The Name: Rowan Blaine

The Rowan Tree

Rowan - (Gaelic) red one

Blaine - (Scottish) yellow

Do you remember our Adventure Outing (here) to discover the names of native scottish trees? Well it was on this outing that I first thought of the name Rowan. We immediately loved the name. We like the sound of the name and love the image of a tree. The image of a tree appeals because of Jim and my longing to belong to a place, to put down roots, and our longing for ourselves and our boys to be faithful caregivers to creation. And, because the tree is native to Scottland (and the name is Gaelic) it will give Rowan some connection to the place of his birth, which we don't imagine he will remember much of.

I could go on and on about the name Rowan - we've had so many thoughts and connections come with the image of the fruit bearing tree and the color red. We love the connection to creation and the biblical images of trees.

Psalm 1: 1-3

¹Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
²but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

³He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

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And Blaine. Blaine is a family name. My paternal great grandfather, my dad, my brother, and nephew Elijah all have the middle name of Blaine. My great grandfather was named James Gillespie Blaine Wingard after a famous politition (James Gillespie Blaine who was speaker of the house, two time secretary of state, senator... in the late 1800s). We had discussed the name last time around, but didn't like it with Jonah. When we found out that the origin was Scottish this time around we chose it before the first name.

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What I didn't realize when we began thinking of the name in the spring was how seasonal the name would be - the Rowan trees are full of red berries right now and leaves are all shades from yellow to red. Autumn is my favorite season, so I love that our little fall baby has a name that speaks of the season of his birth. The midwives' comment on the name was how seasonally appropriate to name him Rowan. There was a beautiful Rowan tree just outside our window at the hospital and we were even served 'Rowan Glen' yogurt.

Rowan Glen: Naturally Scottish... though we're still not sure how pineapple anything can be considered naturally Scottish.