Ever thought about the story or the meaning behind your name?

Recently, I have a friend who posted on Facebook that her name was inspired by a US air force base - Nellis!

I've wondered what my name meant, especially my really guy-ish Chinese name.

But do you know why my dad named me "Esther" and my sister, "Sarah"?

I can tell you that these 2 women in the Bible played pivotal roles in the Jewish nation.

Sarah - she is the wife of Abraham, who is described as the "father of all nations" in the Bible. Without Sarah, Abraham wouldn't have so many descendents, which later became a huge Jewish nation.

Esther - in the Bible, she was the woman who trusted God to save her people (the Jews) from genocide, by risking her own life. She was a heroine, because she used her royal position for God's purpose.

Well, look how great these women were in the Bible.

But you know what Mom said when I asked her why Dad named us this way?

It was mainly because these two women were also physically very attractive.
So my dad wanted us to be beautiful too.

I was like -.-"
I thought he named us because these women were noble or something. Something great, you know.
The last thing I expected was that he named us after gorgeous women. To me, beauty seems so trivial.

I'm thinking... If we were boys, my dad would name us as either David or Joseph, since both of them were described to be handsome dudes in the Bible. Hahahaha...

On second thought, is being inspired by beauty really that trivial? Is it shallow for women to be beautiful? I guess the media has made us think this way.

Beautiful = bimbotic
Plain-looking = intelligent

But this is a gross stereotype. God loves beauty, not just inner beauty but also physical beauty. If God loved only inner beauty, he would probably create many more lizards which arguably, has more inner beauty (ie. more helpful - can eat flies) rather than create roses or sunflowers.

Fact is, He loves to see us be like princesses, make ourselves beautiful, but then, not to the extent of obsession. It is absolutely okay to be attractive.

Hmm, after much thrashing out of thoughts, I guess it's okay to be named after beautiful women.

Hi, my name is Esther, and I am named after a beautiful Jewish queen! ;)