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Help[Opinions] Re: Names inspired by my characters moodboard or that my character could like (a long post, sorry)
in reply to a message by (Is-rah-el) Israelle
I can suggest my daughter's middle name, Wivina. It's the name of a 12th Century Belgian saint and has apparently fallen out of use. The meaning can be found here: https://www.behindthename.com/name/wivina/submitted
As for Saint Wivina herself, her history can be found here: https://omgevingsonderwijsdilbeek.be/sint-wivinakapel-groot-bijgaarden/
Wivina is associated with Catholicism, though she lived prior to the Reformation, and her miracles are rooted in prayer and community leadership, which align with Protestant values. I can see Leni being drawn to Saint Wivina, who chose solitude and piety over marriage and social status. From your beautiful mood board, I think Wivina's association with curing illness and the Medieval forest of Groot-Bijgaarden near modern-day Brussels, would also appeal to Leni based on the images of trees, butterflies and anatomy. Leni is a wonderful character.
Other Medieval and saint names that come to mind:
Alodia & Nunilo: Spanish child martyrs https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunilo_and_Alodia
Heilwig: saw this name today and thought it sounds like "Heilig" (meaning "holy" in Afrikaans and probably other Germanic languages)
Floris: I think this one is more Renaissance than Medieval, but it means "flowering" which links to her mood board.
Ealhswith/Ealhswita: Anglo-saxon name belonging to the wife of Alfred the Great https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ealhswith
As for Saint Wivina herself, her history can be found here: https://omgevingsonderwijsdilbeek.be/sint-wivinakapel-groot-bijgaarden/
Wivina is associated with Catholicism, though she lived prior to the Reformation, and her miracles are rooted in prayer and community leadership, which align with Protestant values. I can see Leni being drawn to Saint Wivina, who chose solitude and piety over marriage and social status. From your beautiful mood board, I think Wivina's association with curing illness and the Medieval forest of Groot-Bijgaarden near modern-day Brussels, would also appeal to Leni based on the images of trees, butterflies and anatomy. Leni is a wonderful character.
Other Medieval and saint names that come to mind:
Alodia & Nunilo: Spanish child martyrs https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunilo_and_Alodia
Heilwig: saw this name today and thought it sounds like "Heilig" (meaning "holy" in Afrikaans and probably other Germanic languages)
Floris: I think this one is more Renaissance than Medieval, but it means "flowering" which links to her mood board.
Ealhswith/Ealhswita: Anglo-saxon name belonging to the wife of Alfred the Great https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ealhswith
This message was edited 2/7/2025, 6:31 AM
Replies
I love Wivina, I love seeing people name their children names that are very rare. Wivina is a beautiful name, what made you pick this name? I also want to give my potential daughter a rare name. Or is Wivina a common name in South Africa?
I love Heilwig, Wivina, and Alodia, and I am adding them to the list.
edit: Leni is a huge part of my soul, thank you for the compliment
I love Heilwig, Wivina, and Alodia, and I am adding them to the list.
edit: Leni is a huge part of my soul, thank you for the compliment
This message was edited 2/7/2025, 8:25 AM
Thank you. I'm so glad you like those names. As for choosing Wivina for my daughter, I want her initials to be EW in honor of my late brother. I don't like any well-known W names for girls, though, so I've been scouring every name reference I could get my hands on. I found Wivina by sheer luck. The French form, Wivine, has some use in Francophone Africa, but I couldn't find a single living person called Wivina, which is part of the appeal. I feel like naming my kids is giving them a prologue to a story to help them write their own chapter. I have some unfortunate associations with my own name, so I want my kids to have names that are "only" theirs while still being grounded, if that makes sense. I love that you and Leni both like unique names.
This message was edited 2/7/2025, 10:02 AM
Oh, I see.
Is her name well-perceived? What do people usually think of her name? (I am not sure if it's the right way to word it)
Is her name well-perceived? What do people usually think of her name? (I am not sure if it's the right way to word it)
This message was edited 2/8/2025, 12:56 AM
Oh, she's not born yet and I haven't told anyone. You see, the thing with people is when the baby is there to distract them, they forget to have an opinion on the name. I originally wanted Estelle for her first name, but it's extremely popular on this site and I expect it'll go the way of Isabelle, so I've changed to Ester (without an "h"), which was my inspiration for choosing Estelle in the first place. Ester is an old-fashioned name in my culture, familiar but not common and I doubt it'll boom anytime soon. Wivina is her middle name and completely unknown, but it's easy to read and say in Afrikaans. The advantage I have is that South Africa is highly diverse with many different naming conversations. I've worked with people named Happy, Queen, Chairman and Precious (in serious corporate jobs :P). So most people tend to be accepting. I anticipate the most criticism from her grandma (her twin brother's name is Coetsee, which is a traditionally a surname, but I love it). Thank you for asking, btw. I am so excited about their names XD
This message was edited 2/8/2025, 7:58 AM
Ester Wivina is a gorgeous name, I love Ester! I consider Esther as a middle name option and I am most likely going to use it. It is the name of my great-great-grandma and is very common in the Jewish diaspora. It's a lovely way to honor my heritage I also love the association with the court Jewess Esther Liebmann.
This message was edited 2/8/2025, 8:15 AM
Oh, that's wonderful! Thank you for telling me :D Esther/Ester is a classic name and very meaningful. My daughter has the same initials as my brother and my son's name is from my Great-grandfather.