What’s in a Newborn’s Name?

There is nothing I love more than a newborn baby with a big head of curls!  Well today did not disappoint in that category as beautiful little Kharis graced my photography studio this afternoon with her lovely head of hair and was a complete delight!

Speaking of the word ‘grace’, that is actually what our little newborn’s name Kharis means in Greek.  And to take it one step further, the word ‘Grace’ has its origins from the middle ages when the name Grace was popular as a girls name.  And even before that, the word ‘grace’ appears to be from the early Germanic people and meant ‘gray’.  Somewhere during all of this the Christian religion hijacked the name and merged it with the concept of ‘blessing’, because they claimed it was derived from the Latin word ‘gratia’.  However, this is disputed in some onomastic circles.

Nevertheless, the name ‘grace’ in our society today is usually given as a reference to the Christian concept of virtue and divine grace.  And finally, to confuse things even a bit more, Kharis’ mother is from Ghana, not Greece!  Dad was away in the UK so he couldn’t be at today’s photo shoot, but mom was there with her mother and they were both wonderful companions throughout the photo session.

Unfortunately mom was headed back to Africa after the newborn photo session so I was only able to send her a link to view and download her pictures.  Usually I provide a nice set of Beverly Hall Photography memorabilia along with a charming presentation case containing the USB stick that I give to all the mothers.  But the good news is that the pictures of little Kharis turned out wonderful and that’s all that really matters in the end!