Anne of Green Gables: Naming A Home

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"That's Barry's pond," said Matthew.  "Oh, I don't like that name . . . I shall call it--let me see--the Lake of Shining Waters. Yes, that is the right name for it. I know because of the thrill. 

When I hit on a name that suits exactly it gives me a thrill."

~ Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

It may be the British blood in me, but I think every house should have a name.  I love how the name of a home can convey its personality:  Green Gables is quaint and homey, Pemberley is elegant and stately, and Bleak House is, well, bleak.  Now, if I were to go the literal route in naming my home, I would probably have to name it something like "Mt. Missing Socks" or "Carbohydrate Corner."  Fitting?  Yes.  Romantic?  Not so much. 

So this week, instead of trying to round up all of those missing socks, I did something truly important:  I did some research on toponymies (place names) to find the perfect name for my home.  (Can you say "avoidance behavior?")  Here are a few fun roots/suffixes I found in my internet meanderings:

"bourne"means "brook"
"bre" means "hill"
"cot" means "wood"

"combe" means valley
"don/den" means "hill"
"ey" means "enclosure"

"gate" means "road"
"hurst" means "wooded hill"
"ham" means "homestead"
"stow" means "holy place of assembly"
"wold" means "rolling open country"

"worth" means "enclosure"

I thought naming this abode of ours would be easy.  Boy, was I wrong.  I have spent less time and energy naming my children.  When I called my sister Hillary to have her weigh in on my list of options, I explained that I was afraid some of the names sounded too pretentious, to which she sarcastically replied, "Yes, you should be worried about that . . . because naming your house isn't pretentious at all."   

Well, pretentious as it may be, we have christened our home "Stonebury Hill."  

Ahh.  It makes me sigh with delight just saying it.  

We chose "Stone" because of this . . .

"Bury" or "fortified enclosure" because of this (our kids' castle in the backyard) . . .

 

and "Hill" because of this . . .

and this.

Plus, I liked it.  Hubby did too. 
(As did 92.3% of the family members I polled before making my final decision.)

To make our house name official, I painted an old calendar board 

and then free-handed the name (and a little flourish on it) with some chalk.

 I filled in the design and the lettering with some acrylic paint . . .

and then hung our plaque on the front porch.

 

I'm sure there are passersby who may find the sign a bit pretentious, but I think they are just jealous that they don't have a Green Gables or Stonebury Hill of their own to call home.  

May you all have a wonderful week full of house-naming delights . . .