Choosing a name

How did I choose my future daughter's name?

I've always loved that my mom named her kids after family members. My own name is my mom's maiden name followed by a shortened form of her favorite aunt's name. I want to do something similar for my child.

About fifteen years ago, when I moved back to Michigan after a brief stay in Minnesota (land of 10,000 lakes), I accompanied my mom and grandma to a local cemetery. While there, I found that my great-grandmother's true given name was Tona Josina. Until that point I believed her given name was Josephine.

I loved that name, "Tona Josina." But I also wanted to use my grandma's name, Margaret (on mom's side. My other grandma, Christine, was already immortalized through Christopher and Christina).

A baby name wesite divulged the following:
Josina , a variation of Josephine, means "God shall add."
Margaret can have two definitions. In Greek, it means "a pearl." In Persian, it means “a child of light”

So, my future bobek kuz* will be named "Josina Margaret." meaning either "God shall add a pearl" or "God shall add a child of light" Isn't that great? I'll most likely add another middle name after I meet her, to honor her birth name.


*From a list of Kazakh words: Baby = bobek; Girl = kuz; Boy = bala
From a list of Russian words: Baby = ryebyonak; Girl = dyevochkee; Boy = malcheekee