A Rose By Any Other Name...?

     Beyoncé, a superstar singer and married to rap superstar Jay-Z, gave birth to her daughter this month. Yes, I like reading trashy magazines and trashy websites. I'm not sure why I care about the lives of celebrities, even celebrities I don't particularly care for (e.g. Kim Kardashian).  It's mindless fun I suppose. Anyhow, Beyoncé and Jay-Z named their daughter Blue. Yes, Blue. Blue Ivy Carter to be precise.

I don't understand this Hollywood trend of bizarre baby names. Gwyneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple. Courtney Cox named her daughter Coco. Tom Cruise named his daughter Suri (which someone pointed out doesn't sound so great in French! Souris, prounounced like Suri, means 'mouse'!). I don't understand the need to make your kid's name so different. It's your kid and his/her personality that will make him/her different, not his/her name. 

     When hubby and I talked about baby names we both agreed that the middle name would be in honor of someone in our lives. That's the way my parents did it with me and my siblings. I'm named after my maternal grandmother. Our daughter is named after both of our mothers. No, don't worry, it's not something ridiculous like Renesmee (Twilight fans, you know what I'm talking about!).

We were fortunate that the names went very well together.

   Her first name was something that I had thought long and hard about. We wanted it to sound good in French and in English. Very often a beautiful name in one language doesn't translate very well into the other language; it can be butchered when said by someone in the opposite language. 

    I also wanted it to have some meaning. Her name means "wisdom", something I pray she develops as she grows. The word 'wisdom' is used over 200 times in the bible and is personified in the feminine. My favorite passage about wisdom comes from the book of Sirach:

Whoever loves wisdom loves life,

and those who seek her from early 

morning are filled with joy.

Whoever holds her fast inherits glory,

and the Lord blesses the place she enters.

Those who serve her minister to the Holy One;

the Lord loves those who love her.

~Sirach 4:12-14

     I know the author is speaking about God's wisdom but I also like reading it with my daughter in mind. It reminds me that Jr. brings me a lot of happiness, that God wanted me to be her mom and that by being her mom, I am becoming holy by serving God. She is more God's child than she is mine. He has trusted my husband and I to raise her, to love her.

     Maybe Beyoncé and Jay-Z thought long and hard about the name Blue. Maybe they have a beautiful story to go with the name. I hope so. I know that I said your child will set him or herself apart, not their name. But just the same, I hope Jr. one day realizes the thought and care we took in choosing her name because more than the name itself, it shows how much we wanted her, how much we loved her before she was even born.