Name of the Day: Octavia and the Numbers

The name of this post sounds like the name of an ancient Roman parable, doesn’t it?  A fair maiden named Octavia gets into a fight with one of the goddesses, and she gets doomed to be forever reciting prime numbers, or something like that.

I’ve had this post planned for awhile, but I just noticed that Cat also wrote a post on Octavia very recently.  I don’t want to seem like a copycat, so I’ll take a different angle.    But let it be known to the world at large:  her post came first.

I like numbers, even though I’ve never been particularly good at math.  Numbers have different connotations to me.  For example, the number three makes me think of arches (you know, the architectural kind).  It seems very sturdy; each of three points resting on each other.  Odd fact about the number three:  by coincidence, my husband’s birthday (the month, day, and year), our address, and our wedding date (month, day, and year) are all evenly divisible by three.

The number four appeals to my slightly obsessive-compulsive desire for balance and symmetry.  Four is a bit more plain than three, but it is very balanced.  Seven has always seemed a difficult, thorny number; maybe because I had difficulty memorizing the 7 times tables as a child.  It also makes me think of the seven notes of the musical scale:  do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti … and then it ends.  Resolve it, resolve it, resolve it (the music major in me coming out)!

But my favorite number is eight. It’s harder for me to articulate why.  The shape of the numeral is very pleasing to my eyes:  8.  It looks like the symbol for infinity, turned on its ear.  Eight is easy to add, easy to divide, easy to rhyme.  It’s a resolved musical scale.  It’s somehow refreshing; a new beginning.

You probably all think that I’m crazy by this point.  You are probably right.  But I had kind of had a secret, buried hope that I would have a child born in either August or October of ’08 (no such luck).  I have always liked the sevens and eights in my birthday; in spite of my feelings about the number seven on its own, the eight finishes it off nicely.

So, what’s the next best thing to bearing a child on 8/08/08, you ask?  Well, naming a child Octavia or Octavian, of course! 

Seriously, I don’t think I would go through with it.  Numbers do NOT rule my life, after all.  It’s true that certain numbers stick in my head for some undefined reason.  To this day, I could tell you that Stephanie Martin’s birthday is on January 24th.  We weren’t even very close friends; we occasionally sat on the bus together in high school, and I think she mentioned it once.  It stuck.

But some people do feel strongly about numbers.  On a certain message board which shall remain nameless, there was a prolonged discussion about a certain girl who had an oops baby, and she decided that the number nine was the most important number to her.  She proceeded to give her child nine names, and the total number of letters was also divisible by nine.  I do not recommend this in any way.

Think how much better it would have been if she had simply named her child Nona, which means nine, instead of saddling her child with nine names!

So, if you feel particularly attached to a certain number, here are a list of number names I have been able to gather.  I focused on Octavia, of course.  Compared to some of them, Octavia is downright usable!

Other Number Names:

one:  Primula, Primitiva, Primo, Winona, Una, Primrose, Prima
two:  Secundus, Secundinus, Sechnall, Leachlainn, Lanty
three:  Tercero, Tertius, Trip, Trey, Terzo, Trinity, Tertia (thanks, Audeline!)
four:  Anan (that was all I could find)
five:  Quentin, Quincy, Quintina, Quintella
six:  Sextus (please do not name your child this), Cecil, Sesto
seventh:  Septimus, Septima, and I would also give a pass to September (but don’t tell anyone)
eight:  Octavia, Octavius, Octavian
nine:  Nona
ten:  Dean, Deacon, Deanna, Deena, Dena

from NameBerry
Octavia:  While there aren’t many eighth children anymore, this ancient Roman name has real possibilities as a substitute for the overused Olivia; recommended for its combination of classical and musical overtones. It was chosen for his daughter by Kevin Sorbo.

from Oxford Dictionary of First Names
Octavia:  From the Roman family name, derived from Latin octavus ‘eighth’. The name was fairly frequently given to the eighth child … in large Victorian families. It is much less common these days, when families rarely extend to eight children, but is occasionally selected for reasons of family tradition or for some other reason without regard to its original meaning.

from Baby Name Wizard

Style:  Exotic Traditionals
Brothers and Sisters: Beatrix, Ariadne, Elisheva, Damaris, Gideon, Japheth, Eliezer, Evander, Tobias, Phineas

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