Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A goddess, a bird or a moon.



What do these three things have in common?

My name.

Rhea.

I pronounce it "Ray" or "Ray-ah."

Probably one of the reasons I've always loved mythology was due to the Greek goddess Rhea.

She was a Titan, daughter of Uranus (the sky) and Gaia (the earth).
She married Kronus, a really bad dude who ate all his children for fear they would overthrow him.
Well, after Rhea gives birth to baby Zeus, she hides him away in a cave and hands her husband a stone bundled up like a baby, whom he promptly swallows (not a real smart god).
So, Zeus grows up, overthrows Cronus and becomes king of gods.
Rhea is considered "the mother of the gods."
Cool.



Then there is the Rhea bird.
It looks like an ostrich but it's called a Rhea (ree-ah).
I can relate, I sometimes stick my head in the sand, unfortunately.
Rhea Birds are said to have an implausible immune system that allows injured birds to heal rapidly without much intercessions from humans.
The fat of the Rhea birds is used as an anti-inflammatory salve. hmm...




Then there's the moon called Rhea.
It's one of Saturn's many moons.
I was reminded of this little fact recently when Pioneer Woman hosted a contest in which my namesake moon was the answer.
The moon is Saturn's second largest and was discovered in the 1600's.

And, as you can see in this photo below, this moon has tenuous rings around it.



I love having a unique name, even if most people say it wrong.
It's a family name.

Tell me about your name.
Or a cool name you like.
Or whatever you want.
I'm not picky.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm just plain Carrie. My dad's name is Lennie so my mom use to sing a song when I was little, "Lennie, carry Carrie..." I don't remeber the rest but it drove me crazy!

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

When I was younger, I didn't like my name. Didn't like that no one else had it. And that I could never find personalized pencils :-) And now, it's rather infamous. It means "pure one." Which always makes me laugh. And then for my children. They don't have unique names. But...we spell 'em strange. So, no personalized pencils for them, either...

Kori said...

Meaning of my name means
"God's Peace" I doubt that my parents were even aware of this.

Maybe God knew I was going to need a lot of peace in my life.

Anyhow I know the whole Bird being named the same name.

Kori Buzzards are ugly birds too. Go google it I swear they are ugly.

steenky bee said...

I'm glad I know this. In my head it's always been "Ree-ah". Ray-ah is very pretty. My name (Jennifer) is so very common. I never liked it growing up and just sort of tolerate it now. It means fair lady. I am neither fair and I'm barely a lady.

Mama Dawg said...

My first name (Emily) means nurse but I LOVE my middle name (Briar). My mom got it from an Australian romance novel. How deliciously wicked!

Live.Love.Eat said...

Stephanie - Goddess of the Skillet. Hah. I don't know anything about my name. Sad.

Unknown said...

Sidney...named for my uncle, John Sidney. My mother says she couldn't think of a good comeback when my dad wanted to name me that and it was time to come home from the hospital.....

Jennifer and Sandi said...

Jennifer is a Welch name. Now where in heck did the folks get that from??? I am not Welch, I am Swedish and Indian!!

Jennifer means "Fair". As in Lady?

Weird! Fun post..made me think !

- Jennifer

Anonymous said...

Well I think that I have the best name ever.....Chris

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Anonymous said...

Your name is awesome. I'm with the Steenkmeister, it was 'Ree-ah' in my head. Thanks for the correct phonetic.

My name is Jeffrey, or 'Jeff' to my friends. From wikipedia:

Jeffrey is a common English name. It is most commonly spelled as Jeffrey, but sometimes spelled with one f as in Jefrey. The name Geoffrey is the precursor to Jeffrey, and Godfrey in turn a precursor to that. In North America, the alternative Jeffery is sometimes used as a name.

Captain Dumbass said...

My name is Klingon for scoundrel or layabout. But in a good way.

Unknown said...

My name.. eh... Elizabeth... Beth... Lizzy... it's fun for all the million nicknames you can get out of it... And there's that royalty connection, and the Biblical connection... and... well the only Beth I knew about was Beth in Little Woman and she...

oh wait

***********SPOILER ALERT**********
dies
*********end SPOILER ALERT********

I do like my name though. I REALLY love Essie's real name, and wanted FOREVER to name a little girl that name.. but it's SO unique that it would be easy for people (like her dad) to search it in google and find her and my blog and then know things i don't want him to know so... you'll just have to wonder what her name is.

lynette355 said...

