Today I thought I’d share the meaning behind Flora James’ name :) You can read her birth story HERE! It took us forever to settle upon a name for her, much like Piper we waited until the very end to decide. While Piper’s name doesn’t have significant meaning behind it, I really wanted to try and use a family name for our second daughter. I had hoped to use something to honor my maternal grandmother who was very special to me. I searched endlessly for variations on her name, Phyllis or her mother’s name Lillian but kept coming up empty handed. I researched and researched, posted on message boards and nothing seemed to stick. I love Lillian, but Lilly is way too popular and Phyllis just didn’t seem like the right fit for a little girl. I thought about Ellis and Finley as a variation of the name but Austin didn’t love either and neither did I.
My mom came up with the idea for Flora — back when I was pregnant with Piper because she thought it was such a pretty name and it happened to be the name of the winery that was next to my grandmother’s house in the Napa Valley. We grew up riding our bikes on the property and walking with my grandmother to the bridge at the foot of Flora Springs winery where we’d always make a wish on the corner ‘wishing stone’. I have the best memories of these moments. It’s the most beautiful setting, by far my favorite place I’ve ever been, and a place Austin fell in love with too, we even begun to plan our wedding at Flora Springs! Flora sounded like an amazing, strong woman too, just like my grandmother. It pains me to think my grandmother won’t get to meet Flora, but I’m so grateful that she had the opportunity to meet and hold Piper and that now Flora will have this special name.
So the more we thought about it the more the name Flora grew on us, it had significance and fit our family. Piper + Flora has a nice ring to it Florence was also the name of my dad’s grandmother who went by Lolly (another name I love). I wanted a masculine middle name to go with the feminine sound of Flora and had always loved James as a first name (Austin was NOT on board) but we loved Flora James :)
Here’s a picture of the wishing stone and my family making a wish during our last visit before we sold my grandmother’s house.
The Meaning Behind Flora’s Name
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