The Name and the Named
Some of you have asked about Alma's name. Her full name is Alma Noor Nabatian. Hannah first found the name Alma in a great book called The History of Love. While she's not named after the character in the book per se, the name really resonated with us both.
We love that it has so many profound meanings in so many different languages. Here's what we know: in Spanish, Alma means "soul," in Latin, it means "nourishing," (originally a title for Roman goddesses!).
It is also a Hebrew word from the Torah meaning "young woman;" it is used in the New Testament to describe Mary; and in Arabic it means "learned." Oh, and apparently it also means "apple" in Kazakhstan. Cute!
Noor is an Arabic word also found in Persian, Urdu, and Turkish, which means Divine Light. The birth of a child, as my aunt Farzaneh sometimes says, is Noor ala Noor, Light upon Light.
As for Nabatian, family lore tells me it is the name for someone who made sugar candy in Iran. But it's also the name of a village in Israel, and could refer to agriculture since "Nabat" can also mean 'greens' in the sense of food.
With love from the nest,
- Sohrob
We love that it has so many profound meanings in so many different languages. Here's what we know: in Spanish, Alma means "soul," in Latin, it means "nourishing," (originally a title for Roman goddesses!).
It is also a Hebrew word from the Torah meaning "young woman;" it is used in the New Testament to describe Mary; and in Arabic it means "learned." Oh, and apparently it also means "apple" in Kazakhstan. Cute!
Noor is an Arabic word also found in Persian, Urdu, and Turkish, which means Divine Light. The birth of a child, as my aunt Farzaneh sometimes says, is Noor ala Noor, Light upon Light.
As for Nabatian, family lore tells me it is the name for someone who made sugar candy in Iran. But it's also the name of a village in Israel, and could refer to agriculture since "Nabat" can also mean 'greens' in the sense of food.
With love from the nest,
- Sohrob
posted by hannahbee at
2:37 PM
1 Comments:
PS: By the way my little name is: JULIA NOUR NOLD, so Hannah we chose the same name for our girl without telling eachother isn't this funny? We chose for her Nour, as her arabic name, because we loved the meaning. Plus it was really matching her blond little head when she was born, she was so blond, her head looked like a little tennis ball.. so funny
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