THE NAME STORY

“That’s an unusual name you have there.”

I’ve heard this since I was little enough to hide behind Granny Rhett’s apron.

Meda is a family name. I was named after my great-grandmother, who lived from 1888-1971 and was also known as MeMama. There were more women who shared the name in her generation, but it sort of died out.

Over the years, I’ve tried to find my name, first in books and later online. I got lucky in the late 1990s when I spent Thanksgiving on Pensacola Beach with my future in-laws. They rented a big beach house, and family came from as far away as Texas. The homeowners had a built-in bookcase and that’s where I found a book of baby names with a copyright circa 1940. Meda was listed as being from the Latin medicina (healer). There’s a Roman goddess called Meditrina who was the goddess of healing (health, longevity, and wine). Pretty cool, huh?

A few years ago at my church in Florida, one of our praise team members shared a devotion he’d found about names. You know how Biblical names have meaning and people often lived up to their names? My friend, Buddy, looked up the meanings of the names of every praise team and band member and shared them with the group. In his research, he discovered that Meda has Native American roots and means prophetess. Afterward, I found it on sheknows.com. It says people with this name desire a stable, loving family and community. They need to work with others and feel appreciated. True, true, and true. Some might argue these things are true of most people, but I know lots of introverted writers who don’t feel the need to work with others. 😉

You might wonder if I live up to my name. One day, I may tell.