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[Opinions] Re: Names inspired by my characters moodboard or that my character could like (a long post, sorry)
Thank you. I'm so glad you like those names. As for choosing Wivina for my daughter, I want her initials to be EW in honor of my late brother. I don't like any well-known W names for girls, though, so I've been scouring every name reference I could get my hands on. I found Wivina by sheer luck. The French form, Wivine, has some use in Francophone Africa, but I couldn't find a single living person called Wivina, which is part of the appeal. I feel like naming my kids is giving them a prologue to a story to help them write their own chapter. I have some unfortunate associations with my own name, so I want my kids to have names that are "only" theirs while still being grounded, if that makes sense. I love that you and Leni both like unique names.

This message was edited 2/7/2025, 10:02 AM

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Oh, I see.
Is her name well-perceived? What do people usually think of her name? (I am not sure if it's the right way to word it)

This message was edited 2/8/2025, 12:56 AM

Oh, she's not born yet and I haven't told anyone. You see, the thing with people is when the baby is there to distract them, they forget to have an opinion on the name. I originally wanted Estelle for her first name, but it's extremely popular on this site and I expect it'll go the way of Isabelle, so I've changed to Ester (without an "h"), which was my inspiration for choosing Estelle in the first place. Ester is an old-fashioned name in my culture, familiar but not common and I doubt it'll boom anytime soon. Wivina is her middle name and completely unknown, but it's easy to read and say in Afrikaans. The advantage I have is that South Africa is highly diverse with many different naming conversations. I've worked with people named Happy, Queen, Chairman and Precious (in serious corporate jobs :P). So most people tend to be accepting. I anticipate the most criticism from her grandma (her twin brother's name is Coetsee, which is a traditionally a surname, but I love it). Thank you for asking, btw. I am so excited about their names XD

This message was edited 2/8/2025, 7:58 AM

Ester Wivina is a gorgeous name, I love Ester! I consider Esther as a middle name option and I am most likely going to use it. It is the name of my great-great-grandma and is very common in the Jewish diaspora. It's a lovely way to honor my heritage I also love the association with the court Jewess Esther Liebmann.

This message was edited 2/8/2025, 8:15 AM

Oh, that's wonderful! Thank you for telling me :D Esther/Ester is a classic name and very meaningful. My daughter has the same initials as my brother and my son's name is from my Great-grandfather.