Pine

"Tannenwald (Pine Forest)" by Gustav Klimt

Origin: English
Gender: Unisex
Meaning: From the Name of the Tree; "Resin"
Pronunciation: PYNE
Other Forms: N/A

Happy Holidays to all of my readers! I hope you are having a good one and your family is staying healthy, despite the hard times we're all going through. In celebration I've decided to post a Holiday related name everyday for the next five days!

Amongst the ever popular Frasier Firs, Blue Spruces, Douglas Firs, and Balsam Firs, lurks the equally beautiful Scotch and White Pines as some of the best choices for Christmas Trees. The Christmas tree tradition has roots dating back all the way to the Medieval era, where "Trees of Paradise" were common motifs in mystery plays, usually performed on the 24th of December, Adam and Eve's common name and commemoration day in Europe. A tree would be decorated with apples and wafers to represent the Eucharist. Similarly, in Livonia (which is now Estonia and Latvia), there was talk of trees in guildhalls decorated with sweets to be eaten by the apprentices and children. This also occurred in Bremen, Germany, where a guild chronicle states a tree was decorated with "apples, nuts, date, pretzels, and paper flowers".

But the Christmas tree we know today came about thanks to the Germans, becoming popular during the Renaissance, which is sometimes attributed to Martin Luther who was claimed to have placed lighted candles on an evergreen tree. After the Protestant Reformation, many upper class Germans started putting up Christmas trees in counterpart to the popular Catholic motif of the Christmas crib. It wasn't until Queen Victoria married the German-born Prince Albert that it became popular among the upper classes of Britain, just like Hessian soldiers would later introduce them to North America.

Pine comes from the Latin pinus, which is thought to have some relation to Indo-European base pīt, meaning "resin". Before the 19th century pines were usually referred to as firs. Pines are the largest and the oldest conifer family, with some having dated back all the way to 206 million years ago. In China, the pine tree is a common motif in art and literature. Because it retains its beautiful green needles all through the year it is often associated with longevity and steadfastness. The pine, the plum, and bamboo are called the "Three Friends of Winter" and are a common art theme.

All in all I think Pine is a great unisex nature choice, especially so for a baby born in the winter!