All along we wanted to honor my father in some way, in the naming of our son. I loved the idea of "Butch" as a middle name for Phoenix. That was my dad's nickname, and I think it's beyond adorable. Let's just say that Cal was not a fan... some sort of childhood association. We could not agree on any names, until we decided on Achè. My father loved Native American culture, and used A`che as a closing in his original version of the Lord's prayer. Looking up "a`che," which, if you lose the accent looks like "ache," we found a mish-mash of definitions which were pretty much summed up to mean: Amen or blessings.
We both were aware that ache as a middle name might be problematic, but we really thought the association and meaning were so beautiful that it didn't matter.
Then I pulled a fast one. The morning that we applied for Phee's birth certificate my obsession with alliteration and a couple of coincidental sightings of an alternate spelling led me to look up Axè. I came across a goldmine: power and creative energy bestowed upon human beings by ancestral spirits acting as guardians. On top of this beyond fitting definition, I found that its roots were influenced by West Africa's Yoruba! My father named me Alafia (my legal first name), which is a Yoruban greeting. Some argue about its origin (maybe Arabic) and meaning. It doesn't really matter to me--I just love this meaning: well being of mind, body and soul. So, we honor my father by following in his Yoruban "naming footsteps"; and by connecting Phoenix to him, as his middle name evokes ancestral spirits bestowing energy and creativity. And I'm happy because the letter "X" appears in both my son's first and middle names. I'm also happy because my husband allowed me to make this change as we were signing the all important document, with a hasty and impassioned explanation. Thanks Bear, for going with my creative flow. I love the name Phoenix Axè Harris, and I love the child who bears it even more.
