Recently, I came across a really lovely Bible verse that has me in love with the idea of using a name related to olives (“But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.” - [name_m]Psalm[/name_m] 52:8)—I just really love the idea of growing and being nurtured and glowing and thriving in the presence of God. And now I’m a bit obsessed with the idea of an olive-inspired name on my list. [name_f]Olive[/name_f] and [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] are the natural choices, but have several reasons to hesitate with both, so I’m wondering if there is something a bit more creative. I did come across [name_f]Revella[/name_f] which I find interesting, and might be talked into the [name_u]French[/name_u] form of [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], Olivie (somehow, that doesn’t cause as much hesitation? I do like [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] more, but Olivie doesn’t have quite the same associations?), too. I like [name_f]Liv[/name_f] and [name_f]Livia[/name_f] but am not sure the olive tie is quite so strong there?
Anyway, berries, up for a challenge? Besides the [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] family, how would you honor the idea of olives in a name?
Extending an olive branch means trying to make peace / declare a truce. Therefore anything that means peace… [name_u]Paxton[/name_u], [name_f]Paloma[/name_f], [name_u]Dove[/name_u]…
@sablonde - love names meaning “peace”–[name_f]Fenna[/name_f] is my favorite, but I also adore [name_f]Irene[/name_f]!–but I’m not sure the association to olive trees is close enough for me? Nice idea, though, and for the reminder to find a home for my beloved [name_f]Fenna[/name_f].
@ethelmary - thanks! I saw that when I did an advanced search on nb. I do think I like [name_f]Olivia[/name_f]/Olive/etc. and [name_f]Revella[/name_f] more, but it is interesting. I like [name_f]Zeta[/name_f] more than [name_f]Zetta[/name_f] in look, but [name_f]Zeta[/name_f] loses the tie to olives.
@elanorelle - ooh, good idea. Still kind of close to my issues with [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], but I’m still adding it to the list of possibilities.
@Tab99 - thank you! [name_f]Olva[/name_f] is interesting; I’ll have to consider her further. [name_f]My[/name_f] only concern is that, when said aloud, it brings to mind vulva, which I don’t think is the greatest association, but [name_f]Olva[/name_f] looks super cool.
@Momofplenty - Does it? [name_f]Nala[/name_f] is a nice idea, but I don’t identify with it myself… I think it’s just too reminiscent of The [name_m]Lion[/name_m] [name_m]King[/name_m] for me.
@hellobanjo - [name_f]Leah[/name_f] is complicated because for a while there, my sister went by the nn [name_f]Leah[/name_f] (although we spelled it [name_f]Lia[/name_f]), but I do like just [name_f]Olea[/name_f]! I’ll definitely add that one to the mix.
@VivienaLunelle123 - thanks, love! If I used [name_f]Olivet[/name_f](te), I would lean toward the [name_f]Olivet[/name_f] spelling just because of the tie to the Garden of Olives. I’m not keen on mythology names personally, so I probably wouldn’t do [name_f]Athena[/name_f], but otherwise it’s a nice idea. I like [name_f]Liv[/name_f] and [name_f]Olia[/name_f]; just [name_f]Liv[/name_f] seems really hard to work into my combos, since my family names are often pretty short, but I do love just [name_f]Liv[/name_f].
@Cassiopeiaelaine - thank you, I like [name_u]Elia[/name_u] a lot! I was more familiar with [name_u]Elia[/name_u] as a boy’s name, but [name_u]Elia[/name_u] with the relation to olive is so sweet! I’ll definitely add it to the list of considerations.
@QuirkFlower - thank you! I totally agree, and I’ll have to see which combo I might be able to fit one or both of them into! [name_f]Olea[/name_f], [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], and [name_f]Revella[/name_f] are still in the running, too, but I also love the ties to Mt. [name_f]Olivet[/name_f] with [name_f]Olivet[/name_f], especially! [name_f]My[/name_f] nephew is 0l!ver so I hesitate with [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], and a former crush has an [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], so I feel sort of weird using it now, but [name_f]Olivia[/name_f]’s been SUCH a huge favorite for over a decade so I honestly might use it anyway.
What about [name_f]Oliva[/name_f]? It is pronounced O lee va. It was my Grandmothers name, and during her whole life we could never work out if it was meant to be [name_f]Olive[/name_f] or [name_f]Olivia[/name_f]. ( [name_u]Nana[/name_u] was not a person to answer certain questions about her life, so asking her was never an option.) I have only recently found out that [name_f]Oliva[/name_f] is a name in its own right. I had to go to pronouncenames.com to find the correct pronounciation,
Thank you! [name_f]Oliva[/name_f] is interesting but for the reasons you’ve said, it seems complicated due to its similarity to [name_f]Olive[/name_f] and [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] (and admit that I like both more than [name_f]Oliva[/name_f], sadly!). I appreciate the thought, though!
Still kind of close to my issues with [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], but I’m still adding it to the list of possibilities.