over and over again and I still go, "What?"

Boy #50. Oleander. This is low on my list because it's a very new favorite. It's a flower name, which is interesting because there aren't very many of those that work for guys. The plant has a bit of a dark connotation because it is very poisonous (kind of like Belladonna and Hemlock). But if I wasn't comfortable with dark connotations, I wouldn't be Wiccan. Leander doesn't work for me for some reason, but Oleander I love.

Girl #49. Violante. This name belongs in the same family as Viola, Yolanda, and Iolanthe, so you could probably guess what it means. It's a very old Italian name used by royalty in the Medieval period. It is a little on the long side, so it probably would make a better middle name.

Boy #49. Rohan. Sanskrit for "ascending." Because I love to travel, I love a lot of names from other countries. This name is rated #633 in America currently. The reason why it's not more highly rated on my list is because of the Tolkien association. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against nerdy names (which will become apparent the more you read this list). It's just that I've never read The Lord of the Rings. If I'm going to pick a nerdy name, I would like to have a relationship with the source material.

Girl #48. Maeve. An Irish Gaelic name meaning "she who intoxicates." My favorite names are heavily influenced by my Spanish and Italian heritage, but not my Irish heritage so much. That's usually because of the pronunciation issues, but I don't have that problem with Maeve. I love this name because of Queen Maeve from Irish mythology, and Queen Mab of the faeries. The reason it's so low is because I've been noticing it being used a lot, which makes a name lose it's magic for me. It's currently ranked at #482 in the United States. It's not quite at my cut off point in terms of popularity but it's getting there.

Boy #48. Yule. Yule is obviously the name of the winter solstice celebration. I seem to remember loving this name for a very long time, but I'm not sure exactly what the catalyst was. Why is it so low on my list? Because I wouldn't name a son Yule unless he was born around Yuletide. I mean, I could, just like you could name a child Easter or Autumn regardless of their birthdays. But I don't love this name enough to use it just because.

Girl #47. Remedios. Spanish for "remedy." Remedios Varo is the name of one of my favorite painters. I first saw her work at a traveling exhibition in the National Museum of Women in the Arts and I instantly fell in love with her name and her work. Even in Spanish speaking countries, this name is pretty rare. One of the drawbacks of this name is that it's one of the names of the Virgin Mary. But Catholic overtones is really hard to get away from with Spanish names, so I forgive it somewhat. Another problem is that it's a lot of syllables. It's probably better middle name material.

Boy #47. Sirius. Latin for "burning," this is the name of the "dog star" in the constellation Canis Major. It's also the name of one of my favorite Harry Potter characters. This is kind of a hard name to pair with, it always looks like I'm talking about a serious *insert name here.* It would probably stay in the middle slot.

Girl #46. Ceres. A Roman goddess name meaning "to grow." It sounds like "series," which bothered me for a while, but I've come around. Something you're going to notice as I go through my list is that I'm definitely more into Katniss names than Hermione names. Seriously, almost all of these sound like they could be a character in The Hunger Games. I'm all about huntress names over princess names. And Ceres is definitely huntress-y.

Boy #46. Oberon. A name meaning "elf power." Most people know that this is a name from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's a very strong sounding name that satisfies my Pagan-y and literary criteria.

Girl #45. Muse. In mythology, the muses are goddesses of creative inspiration. I assume that most name nerds would prefer that I just pick one of the muses, but I love this name because of it's meaning as a verb: "to ponder" or "to think." I consider this a virtue name because I would encourage my daughters to be curious and question things. It would probably stay as a middle name candidate, though.

Boy #45. Kit. This is another new name on my favorites. For a while my opinion on this name was, "That's really cool. What does it mean? Oh, it's a nickname for Christopher? Pass." So why did I change my mind? Because a kit is also the name for a baby fox. I happen to really like foxes, both in real life and in mythology. Yeah, that does mean that it would have the same vibe that Fawn would (which would be on this list if I was doing my top #60 favorite names for girls), but I don't really care.

Girl #44. Primevere. French for "primrose." It was used during the Middle Ages, or at least I think it was. I don't see it on DMNES. So I might be wrong. Anyway, primroses are commonly used for love spells, so it's a nice name to use for a child born near Lupercalia or Beltane. I've always been kind of "meh" about Primrose, but I love Primevere.

Boy #44. Onyx. This is a type of gemstone that symbolizes protection and emotional healing. And although it can come in a variety of colors, it's most widely known for being black. I see this more on girl's name lists, and it would be good for a girl too. But it feels like more of a boy's name to me.

