What a great week we have had! On Tuesday 23rd Feb at 4.54am Haylee delivered our second daughter Maia Caitlin into the world at a healthy 7lbs14ozs. Another natural, drug free, intervention free birth. They both did extremely well and I had the joy of being right there to hold her as she opened her eyes.
She is such a sweet, calm and grounded child. Then came the big decisions, what would we call her?

If you are anything like us, naming your child is a big deal. The name has to have presence and most importantly mean something. Sorry if this offends but it seems most of us have lost the reason behind a name.
It used to be a descriptor, a function to attach something memorable to someone so that, for instance, a conversation could be had about them and the other party would know who was being discussed. Names meant more than just satisfying a social function and establishing a sense of compliance within the accepted norm. Some cultures even used to give their children different names for different stages of their development, often accompanied by a gathering and celebration. This same process can be applied to the devloping of a new brand, for in essence it is akin to the birth of a new child.

A week of shifting through the internet using various Baby name Finder tools (we have a great list if any needs) and flipping countless pages in the numerous names books we have I certainly learnt some interesting things. Things like the origins of the name Barbara - an old name that in some books is of Latin or Greek origin and means "foreign woman" in other books it is of Germanic origin and means "unusual stranger" - a slight twist of the first but nevertheless a little disconcerting for a child given a school project to find out the meaning of their own name (sorry to Aunty Barbara for bringing this up....). Another which would be hard to explain to your child as to WHY is Cassandra - some books take the high road and say that this Greek name means "helper of men" but others say it means "disbelieved by men" - essentially a liar. Digging deeper into the story and it appears that the origin comes from a myth about a woman who hears the voice of a god and is inturn cursed as no one will believe her.

So why Maia Caitlin then?

Well, our little Maia is a very calm, collected and peaceful individual. How she is acting now is an extension of how she behaved in the womb, not a big wriggler or kicker, more of a gentle stretcher. Once out into the world, she took a moment to gather her thoughts and drink it all in before getting on with it. Even now, a week on, she hardly cries and is very contented. Maia is a very old name, with origins and use in many cultures. For the Greeks it was the name of the Goddess of Spring, and as a result a deity of fertility. For the Hindu Upanishads it to was a name of similar meaning. For us it represents a new phase in our lives and the start of a very new chapter with a major shift in the focus of our family and our business. The start of a rebirth of sorts.

Maia's name appears also in Greco-Roman (or, Classical) mythology.  There was extensive commercial contact between India and the Mediterranean lands long before the time of Alexander of Macedon (ca. 350 BCE.)  However, whether the Greek name had a different origin or not, is not as relevant as the fact that there, Maia (or sometimes written as Maya) was an earth goddess.  Maia is usually explained as meaning Maker, for she is seen as the cause of the spring season when all that we have seen die away before winter now springs back to life. Therefore we have come to use her name to designate (in the northern hemisphere,) May, the month of flowers -- the time of rebirth.

In the mythology of ancient Greece, Maia was once the youngest of the group of stars called the Pleiades (children of Pleione, another name for Aphrodite.) Atlas, their father, was a Titan who was punished for taking part in a revolt against the gods, and so was sentenced to bear the heavens [no, not the world] on his shoulders. Unable to bear their father's humiliation, Maia and her sisters fled to highest heaven and can be seen there as the group known as The Pleiades.
But wait. Maia is also called Grandmother of Magic.  Seduced by Zeus, she gave birth to Hermes, the Transformer -- the one who is a Master of Disguise, a Trickster and the psycho-pomp (guide of souls to the land of the dead.) The planet Mercury is named for Hermes, and in Sanskrit the name is Budh as the deity Maia was also the mother of Buddha.
The activity of the child, Hermes (Mercury, to the Romans) is reminiscent of the Indian god, Krishna. While still an infant, Hermes stole the cattle of the sun. From the shell of a tortoise, he created the lyre, and he also invented the flute from the hollow reeds of a marsh.

Caitlin is an Irish derivative of the old name Catherine, meaning "pure". Are we Irish, no, but we also wanted a name that was modern, gentle and feminine to match her personality. That and the fact that I dreamed Haylee had left me a large note on our bedroom wall a few months ago with a message that just said "our daughter is called Kate" Sometimes you have to listen to your dreams.

So it appears that if you are a thinker then coming up with a name for either your child or your new business venture is absolutely critical. It gives you the ability to relate to others abit of background and meaning as to why you are called what you are.

If it is not that important to you that your name mean something then that is ok too - many a successful person and / or brands have names that seem to not match what they are doing or what they are about - Shell comes to mind. What does a shell have to do with petrochemicals? I am unsure. What I am sure about though is that this is going to be a fantastic experience, and I apologise in advance for my distraction over the next few weeks as we settle into a new routine.