Let me reiterate:
Naming a child is hard. Never mind the parents and siblings of the child being opinionated and stuff. Opinionated procrastinators who happen to be sleep deprived.
What could go wrong?
Back to the point at hand. . . Everyone has been eager to know the name of this child, including Jac and I. Mama Syd asked nicely several times. All the nurses double checked before we headed home. The kids – the whole lot of them – asked and asked.
And the suggestions kept rolling in.
Remember this sister: everyone loves you so much that they all pitched in to help in this matter. You are so very loved!
Allie texted, “Does she have a name? I feel awkward not calling her by her name like its a bad word or something . . .” The kids agreed.
So, without further ado we introduce
Penelope Guadalupe Estelle Daniel
Jac likes a name with some heft. We both wanted a name that reminded her to be a light in the darkness and to stand for truth in the midst of this crazy, crazy world. And this is where we landed.
St. Penelope was an early martyr. She and 39 other virgin companions refused to deny Christ. The prelate in charge of their executions pulled them out in little groups and devised different forms of torture to bend their will and yet they stayed firm under torment and in the face of their friends’ suffering. The kids suggested this name and are so excited it has been chosen.
St. Estelle was another virgin martyr from present day France. Her father was a well respected Roman and her mother from a powerful family of Druids. She heard of Christ and requested baptism. When she was discovered to be a Christian and refused to abjure, her father had her sent to the arena to be killed. She is the patron saint of young girls. St. Estelle was named after the title of Mary, Stella Maris, or Star of the Sea and we love the Marian connection. We also figured that if her great-great-grandmother shared her birthday, we should probably have them share a name, too. This was Grandma Ruby’s middle name.
Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to a faithful Indian and asked him, a simple, hardworking man, to request a church be built for her where she appeared. She reminded him that he was kept safe in the folds of her mantle and that she was his mother. She appeared as an expectant mother with the features of the native peoples. After this apparition, the conversion of the Mexican people was rapid. This was Jac’s pick as both of his maternal grandparents had this middle name and the conversion of an entire people under Our Lady is a strength that we would love our daughter to have.
What will you call her, you ask?
We have no idea. But there’s a lot to work with!
*The kids are leaning towards Penny. Poppy is a nickname for Penelope and Elizabeth announced that’s what she would be using. Pippa? Polly? Nell? (too close to El?)
Meanwhile, Jac has settled on Peppy in honor of Peppy’s Pizza having closed and this fifth daughter being his “sweet little nugget of gold.” Or something like that.
Saints Penelope and Estelle and Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!
I love it! It’s perfect just like her. Congrats again guys.
Welcome, Poppy! So excited to meet you!
Love, Aunt Cristie
Love, Love, LOVE her name! I think Penny is the sweetest name ever. So happy to get to meet this little miss, and even happier to know I will hold her in my own arms this summer!
Jac , Annie, and the rest of Den. We love your story. We hope to home out this dime and meet her . Blessings to all and I love Poppy as it is California’s state flower .
This absolutely makes my heart sing with Joy! Thank you for sharing your blessing of family with our church community. Love and Prayers to your lovely family.
Don and Suzanne Feist
You are all awesome! I look forward to meeting Penelope (of course I will use her full first name, cuz that’s how I roll!) and bringing you some awesome enchiladas or chili – your choice. God bless you.
Angela
Little Penny/Poppy/Peppy has a bit in common with me. I am the youngest of seven and, like you, my mom and dad enlisted the help of “the others,” as I like to call them, to pick out my name. Both boy and girl names were listed and offered to “the others.” I hear that my oldest brother Bob refused to talk about girl names because he desperately wanted me to be a boy.
On the day of my birth, my sister Pat ran out into the barnyard and yelled to Bob, “It’s a girl!” Now you would think that since everyone was oh-so-invested in choosing my name that even Bob would be happy to hear of my arrival. Nope. He threw his buckets across the yard and said, “I wanted t a boy to help with the chores around here!” Keep in mind that he was 16, not-yet-17 when I was born. The fumes from the sheep manure had no doubt clouded his judgement.
As I got older, he got his revenge by talking me into writing on mom and dad’s closet wall with some lipstick, and then taking eggs from the hen house to make mom some mud pies “because it will make her happy.” It did not, and now you know why I call them “the others.”
BTW, I guess I’ll have to coerce a different patriotic family into naming their kid America. 😉 Welcome to the world, Penelope!