Where does my daughter's name come from?
Ive been asked so many times, why not blog about it?
Since my name is unusual, simple, and difficult to pronounce, I thought Id stick to tradition.
I started EARLY!
Robert doesn't know this but when we got married, the baby name list was on! Even though we waited to get pregnant, I knew it would be a long road before I settled on a name I liked.
I always wanted my daughter to carry a beautiful yet strong name. So I did a lot of research. Looked through lists of popular names, even boy names. Then searched through beautiful words, phrases, and how they sounded when translated in other languages.
My husband doesn't like his Slovak language and typical Slovak names are plain in our opinion. So I researched more of my family history. As far as I know, my father's family is French, Haudenosaunee, and African American. This exotic mix got me on the right path. But my research was a slow crawl. I couldn't find many Haudenosaunee names online (unless my daughter wanted to be named Running River or Shy Wolf). French names and African names sounded to common for me. So I gave up...
6 months into my pregnancy
Robert and I travel to California and meet a beautiful woman named Nayeli. "Ugh, I love her name so much! Why does it sound so familiar to me" I was awake late that night (baby ninja kicks) looking through my phone. To my surprise, typed on my 1st baby lists the name "Nyaeli" !!
When we returned home, I announce her first name to family and my mother immediately makes a connection I had not thought of:
"Ny" from my older sister's name Naeemah (pronounced Ny-ee-mah)
"Li" from my little sister's middle name Lee
Was baby brain hitting me that early? It was definitely a duh moment.
Nayeli from California was thrilled she influenced my name decision and gave me a little knowledge midst all the celebration. Her name is derived from a native american phrase for "i love you" ...nuff said!
So 4 months later
Nyaeli Belle was born into our lives. Her name suits her perfectly.
"i love you beautiful"
Scrolling through Pinterest on several occasions, I stumbled on some cool baby names. Check out the list of baby names that I liked most.