What's in a name?

This weekend has been a blast. I started the weekend with a run, and spent the rest of it with Justin's parents and family. It was his niece's birthday so today we all went to Chuckie Cheese and had a party. Justin and I spent the bulk of the party racing each other in the Fast and the Furious game. We spent yesterday shopping and hanging out with his family. Justin even got me some birthday gifts about 10 days early! YEAH! I'll post about those another time since it's not my birthday yet.

We're finally just relaxing on this beautiful 70 degree Sunday evening, and I started thinking about my best friend Andrea who had her first baby this weekend. We had a short conversation earlier this week how important names are. Her baby was given a great name, and they are starting off on a wonderful journey raising that boy. We talked about how naming a baby is such an important task, and how important names are to people.

I sometimes wonder who I'd be if I had a different name. Originally I was supposed to be Jessica Lynn (my middle name after my grandfather), but somehow I ended up being Lana. I like my unique name. No one ever has the same name as me that I ever meet. I am not one of 20 Jessica's in someone's cell phone. I am distinct, and I am me--that one girl with the extremely short name which no one can ever pronounce correctly. Here are some fun facts about my name that I didn't know, because I'm sure you're all just dying to know as well!

Current Singer Lana Del Rey

Famous Actress Lana Turner from mid 1900's.

My name origin is Gaelic, Hebrew and German, but it is most commonly used in English and Russian speaking areas. English form is Alana, Russian form is Svetlana. It is ranked number 402 in 2007's top 1000 name list. (I'm surprised. I've never met another one in person, only once by phone when I called a hotel to book an event.) The last time it was in the top 1000 names was in 1940. Ha!

My name is also a derivative of the Greek name Helen which stands for "shining light." Gaelic meaning is "little rock". German meaning is "precious".  Its other meanings are "fair one", "to be gentle", "soft", "light", "awakening", and my personal favorite... "wooly". Lana actually means wool in Italian. It was fun to find shirts for sale that were "100% Lana" while shopping in Rome. I own a purse, scarf and coat from that trip that are all 100% Lana. They were calling my name, and when I saw my name on the tag, OBVIOUSLY I had to buy them.

Another fun fact is that my name in Hawaiian means "afloat" and "calm as still waters". And in Kurdish my name means "the house of the lion". (I had to google Kurds to find out where they come from, it's near Turkey in a country called Kurdistan, naturally.)

I think my true favorite definitions for my name are "little rock" and "house of the Lion". I like to think these suit me best. I am immovable when I choose what is right for me, and I want to someday live up to the second one and be the house of the lion. Lions are seen as the king of the jungle and incredibly strong, courageous animals. I want to have people see me as a symbol of strength.

Here is one song I found that uses my name in the title:


Here is song #2 with my name in it. I love these. They are AWESOME!


So, with all this being said, my name is awesome. Oh and backwards it spells ANAL. HAHAHA. Lovely.

Now that you know everything about my name... what does your name mean? What do you love about your name?