Naming Your Home

Naming your home was a foreign concept to me for 15 years of my life. Then, I became penpals with a young gentleman from Scotland who's family home had a name. I still remember the name, too, though we haven't been in contact for nearly 10 years now. (I dropped contact when I met the man who would become my husband. I felt it improper to continue a relationship with another man.) For some reason, having a house named left an imprint on me. Where I live, many farms are named, but not houses. Beach cottages might be named, but not someone's regular dwelling.

I mentioned naming our home to hubby as we moved into our current cottage on the hill. He liked the idea and we decided to dig back into his Scottish roots and use a Scots Gaelic name. I admit, I'm not sure if it's grammatically correct, but our little cottage on less than an acre of land is called "Taigh Beag." It's pronounced (to the best of my limited ability) Tie Beck and means small house. It's fitting, sounds cute and looks fantastic written down.

Last year, I mentioned to my older brother that he should name his small hobby farm. Indeed he did. It's a very clever name, too. I wish I could tell you, but I don't have his permission to put it online.

I am a bit of an advocate for house naming and it thrills me that some of my fellow bloggers have named their little cottages, homesteads and houses.

In All Creatures Great and Small, Zeigfried's house was called Skeldale House and it was just a row house in Yorkshire. So, go ahead. Have fun. Name your house, cottage, trailer, yurt or apartment.