Fearless Females: Names and Naming Patterns

(I started this blogging prompt late in the month so will try to catch up!)
Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist has listed blogging prompts for each day of March to celebrate Women’s History Month. The blog prompt for March 3: “Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.”

I am the first one in my family to have the name “Wendy” – but not the only one! My 1st cousin once removed (my aunt’s granddaughter), younger than me by a few years, also has the name “Wendy.” Our middle names are different though. Mine signifies my dad’s nickname and her’s is for my dad’s oldest brother (a shared uncle). There are no other’s with the same name. Hence, I wasn’t named “for” anyone – in fact my name almost was something completely different. Not agreeing on what my name should be, my parents allowed my sister (older than I by 16 years) to name me. Until I was in Junior High School, there weren’t any other Wendy’s I knew. In my sophomore American Lit class, there were three of us! Occassionally, I would run across a Wendy at camp or a friend of friends or someone who worked in my building. I didn’t have any friends with the same name – until . . . a year ago. Lo and behold, my daughter’s soon to be mother-in-law is Wendy. Not only that but we have the same middle initial! There are many other coincidences but we have decided that instead of “in-law’s” or even “out-law’s” – we’ll be “sister” Wendy’s!

As I was growing up, I thought my maternal grandmother’s name was unusual – Vesta. There weren’t any other ladies I knew with that name. As I got older, I realized how appropriate her name was. Vesta is the Roman Goddess of the Hearth, Home and Family. And no one was more so than my grandmother. She was a loving grandmother and great-grandmother. She loved being able to spend time with family. And in a way, my grandmother & I share the fact that both of us have unique names. That bonds us as well.

April 26, 1952; Rome, Italy – Vesta, on the steps of the ancient Temple of Vesta (goddess of fire)