The latest member

We have a new little baby cousin, born just last week – I’d hoped she might arrive on my birthday, but she had other ideas. We are related because her grandfather and I are cousins – and although for some people that might seem a little distant, in fact our family are very close and we all know each other very well. The new little child has been given a most unusual name, even more unusual than mine. I was named after a great grandma – I think mum and dad just liked the name anyway, and my sister was named after my other great-grandma! As I’ve mentioned many times, I’m fascinated by names and how they come into and go out of fashion, and how all sorts of things can inspire new parents to call their little arrival one thing or another. I think these days in this country at least, there’s a mixture of being fashionable, being unusual and rare, having some meaning, and what will sound balanced with the surname of the tiny child.

As a writer I struggle over names for my characters as much as I did with my children – but at least with them I had some help, their father had a say in the matter of course! In the past I’ve been criticised (or comments have been made) about unusual names of my people, Deke, for example perplexed a lot of readers. I thought it was quite simple and straightforward to pronounce unlike Genet, which I discovered caused consternation – soft g, hard g? Gen-ette, Gen-ay, Jen-ay, Je-nay? I’m re-reading ‘Loving Judah’ and the main character is Aislin which I thought was quite popular and common now. Just in case people were unsure, she tells someone she meets for the first time, how to say it and what it means (dream or vision).

We are all looking forward to meeting the new baby, no doubt we will see some pictures before we do, and we can’t wait to properly welcome the latest member of the clan!