Girl #43. Ocean. A great water element name that, to me, feels very peaceful. I consider this a travel name because you often have to cross oceans to get to new, exciting places.

Boy #43. Archer. Whether we're talking about Katniss, Robin Hood, or Artemis, there's just something cool about archers. When I bounced this name off my mother she wrinkled her nose and said it was too "old money." She pictured Draco Malfoy, basically. I don't see it that way at all. I picture the heroes of old. I'm even starting to warm up to it as a girl's option. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that Archer is the new Hunter. At number #303 it's dangerously close to my cut-off point in terms of popularity, and I think it's just going to get even more popular.

Girl #42. Kestrel. This is the name of a type of falcon. This name is also on my boy's list, so I'll talk more about it when it pops back up again.

Boy #42. Sabin. It's a form of the Italian name Sabino. The Sabines were a tribe of people that played a big part in the founding of Rome. There's only one big problem: it was my grandpa's name. I would not necessarily mind naming a son after my grandpa. I loved my grandpa and he was a great guy. But honor names is a bit of an emotionally charged subject with my father and my other grandpa. And I hate the names from their side of the family (their naming style is "conservative Irish Catholic") so naming children after them will not be happening. If I were to name a son Sabin, I fear I would have a lot of passive aggressive guilt tripping on my hands. It's sad, but that's why I'm anti-family names.

Girl #41. Sitara. This is a Hindu name meaning "star," but I'm sure that there are other origins. When I first heard this name, I thought it was related to the sitar. You know, the musical instrument. If you think you don't know what a sitar is, listen to "Within You and Without You" by The Beatles. The nerd in me also likes that it sounds like Katara.

Boy #41. Gryphon. An English name meaning "lord" or "prince," and is also the name of a mythical creature. This is a name that I've loved for a long time. I read the Griffin and Sabine trilogy when I was way too young to be reading them and got hooked. Griffin now rates at #241, so it's technically out of my comfort zone. So I fell in love with a respelling because I'm not above being a hypocrite. Yes, I know that using a different spelling does not make it more unique. But it can make it feel fresher.

Hope you enjoyed that! Stay tuned for the rest of the countdown...

Blast from the Past: Mili

Illustration by Maurice Sendak

I've said before that I have trouble remembering the names I loved as a child. But after I wrote the post for Kiyomi, I remembered another name that I'm surprised I forgot: Mili.

My youthful obsession with this name came from the underrated Maurice Sendak classic Dear Mili. The story is a retelling of an obscure Brothers Grimm tale. Mili is a young girl who is forced to separate from her mother and flee into the woods. She stays in the forest for three days, befriending all sorts of characters. But when she gets home...well, I won't give away the ending because this is not a well known fairy tale. Sendak's illustrations are gorgeous, of course. It also has some Holocaust imagery in it, which totally flew over my head as a child. I don't think this book is still in print, but if you can find a copy I definitely recommend it. It was my favorite book as a child.

Unlike Kiyomi, I can see this name catching on. For one thing it's incredibly multicultural: it's Hindu, it's Hebrew, it's Japanese, it's Nordic, it's a nickname for Wilhelmina and Millicent, the list goes on. Mili also has a very current sound, similar to Maddie and Hattie. So if this name popped on the charts it would not surprise me. It's probably going to be spelled Millie, though.

As for me, this name is no longer amongst my favorites. It's a little too nickname-y for me. But Mili is probably the name that kicked off my name obsession, so it's still important to me.

Name Magpie: End of Summer

This post is a little late in the month, isn't it? But it's better late than never, right? Here's some new names that have been on my mind lately:

Primarosa. I've been searching for new names on pinterest, and this one came up. You don't need to speak Spanish well in order to figure out that this means "first rose." This name is also a form of Primrose.

Corabella. Another pinterest find. I think this smoosh-name could catch on. The Bellas are hot right now and Coraline is rising up the charts.

Aegyptus. Yet another pinterest find. Aegyptus is a king from Greek-conquered-Egyptian mythology.

Loxo. Roses and Cellar Doors had a post on Triple Goddesses, and a lot of these are new to me. This is the name of one of Artemis' archery attendants. Her name means "angling."

Thallo. Thallo is one of the Horae, Greek goddesses of the seasons. Her name means "blossom."

Romola. This name was invented by George Elliot for her novel set in Florence. It seems very obviously inspired by Romulus.