We are kind of into names around here. Chris and I both think that they are important, and that their origin and meaning say a lot about who they will become.
So does God. He changes peoples names in the bible to represent transformation and who they are becoming, and the Old Testament gives example after example of how the meaning of the persons name represented who or what they did with their life.
With that in mind, and wanting to give our children something to ascribe to from the get go...we've been fairly considerate about names.
All of our childrens names (with the exception of Kate) are Hebrew. We were open to greek as well originally, but Hebrew just ended up working out. And seeing as how most of the names in the bible are Hebrew, it just made life easier.
While we were dating we said we wanted to have two boys and a girl. So grateful God has honored our desires in that. We were unsure about the girls name, but always loved the boy names Josh and Jack. So there was little to debate when our precious surprise firstborn was declared to be a boy what the name would be.
Joshua is a biblical rock star, a man of great faith and leadership, all prayers we have for Josh. It means God is salvation. What a great reminder to have. Aaron (his middle name) is also Chris's middle name. A way to name him after his daddy, and if there was ever a man I wanted him to live up to be like, it would be his daddy! It means exalted, strong.
We loved Jack, but obviously, it isn't Hebrew. We started throwing around other names that we really liked in the process of trying to have Jack (a bumpy 6 month process). We kept coming back to Jacob, and after realizing we could call him Jack or Jacob with that name (both of which we loved) we were sold. Jacob means supplanter (which means to replace something with another) and Matthew means gift from God. Not only was Jack a complete blessing from the Lord during a difficult time, but Matthew is also Chris's brothers name. Jacob in the bible was scrappy, and even during difficult times was willing to wrestle with God, but not walk away.
Picking a biblical name for a girl is a bit more difficult. Not only are there much fewer choices, but most of them mean sorrow or bitterness. Not exactly something I want my daughter ascribing to. Between the time of having Josh and Jack I had found the name Eva and Liana and loved both of them. Chris didn't buy into them right away since we both tend towards more simple and classic tastes, but came around eventually.
When we found out with this one she was a girl we didn't really have to question what the name would be. Eva Liana. However in the five years since we picked the name Eva (Ava) has become quite the popular name. Having both of the boys name be in the top 10 and looking at having another child with another top 10 name, I wanted to spice it up a bit. Going classic with boys is almost a must in our opinion, but with girls you can be a little bit more funky. So we started trying to think of ways to do just that.
The main idea we had was to add something to Eva. We debated EvaGrace, EvaHope, EvaJoy, and most importantly, EvaKate. I kept coming back to Kate. Again Chris took some time to warm up to it, since he likes classic to begin with, but finally came around. EvaKate Liana.
Kate is special. I was always Katie growing up. Until I met Chris. A lot was going on in my life about that time, and God was really shaping me into the woman He wanted me to be. I remember one night within the first couple dates Chris and I had been on, he randomly asked me what I thought of Kate. He had decided he like it, and that it sounded like an author and wanted to start calling me that. Cute guy I was already smitten with changing my name? Sure, I'd go with it. Looking back I feel like it was somewhat of a defining moment, kind of like the Saul to Paul conversion. It's a point I can look back to and know that God changed my path about that time and the one I went with (Kate) is the one that would bring the most glory to Him.
Most everyone who calls me Kate knows me through Chris, and I smile every time I hear it. What I've tried to be about since becoming "Kate" is much of what I hope my daughter will want to be about as well- faith, strength, and love. Conveniently, it also means pure which is also one of our prayers for her!
Eva is a derivative of Eve and means giver of life. Not only do we as women have the opportunity to literally give life, but God has also placed within us the capability to draw out life and inspire life in everyone we come in contact with. Our prayer is that our daughter would inspire life in everyone she meets, and point them to THE giver of life.
Liana means my God has answered, which is quite appropriate. Not only did He answer our prayer for another child, but he answered our prayer for a girl! She will be a daily reminder of prayers that God has answered for us!
So there is the long winded post on where the boys, and most importantly our new daughters names came from.
1 comment:
love love love love love love love love!
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