What's in a name?

Choosing our daughter's name was something that did not come easily for us. At first, Jim and I circulated through each other's lists of potential names we liked, but neither of us liked each other's lists (go figure!). We did agree on the criteria we wanted for our daughter's name, which was a) it had to have a significant meaning and b) it had to be easy to spell and pronounce but not common.

We used a name book lent to us that focused on both the inherent meaning and spiritual connotations of names. I have to admit, neither Halle nor Arianne were names that I would have ever considered aside from this book, but they fit our criteria perfectly.

Halle

Language/Cultural Origin - Nigerian

Inherent Meaning - "Unexpected Gift"

Spiritual Connotation - Blessing

Arianne

Language/Cultural Origin - Greek

Inherent Meaning - "Holy"

Spiritual Connotation - Presented to God

As you already know from my MANY blog posts on the subject, our daughter's conception was unexpected (and quite a bit of a shock to us). It was apparent from Day 1 that her existence was completely God's plan and perfect timing. She is our "unexpected gift", and she is also an amazing blessing from God. We still can not believe that He would choose to entrust her precious life to us!

As much as our lives are about God's action and our response, so her name represents His action of blessing us and our response of presenting that blessing back to Him for His glory's sake. We pray that God would enable us to be parents who would raise our daughter in such as way that she would grow to know and love Jesus unhindered by us.

Halle, we are so grateful God chose to bless us with you!