Names

The twins are doing brilliantly with their talking.  They have recently learnt their "big names" and now recite them on a regular basis.  They still pronounce Violet, "Yiyat", but otherwise are getting pretty nifty.

Violet Grace Lucille

Ivy Elisabeth Clare

Rosabel Mary Ethel

We're often asked about where these lovely names came from.  Usually, by the time I've stopped talking, people wish they'd never asked, because, well, I love this kind of shizzle.  Put simply, they constitute an infusion of homages to important mothers:  biological mothers and grandmothers, 'mother' nature, and the blessed Theotokos, Mary the mother of God.  For a more detailed analysis, keep reading...

FIRST NAMES - MOTHER NATURE

Violet is a name that Ailsa has liked for a long time.  It is the name of a character from one of Ailsa's favourite childhood books called - wait for it -, "Ivy Cottage", by E. J. Taylor.  Violet is a beautiful word to say and listen to.  I like the way its three syllables flow into each other, giving the impression of triplets over two quavers.

Ivy is the name of my late paternal Grandmother, who died before I was born but for whom I have always had great affection.  Like Violet, Ivy was a very popular Victorian and Edwardian floral name, and is another beautiful word to say.  The twins' names fit perfectly together in so many ways.  The obvious VI-IV mirror reminds me of their genetic identity but also their many undeniable differences.  The reference to the Roman numerals for 6 and 4 is not intended but I'd be very interested if anyone can read anything into them?!

Rosabel is, well, several things.  First of all, it grew from my thoughts: a simple contraction of Rose and Belle, which a quick Googling will show to be not without precedent.  The name Rose, like Violet and Ivy, has floral connotations, but unlike violets and ivy, roses are often grown and presented as a single flower.  Rose reminds us of the name Rosemary, which has an honoured place in both our families.  The rose is also an historic symbol of England, particularly the beautiful counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire, where our families come from.  Rosabel was born in the same year that a great Yorkshireman, Uncle Melvyn, passed away, and whilst we couldn't call her 'Melvyn', she will always remind me of the joys and sadness of the final months of his life.  The 'bel part of Rosabel is simply an Anglicisation of belle, 'beautiful' in French, an extravagance on my part and a way of differentiating her from all the other Rosey people in our lives.  The rose, or Mystical Rose, has long been a symbol of Mary the Mother of God, another motherly presence in the names of our children:

SECOND NAMES - MOTHER OF GOD

Violet's second name is Grace.  This takes us right back to the story of the Annunciation in Luke's Gospel, when the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary the incarnation of God:  "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee", which forms the first line of the Hail Mary prayer.

After Mary humbly agreed to carry the Christ child, she hurried to be with her cousin, Elisabeth, who was also pregnant with a precious child, who would be John the Baptist.  He leapt for joy in Elisabeth's womb when Mary approached carrying his Lord.  Elisabeth said to Mary, "Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus.", the second line of the Hail Mary.  Elisabeth is Ivy's second name.

Both Grace and Elisabeth, then, remind us of the wonder and beauty of pregnancy and new life, and in particular the story of Our Lady's journey from fear to joy as she embraced God's will to bring Christ to His people.

Rosabel's second name, then, is Mary itself.  Mary, in its various forms (from the Hebrew, Miryam) is a very popular name amongst Catholics, and is often taken as a second name by nuns and monks of many religious orders as a way of honouring Our Lady and asking for her intercession.  We would probably have given Mary as a second name for our first born daughter, but since we had two (!) first born daughters, we saved the name for Rosabel.  Mary is a very precious name in Ailsa's family as the name of Ailsa's maternal and paternal grandmothers.  Mary Kennedy sadly passed away not long before Rosabel was born, and it is a great privilege for Rosabel to take her great-granny's name.  That brings us nicely to the girls' third names, which are all names of matriarchs, past and present:

THIRD NAMES - GRANDMOTHERS

Our mothers and grandmothers are unquestionably the most important people on the planet.  They have given us the incredible, generous gift of life, have nurtured us and loved us and guided us with their wisdom.  Violet's third name is Lucille, after Ailsa's mum; Ivy's third name is Clare, after my mum; Rosabel's third name is Ethel, after my maternal grandmother, and our other grandmothers have been accounted for already:  Ivy is named after my paternal grandmother, and Mary is the name of both of Ailsa's.

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So there we have it.