What's In A Shem?

We struggled long and hard about naming Kaelyn. We knew the name would stick with her for her entire life [unless she goes Prince on us and replaces it with a symbol], so it's something we didn't want to screw up. I've already noticed that Kaelyn's a name that you have to repeat to a few times to people who have never heard it. True, the first day of school will be difficult, but it it's not too common. It's a beautiful, unique name that should serve her well. So I wonder how long and hard TomKat thought about the name of their little girl Suri. In an effort to be creative, they sought out a Hebrew name they thought meant, "princess." It's actually, most likely, a derivative of the name Sarah meaning, "Lord." In modern Hebrew, it means "Cabinet Minister." And you thought Kaelyn was bad [by the way, it's Gaelic for "meadow"].

Here's an article about it. My favorite quote in this article is from an Israeli television reporter commenting on the confusion taking place there about the name: "We seem to have learned a new Hebrew word — and from Tom Cruise, no less."

This whole incident reminded me of this article an Old Testament professor wrote about Hebrew tattoos. When you start messing around with another language, especially one that has so many little nuances, just make sure to double check the original meaning.