What's in a Name?

Written by Thomas Henriksen

Sofia Míra Bella Henriksen

Why Sofia?

For months we have talked about using Sofia, it strikes a chord with us and so we remain with it. We always said we wanted the following in a name:

• Meaning - It's well-known that Sofia comes from the Greek σοφία meaning "Wisdom" and as such forms the etymology of such words as philosophy. The least we can do as parents is impart some wisdom upon our child, even if by name only!
  
• Internationality - We consider ourselves citizens of the world, and our children must be as well. Sofia is a name universally recognised throughout western civilisation. Sofia also brings the mind to places such as the Hagia Sophia ( 'Aγία Σοφία, or "Holy Wisdom", in Greek), one of the world's finest examples of perfection in Byzantine architecture, as well as Bulgaria's capital city Sofia ( София), a place renowned for its history, architecture, and location as a crossroads of the Balkans. Sofia is also a name recognised and approved by the Danish Kirkeministeriet, or Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, ergo it MUST work with Henriksen as a surname!
  
• Timelessness - Being a name with its roots in ancient Greek and one that has been established for thousands of years, Sofia is name that will never be irrelevant. Her namesake city has been on the map for thousands of years, and the lingual roots of her name are from a culture that was the cradle of western civilisation.
  
• Popularity - We did not want a name that is too popular, and have obvious concerns that Sophia is enjoying a global resurgance. This is part of our rationale for choosing the variant spelled with "f" instead of "ph". It is also the spelling variant commonly used in Nordic and Germanic countries, from which we are descended.

Why Míra?

We settled on the middle name Míra only recently. We liked this name because it has meaning on so many levels.

• Mira means "sea" or "ocean" in sanskrit. A fitting name for a baby that has been relatively quiet and peaceful. Hope she stays this way!
• Míra is a name that also finds roots in the slavic word for peace. Mir or Мир means "peace" or "world" in Russian--hence the name of the space station. Peace and a view from afar are something that we citizens of the world could certainly use more of.
• Mira is a red giant star in the constellation Cetus originally discovered in 1596. It was found to behave like no other star, changing in brightness by a factor of 1500 on a period of 332 days. As a result of this, Johannes Hevelius named the star Mira, meaning "astonishing" or "wonderful" in Latin. And over 400 years later, the star continues to astonish. Earlier this year, astronomers were shocked to find that Mira has a 13 light-year long tail composed of matter that the star sheds as she speeds through the universe, material that will give birth to new stars and planets continuing the cosmic cycle, just as our baby Sofia continues our cycle of life.

Why Bella?
Months ago, we had picked "Sofia Bella" as a potential name for our baby. We just liked the sound and rhythm of it. However, the more we looked at Míra, the more we liked it. Trouble was, Sofia Mira Henriksen just doesn't flow. So we considered Míra Sofia Henriksen, but we wanted her given name to be Sofia. So we came up with Sofia Mira Bella. Bella, of course, is Italian for beautiful, which our little Sofia certainly is. And through this name we not only pay homage to the beauty of our little miracle but also to a country whose food, landscape, history, and language have so enchanted us.

Of course, a bit of ambiguity and double-entendre never hurts... Mirabella is a perfectly accepted given name in its own right. And there is a story there as well. When we found out Tracey was pregnant, we had a trip to New Zealand already scheduled. We decided at very short notice to cancel this long-haul trip (24+ hrs flying each way) and take a more relaxing trip to the continent. We drove all the way from the UK to Croatia, and along the way spent quite a few days in Austria, visiting Salzburg for the first time. We really enjoyed the city, and spent much of an afternoon just sitting on a bench in the Mirabella Gardens taking pictures of the birds and the cherry blossom trees with the snowcapped Alps as a backdrop. It was sort of a zen moment for us.

But we wanted to retain the meaning of Mira and Bella separately, and so we are giving our baby Sofia two middle names that we know full well will be pronounced as one.