The choice of the name of the unborn child sometimes begins long before the long-awaited moment when the future parents hear the words: “You will have a child!”. Sometimes favorite names come to us from childhood or from a book or movie you like. We like some kind of hero, we subconsciously want for ourselves just such a child: beautiful, smart, funny, decisive - and we plan ahead: "When my son is born, I will name him ...".
Today we’ll talk about how to choose a name for the girl: old traditions, astrological approach, superstition and reasonable advice.
Names people had a long time ago, back in antiquity, Homer wrote:
In the first moment of birth
Everyone, miserable and noble,
The name is like a sweet gift
Received from his family.
The ancient Slavs gave the children names-signs (Chernysh, Belyanochka, Rosochka, Gryaznush, Malush, Nesmeyan), "speaking" names (Lyudmila, Lyubov, Nadezhda, Vera). Many babies were given name-charms: in order to deceive, confuse evil spirits, it was necessary to name the child so that the evil spirits would not have guessed that it was a person. So the names Birch, Aspen, Dawn, Cow, Pava, Golub, Winter, Swan appeared. Today they are considered to be pagan names. However, they did not disappear without a trace, but moved to our surnames. And if you are Lebedevs, it means that among the relatives there was someone named Swan, and if Zimina, then there was an ancestor in the family with the name Winter.
With the adoption of Christianity in Russia , a tradition has been established to give children names on a calendar basis. Orthodox parents did not puzzle over the question of how to choose a name for the girl. Everything was decided very simply: the names of the girls were determined by the date of their birth. For almost every day of the calendar, Orthodox saints had a saint whose name the church celebrated on that day. The name of this saint was assigned to a newborn, and she became the patroness of the baby for her whole life.
Sometimes it turned out that on the birthday of the crumbs not a single nameday fell out, then the girl was given the name of the nearest saint on the calendar. In this case, the birthday and name day (the birthday of your patron saint) did not coincide. Today, many parents follow Orthodox traditions, look at the holy calendar (go to church) in search of a suitable name. But you need to be prepared for the fact that the names that came to your daughter’s birthday will seem dissonant to you.
So, on January 29, the female names of Leonilla and Iovilla fall out, on November 1 - Cleopatra, on July 16 - Golindukha. Not every parent wants to call that daughter. Therefore, today even believers often compromise: they name the baby as they like, and at baptism they give a middle name - the patron saint. Consistency in the behavior of parents here, however, is not observed. Usually at
baptism, the girl is given the same name that was given at birth. Only in the absence of a saint with such a name in the calendar the guardian angel is “selected” (and not always the one responsible for the girl’s birthday). However, when you think about how to choose a name for the girl, do not forget about this approach: it is not so bad if your baby has a heavenly patron.
Most of the names that today seem original Russian to us are actually the so-called “calendar” names borrowed from Greek (Catherine, Irina, Larisa, Elena, Galina, Vasilisa, Varvara, Tatyana), Latin (Marina, Margarita, Matrena, Natalia, Julia, Valentine) and Jewish (Anna, Elizabeth, Mary) thanks to the clergy.
In the first post-revolutionary years, for many parents, familiar names seemed beaten up, and they began to experiment: this is how Ninel (Lenin on the contrary), Vladlena (Vladimir Lenin), Stalin, Lagshmivara (Schmidt camp in the Arctic), Spark, Idea, Gvozdika, Volga, Elektrina, Revmira (revolution of the world), Astra, Rose.
Later, mothers and fathers again returned to the most harmonious names from among the calendar and Old Russian. Time rejects unsuccessful versions of human word-making, and therefore the current “masterpieces” of some parents will surely remain a disaster only for a specific child. Thinking how to choose a name for the girl, such parents want to make a mistake, and they call their favorite daughters Viagra, Privatization, Dibila (Dima Bilan). It will not be easy for a girl with such names as Esmeralda, Cinderella, Snow White and Fiona.
To choose a name for your daughter, pay attention to its prevalence (it is not very pleasant when Nastya is in class 8), compatibility with middle name and surname (you must admit that the name “Privatization Igorevna Fisyun” will sound at least strange), euphony, cultural traditions of your country, the ability to form affectionate names.
If you believe that the name of a person determines his fate, read the books of Boris Higir, but you need to study them seriously: for example, according to his theory, Polina Sergeevna and Polina Arkadevna are two different people, although they bear the same name.
Nine months before the baby’s birth, it’s quite possible to form your own opinion about which name will be best for her.