My name is Lenore. I was named from Poe's poem Lenore not from the Raven that most people know. As all see here I use my middle name for a screen name. Lynette. I was a Little before (marriage #2) so for a while I was LLL. My nickname growing up was Tuzy. I became an Aunt Tuzy. Then I had a niece who could not say it right so I became a Saint Tuzy. And now my nieces are having their children I am a Great Saint. Pretty good huh? And most kids now call me Nor (short for Lenore) or Nor Nor. And since my step daughter has children I am also Nonnie Nor for my grandmother name. But you could probably say "hey Good looking" and my head would turn. LOL

Lauren W said...

My name originates from Laurel. All in all it's not an overly cool name.
One thing that I love, though, is that I'm named after my dad. His name is Lawrence. I like having that connection :)

WheresMyAngels said...

You said "Uranus"

Hee Hee

Everyone calls me G now days at work. I feel like I'm gangsta!

Nik said...

I *LOVE* your name and I've always said Ray for your name. But I've got Rae in my name so it was easy to transition to Rhea.

Teri said...

I didn't like my name growing up. Maybe because my sister had one almost the same - Sheri. But probably because I could never find anything that was preprinted with my name on it. I guess I don't really care anymore. It works. :-)

Claremont First Ward said...

I'm glad you told us how to pronounce your name.......I've been thinking it's Rea.

My name means Angel. I'm not. :)

Anonymous said...

I agree with everyone. Nice to know how to pronounce your name. I was alternating between Ray and Ree-uh.

Anyway, my name, Colleen, is Irish for girl. I was the only one I knew until I turned 25. My parents wanted an Irish name as we are a primarily Irish family (Shawn, Kerry, Brent, Kaleen). My middle name is Margaret, named after my aunt and both of my parent's aunts.

Britt said...

I love how you pronounce your name .. very pretty! Original names that are pretty are way cool. I've always liked your name, I've just been saying it wrong.

Original names that are just weird? Well, yeah .. they are just weird. Like my middle name. Jackina. It's just weird, right?

Most say it's pretty and original, but I know they are lying .. because who says to someone's face, "Your name is weird and rhymes with vagina."

Thank God my parents didn't make it my first name. Can you say Therapy? ;o)

Jen said...

that is really cool. I have alway liked your name.
Mine on the other hand, I don't really like b/c it is so popular but I like it b/c it was my Grandmother's name.

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

I think the only thing about my name is the "Y"s. No matter how many times I spell it for people, they goof it up. They always hear it how they want to spell it.

"Is it a C or a K?" I get that all the time. That's only the beginning.

The Happy Mom said...

My name is Melissa, which is Greek for Honeybee, although my husband would probably say it means "lover of shopping". :)

And just so you know, I was pronouncing your name the right way in my head. The actress Rhea Perlman pronounces it that way too.

So what's it like being a goddess? :)

Susie said...

That is so interesting! My name is Susan which means lily and I was born in May. The flower of May is Lily of the Valley. It's all very cool. I love my name:-)

Linda said...

Well, Linda is Spanish for pretty. Not sure why my parents picked it. I wanted to be a Maggie when I was growing up. Don't have a clue why or where I got that.

My oldest daughter is named after the moon, with her grandma's middle name. My son is named after a conqueror with his dad and grandfather's middle name. And my youngest daughter is named after her 2 great grandmothers.

I love it when a name has special meaning.

Cristin said...

I've always hated my name. Its so common.
I was supposed to be Fiona, but apparently I was too ugly to have such a pretty name so Mom let my sister name me.

Unknown said...

Sarah - meaning Princess, need I say more!LOL

I had a lucky escape though, apparently Candy was shortlisted!

Swirl Girl said...

My name is swirlgirlsrealname.

Never liked it all.

Originated when J.M. Barry wrote that famous book.

I do not have Pippi Longstocking pigtails like the epynonymous daughter of the orginator of Hot and Juicy burgers either....so there.

Shannon said...

I like my name. If I hadn't been a Shannon, I think I would have considered it when naming my own kids.

I've actually met more guys named Shannon, than girls.

My mom was sure I was a boy... so my parents picked out the name Michael Shawn.
Then when I popped out a girl, they just decided to use the feminine versions... so I am Shannon Michelle.

Anonymous said...

Not many people here know my real name, Deirdre (celtic princess, killed herself, means sorrow...pronounced Dear-dra). My family and most of my friends call me Muffy or Muffin. There's conflicting stories about how it come to be. I was the little "muffin", the baby. And anyone remember the show 'Eight is enough'? Supposedly I was Nuffy as in Enough, I was the 8th person in our family including parents. Sister Cristin is Creepy, I don't know who got the better deal...