What is in a name? Part 2

Isla Lucia. My lovely girl. She was never going to be Isla, she was going to be Annika. Annika Poppy. I love that name. It makes me smile even now...but it's not 'her'.

I was 7 months pregnant when my Dad died. Suddenly it became very important to me that her name honour him in some way. It needed to be Scottish and it needed to be beautiful. Dad's name was Ian. The female version of Ian is (wait for it...) Ianina. Nobody I know has heard of this name. A few people suggested Ina (eena) but it seemed wrong somehow. I looked for female Scottish names that started with "I". I found 3 that I liked: Isla, Iona and Irene. Irene is already in my family and Josh didn't like Iona as he thought it sounded like "I own a..." and wouldn't go with lots of last names.

So, we thought about Isla. It sounded like music to me, and still does. It means island and there is an island off the coast of Scotland called Islay, pronounced Isla (eye-la) too.

She was due to be born on December 12th. Around this date at my school, we always celebrate the Scandinavian Christmas tradition of Santa Lucia due to a large population of Scandinavian students. It is a truly magical event, made even more special by Lucia being a Swedish opera singer who lives nearby in Luzern. The candles, the music, the smells of the food and Glugg...it is just very, very special.

Lucia (we pronounce it Loo-see-ah), means light and that is precisely what my wee girl brought to me. She was and is light in a dark time. She is the grandchild my Dad never met and yet she is so much like him. Whether she is being "sm-Isla" or "cr-Isla" we love her passion and will make sure she knows all about the Papa she got it from, the Papa she was named for.