KATNISS.
I REALLY LIKE THAT NAME, ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES I TRIP OVER IT
AND CALL HER
KATDEEN EVERNISS
BY ACCIDENT!
OOPS!!
LOL! :)
THE REASON WHY I LIKE IT IS BECAUSE IT IS PRETTY AND UNUSUAL.
MY MOM WANTED ME TO HAVE A NAME THAT WAS PRETTY AND UNUSUAL,TOO,
AND SO SHE CAME UP WITH
KIRA.
RELUCTANTLY.
SHE WAS CONVINCED SHE WAS HAVING A BOY AND HAD CHOSEN NOT TO FIND OUT WHO SHE WAS CARRYING, PREFERRING TO BE SURPRISED AT THE BIRTH.
SO, SHE HAD SOME GREAT BOYS NAMES, (I HEAR ALEXANDER WAS AT THE TOP OF HER LIST ALONG WITH A FEW OTHERS), BUT ALAS, NO GIRLS NAMES UP UNTIL THE LAST WEEK BEFORE HER DUE DATE.
THINKING IT WOULD BE WISE TO HAVE A GIRL'S NAME IN STORAGE (JUST IN CASE!!)
SHE CHOSE KIRA.
SHE HAD BEEN READING AYN RAND'S BOOK
"WE THE LIVING",
AND SHE WAS IMPRESSED BY THE HEROINE OF THE NOVEL. ESPECIALLY HER STRENGTH AND SPIRIT.
(A GREAT PLOT SYNOPSIS IS AVAILABLE ON WIKIPEDIA...HERE ARE SOME EXCERPTS FROM THAT WEBSITE. DO THEY SEEM SOMEWHAT FAMILIAR? BOY, SO MANY TYPES OF PARALLELS TO THE HUNGER GAMES INCLUDING A LOVE TRIANGLE TO BOOT!)
Kira Argounova, the protagonist of the story, is the younger daughter of a bourgeois family. An independent spirit with a will to match, she rejects any attempt by her family or the nascent Soviet State to cast her into a mold.
She plans to storm the male bastion of engineers, and show her prowess by building structures like a lightweight aluminum bridge. Kira's strength of resolve to fulfill her dream is asserted at various points in the storyline. Becoming a highly competent engineer would be Kira's carving for herself a niche in a society that has become characterless and anonymous, and whose primary purpose in life has been reduced to subsistence rather than excellence.
The severity of life in the newly Socialist Russia is biting and cruel, especially for the people belonging to the now-stigmatized middle class.
THERE USED TO BE FEW OF US
"KIRAS"
AROUND.
GROWING UP, I ACTUALLY ONLY KNEW OF ONE MORE GIRL NAMED
KIRA.
THEN A FEW YEARS BACK, IT BECAME ONE OF THE "HOT BABY NAMES" AND NOW WE ARE A DIME A DOZEN!
SIGH.
"KIRA" IS STILL PRETTY,
BUT SLIGHTLY LESS UNUSUAL NOW.
SIGH.
THEN THERE IS THE STORY OF THE FRANKLIN PARK ZOO! THEY HAD A NEW BABY GORILLA AND HAD A PUBLIC CONTEST TO DECIDE WHAT TO NAME HER.
HERE IS WHAT THE FRANKLIN PARK ZOO'S WEBSITE HAS TO SAY ABOUT HER:
Kira is the offspring of Kit and Kiki, and she was parent-raised. She's been learning mothering skills from her mom, Kiki, by watching her care for her two younger sisters, Kimani and Kambiri.
Kira is described as the "peacemaker" of the gorilla group. She is very protective of her two younger sisters.
Her mother, Kiki, has been described as the group's queen, and Kira is definitely the princess. Zookeepers say she is just like her mother.
I SEEM TO REMEMBER THAT THEY RECEIVED THOUSANDS OF SUGGESTIONS BUT WHEN THE DUST CLEARED,
"KIRA"
WAS CHOSEN!
YEAH!!!
I FOUND THIS OLD NEWSPAPER CLIP AT THE SUN JOURNAL'S WEBSITE:
SO, THERE YOU GO...
MEANS "STRONG WOMAN".
YUP.
ANY WAY YOU SLICE AND DICE IT.
OF COURSE, WHEN I AM ASKED MY NAME BY STRANGERS, THEY OFTEN INCORRECTLY ASSUME I SPELL MY NAME:
"KEIRA".
AS IN KEIRA KNIGHTLEY, OF COURSE.
MY STOCK ANSWER THAT ALWAYS ELICITS A SMILE IS:
"I SPELL MY NAME K.I.R.A, AS I'VE DROPPED THE "E" BECAUSE I FIND I CAN JUMP HIGHER WITHOUT THE EXTRA LETTER."
:)
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT.
AS SHAKESPEARE SAID,
"WHAT'S IN A NAME?
THAT WHICH WE CALL A ROSE
BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD
SMELL AS SWEET"...
MAYBE,
BUT I'M STICKING WITH KIRA.
ALTHOUGH ONE CAN HAVE FUN WITH THE IDEA OF A...
"KIRNISS EVERMON???
