The Beauty of Names

Bituin Escalante Origin: Tagalog Gender: Female Meaning: "Star" Pronunciation: bee-too-EEN Other Forms: N/A I've discovered quite recently just how many beautiful Filipino names there are! I love how beautiful the meanings are, with some of my favorites being Dalisay (Pure), Marikit (Beautiful, Pretty), Diwata (Goddess), and, of course, today's name, Bituin! Bituin means "star" in Tagalog. The Tagalog people make up a quarter of the Filipino population, and a standardized version of the Tagalog, simply called Filipino or Pilipino, is the national language. Before colonization, from places such as Spain, Japan, Britain, and not shockingly, America, the study of stars by the native people were integral to life. For example, when the constellation Orion, called Balatik by certain peoples, for it's resemblance to a hunting trap they used, appeared in the December sky, they knew it was time to start preparing the land for farming. Stars helped with so many th...

Princess Likelike, photographed circa 1868 by Menzies Dickson Origin: Hawaiian Gender: Female Meaning: Unknown Pronunciation: lee-KAY-lee-KAY Other Forms:  Rikériki ( Note: As with all of my names, if you are a native speaker or know more information about this name, please don't feel shy with correcting me in the comments!) I've recently decided I need to make a more concerted effort towards showing more Royal names outside of the usual European suspects, and today I've chosen to profile the name of a fascinating Hawaiian Princess. Princess Likelike was born Miriam Likelike Kekāuluohi Keahelapalapa Kapili on January 13th, 1850, in Honolulu on the island of O'ahu, to Hawaiian Chieftess and Chief Analea Keohokālole and Caesar Kapaʻakea. Her parents were political advisors to the then King Kamehameha III (and the next one, Kamehameha IV). Analea was the daughter of ʻAikanaka, High Chief of Hawaii and the Grandfather of two of its monarchs, and Caesar was the son o...

Samira and Lauren Actress Samira Wiley and her wife, Screenwriter and Director Lauren Morelli, have welcomed their first child together, a girl who they named George Elizabeth.

Amita Suman Albatross Names -  The Department of Conservation in New Zealand recently set out to name a new albatross chick! The theme was "kaitiaki", the Māori concept of guardianship over the land, sea and sky. While the voting has since closed, if you would like more information, follow this link .  Out of the options there were: Mahara , which means to "think about, consider, or remember". Ururaki , which means "winds of the sky", and is the name of a star in the star cluster. It's appearance over New Zealand marks the Māori New Year. Tiaki , meaning to "protect, preserve, and care". Kaihautū , meaning "navigator". And finally Ataraki , which means "morning sky". I personally chose Ururaki! Amita and Inej -  I'm currently watching (and loving and obsessing over) Shadow and Bone on Netflix! The character of Inej is a favorite of mine, and I can easily see the name catching on. It's pronounced "EE-nezsh...

Caspar and Ellie English Singer Ellie Goulding has just welcomed her first child with husband Caspar Jopling. She had a boy, who she named Arthur Ever Winter Jopling.

Kiko Mizuhara as Midori in "Norwegian Wood" Origin: Japanese Gender: Female Meaning: "Green" Pronunciation: MEE-DOH-REE Other Forms: N/A Today's name is long-standing guilty pleasure of mine - Midori! Midori comes from the word midori , which first came into the Japanese language during the Heian period (794 AD-1185). Before that, there was no word for green in Japanese, and the word ao , which is used for blue or a blue-green color, is often used to refer to green plants and vegetables and even the green light at an intersection! Midori originally represented the "freshness" of newly grown things, and people who are young and inexperienced are called "blue" instead of green, like we say. In fact, students weren't taught the word  midori as something separate from ao until WWII! I think it is very pretty, especially once you know the history behind it. Midori brings to mind the character from Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood , as see...

Korean ballad singer, Lee So-ra Origin: Japanese and Korean Gender: Unisex in Japan and Female in Korea Meaning: Japanese: "Sky"; Korean: "Conch Shell" Pronunciation: SOH-ruh, SOR-ah Other Forms: So-ra For those who weren't aware, May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, so I thought it would be a wonderful idea to feature some Asian names! I admit to not knowing as much about them as I would like, so if any native speakers know the correct pronunciation, spelling, etc., please don't be afraid to let me know in the comments below! Our first name of May is Sora. Sora, for the Japanese, is a unisex name meaning "sky". One of its oldest bearers is that of poet Kawai Sora, who famously wrote of his journeys with his Master, Matsuo Bashō, a renowned poet of the Edo period in Japan. His recordings of the middle of this period are seen as the most detailed and exact on record. In Korea, it is more commonly So-ra, with Sora being the comm...