aferdita

• "dawn, daybreak, morning, near day, the day is near," albanian
  • another name for the albanian goddess prende, who presides over beauty, fertility, health, love, and the dawn, and is also the protector of women.
  • used as an albanian name for the greek goddess aphrodite.
  • is the albanian name for the planet venus.

amaranthe

• "unfading," french form of amarantha, which is ultimately from greek
  • the amaranth is a flowering plant that symbolizes everlasting love & immortality, among other things.

arolilja

• perhaps meaning "prairie lily," norwegian
  • her name appears in a 700 year old ballad entitled "bendik og årolilja", where she is a princess in love with a knight. their love is ill-starred, and bendik d!es, with årolilja soon to follow due to heartbreak. lilies spring up from their graves.
  • in general terms, lilies represent innocence, purity, & rebirth.
  • honors my ancestry.

astraea

• "star-maiden," "starry night," or "starry one," latinized greek mythological name
  • the greek goddess of innocence, justice, precision, & purity, who fled the wickedness of earth and became the constellation virgo, which is my star sign.
  • her scales of justice are the constellation libra.
  • an asteroid is named for astraea.
  • it is said that she will descend to earth yet again someday, ushering in the "golden age" once again.

castalia

• perhaps meaning "sewing needle" or "to stitch," latinized greek mythological name
  • a naiad from greek mythology who threw herself into a spring when pursued by apollo, who was then transformed into said spring and consecrated to the muses. she was a source of poetic inspiration when her waters were heard or drank from, and her waters were considered sacred and used to cleanse delphian temples.
  • "kastalia flows in poetic fashion with waters of silver," alcaeus, fragment 307 (from himerius, orations)
  • the castalian spring, near delphi, was sacred to the muses, and was where the pythia and priests would cleanse themselves.
  • her name is also borne by an asteroid and a minor planet.

cerelia

• from cerealia, which is derived from the name of the roman goddess ceres, ceres herself perhaps meaning "grain, nourishment"
  • cerealia was a festival, dedicated to the roman goddess ceres, that celebrated the harvest.
  • i just think it sounds lovely, plain and simple.

chantara

• a form of chanthara, meaning "moon water," thai

clarissant

• meaning unknown, arthurian romance
  • a daughter of king lot and morgause, as well as the wife of sir guiromelant and the mother of guigenor. in "perceval, the story of the grail" by chétien de troyes, she is the sister of gawain.
  • her nickname, "clara," would be a reference to the main character in "the nutcracker," a ballet by tchaikovsky.

endzela

• "snowdrop (flower)," specifically the genus galanthus, georgian
  • snowdrops are said to symbolize hope and new beginnings, among a plethora of other things.

eumelia

• "melody," ancient greek
  • music is a very important part of my life, and i love the way eumelia sounds.

gwyneira

• "white snow," modern welsh
  • makes me think of snow white.
  • winter is my favorite season.

hespera

• "evening," latinized greek mythological name
  • one of the hesperides in greek mythology, who were goddesses and nymphs of the evening and the golden light of sunsets. they presided over the garden of the hesperides, and protected hera's tree that bore golden apples. they, and their apples, are said to be the cause of the golden light of the sunset.

idalia

• perhaps meaning "behold the sun, i see the sun," latinized greek mythological name
  • an epithet of aphrodite, from the city of idalion in cyprus.

inanna

• perhaps meaning "lady of the heavens", mesopotamian mythology
  • the ancient mesopotamian goddess of fertility, love, and war, who is also associated with beauty, divine law, and political power.
  • her symbols include doves, lions, the planet venus, et cetera. she is even depicted as a dove or lion on occasion.
  • "i shall raise up the dead and they shall eat the living: and the dead shall outnumber the living!," an excerpt from an akkadian version of inanna's decent into the underworld.

isolde

• a variant of iseult, which has various potential meanings, including perhaps "ice battle" or "she who is gazed upon," arthurian romance & germanic
  • in the legend of tristan and iseult, there are three characters named iseult, the most prominent being princess iseult of ireland. she is wed to mark of cornwall, but due to a love potion, falls for tristan instead, and they begin a forbidden romance.
  • isolde's name day is august 23rd.

leocadia

• perhaps meaning "bright, clear, white,", late latin
  • saint leocadia was a 3rd century spanish martyr.
  • leocadia's name day is december 9th.
  • also the name of an asteroid.
  • "la leocadia", a name given to one of the "black paintings" by francisco goya.

levana

• "white," anglicized hebrew
  • also a poetic name for the moon.
• "to lift, to raise," roman mythology
  • the roman goddess associated with childbirth rituals & newborns.

lumina

• "light," english from latin
  • "lumina", a song by joan osborne.