On My Mind: 2-9-15

Mimi Thorisson

Marie-France - I've recently discovered the blog of Mimi Thorisson, mother to seven kids, cookbook author, and caretaker of fourteen dogs. The blog is full of beautiful photos of food and her life, taken by her husband photographer Oddur Thorisson, who is Icelandic. Mimi is really Marie-France Valentine, possibly one of the prettiest names I have heard. And her kids? Mia, Hudson, Louise, Audrey (middle name May), Gaïa (middle name Johanna), and step-kids Gunnhildur and Thorir (or Þórir).

Sindri - Moving on to more Icelandic names. I was doing a bit of research on Bjork, and discovered her kids have really great names; her son Sindri Eldon Þórsson and daughter Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney. Sindri means "sparkling" in Old Norse, and in mythology was the name of a dwarf who made magical objects for the Gods with his brother, and the name of the hall were the good would go after Ragnarök.

Florestine - This is one I've never seen before. Princess Florestine of Monaco was named for her father, King Florestan I. She later had two daughters, Amalie and Wiltrud.

Kubec - I was watching "The Public Enemy", the movie that propelled James Cagney into fame, and saw one of the screenwriters was named Kubec Glasmon. He was originally from Poland, and they pronounced it "KYOO-beck".

Pétronille - On Jolis Prénoms there was a lovely sibset of girls; Pétronille Marie, Guillemette Marie, and Valentine Marie. It is a tradition for the girls to all have the middle name Marie.

Léontin - Also on Jolis Prénoms, there is an adorable sibset of Léontin and Mélusine.