Our third baby girl, [name_u]Vesper[/name_u] [name_u]Eloise[/name_u] arrived on [name_f]Monday[/name_f], 12th [name_f]September[/name_f] via c-section, both my partner and the baby are recuperating well, though still in hospital. So far [name_u]Vesper[/name_u] is not much of a crier, but she has big owl-like eyes and when she looks at us, it’s as though she’s lived thousands of years already… But I’m superstitious like that, LOL.
The story of her first name, [name_u]Vesper[/name_u], goes back to my childhood when I would accompany my very Catholic grandparents to evening mass. I remember the small chapel we went being very cozy and peaceful, soft yellow lights, candles and soft and beautiful singing from the nuns. Despite not being affiliated to any religions, that part of my childhood really helped to shape me and I have found that those are the elements I have come to lean to when in the process of naming our kids.
[name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] means ‘she who brings happiness’, but taken from it’s Latin sources of Viatrix or [name_f]Beata[/name_f] it can mean voyager or blessed, which has a lot to do with mine and my partner’s lives. [name_f]Gloria[/name_f] was also named with spirituality and religion in mind, but the musical aspect of it - [name_f]Gloria[/name_f] in Excelsis Deo is probably my favorite Gregorian chant and a constant presence in my family’s [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] celebration for generations, I supposed it helped that my partner was just as fond of these names as I was, though for slightly different reasons. Béatrice was the name of her grandmother who was a seamstress (so really [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] was the one from the very beginning) and [name_f]Gloria[/name_f] she loved because of the “Modern Family” character, which was her favorite. Finally, back to [name_u]Vesper[/name_u], we grew to love it’s whispery uniqueness so much, that despite having other choices on our list, there really was nothing to compare. It was our daughter’s name from the start… We even considered using it instead of [name_u]Francis[/name_u] if baby ended up a boy!
[name_f]Essie[/name_f]'s middle name of [name_u]Eloise[/name_u] is a direct influence of the books our daughter’s read, which are really childhood classics. The only one that doesn’t fit the book theme might be [name_f]Hazel[/name_f], but my partner suggested it because I munched on hazel nuts and chocolates with hazel nuts while pregnant - talk about some powerful cravings! [name_m]Ah[/name_m], and [name_f]Essie[/name_f] as the nickname is actually a huge nod to myself, it was my childhood nickname and also my mother-in-law and her grandmother’s childhood nicknames were the similar [name_f]Tess[/name_f] and Ness - I hadn’t known until we announced her birth and name yesterday, and my mother-in-law told me.
Finally, we would like to thank the Nameberry community in the forums for their suggestions and support, it meant a lot. I also hope you don’t mind this long post, as I think name-lovers would be a lot more open to reading the entire name stories than people we actually know.
With love,
[name_f]Esther[/name_f] “Big [name_f]Essie[/name_f]”, J, [name_f]Beadie[/name_f] and [name_f]Glory[/name_f].
