All the ts – Taidi, Thekla, Tadgh and Taika

–Taidi (TYE-dee)

This name came ot me on one of my many Google searches. I was wondering if there were any other snow related names such as Lumi that I could like. This was one of them. However, unlike Lumi, she’s not Finnish, she’s from another part of Europe. Estonia, to be exact.

Like Lumi, this name has a quirky element, but also a nickname one. She doesn’t lend herself well to fullname status, although in Estonia, she is considered a legitimate name, whereas Lumi’s status as a legitimate name in Finland is not as solid. The name Taidi comes directly from the Estonia word which means snow white, although this name is more descriptive of the fairness of one’s skin, rather than a reference to the fairy tale.

The name day of Taidi is the 9th September.

–Thekla (TEK-la)

I love Greek names, it’s responsible for so many of my liked names. Thekla is of Greek origins, and I came across her in the context of looking for more Greek names. As for her meaning, she means Glory to God, coming from the Greek Theoclea, whereby theo means god and clea means glory.

In Poland, Tekla is a popular name, especially around the start of the 20th Century, and then there was the St. Thecla we can also consider, who was known as Taqla in the Acts of St. Paul. She was a young noblewoman who had a particularly hard time. Her feast day is the 23rd September in the Roman Catholic Church and 24th September in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

St. Thecla is particularly venerated amongst Middle Eatern Christians, such as Egypt and Lebanon, where she is frequently known by Taqla, or even Takla. So there are plenty of variant spellings for one to consider. There is also an ancient nunnery, called Deir Ma Takla, which is located upon the tomb of St. Thecla.

In Spain, she is considered to be the patron saint, much like St. Patrick is the patron saint of the Irish; Each year a large festival is held in her honour. Her name also happens to correspond with the Spanish and Catalan word for key (on the computer keyboard), thus she has taken the place as the patron saint of computers, which is rather unexpected really.

 –Tadgh (TIEG)

My Nana is Irish, and I’ve often wondered about incorporating her irish roots into a name, and this is how I came to the name Tadgh. He’s pronounced like the beginning sound of Tiger, although their is the anglicised form Teague, which is pronounced slightly different – TEEG, with a long e sound.

One of the reasons I was drawn to this name is because it means poet in Irish, and a good name meaning will always pluck my heart strings. As for actual use of the name, there was the 11th Century King of Connacht. Not exactly a contemporary name bearer, but one nevertheless.

However, this name is very similar in pronunciation to a slur used in Northern Ireland – Taig – which is used on Catholics and Republicans, which is said to have derived from this name.

–Taika (TIE-kah)

This name doesn’t have a usual name meaning e.g. powerful, strong etc, which is exactly why I came upon it. It’s always a joy for me to find names with meanings that are not necessarily mainstream, and I found this name in that way.  

Her meaning? Well, she’s Finnish for magic, spell. Isn’t it lovely? What’s better, she also means peace in Lithuanian, so you have the outlandish meaning, and the most commonplace one. According to official statistics, Taika was used fairly moderately in the 90s in Finland.