So my daughter has a fairly unusual name - Kivi. It's a Finnish name that means "rock" or "stone". We pronounce it "kee-vee". In Finland, it's most often a last name, or sometimes a boy's name, but it sounded like a girl's name to us, so that's how we used it.

I found the name in a name book that was divided into nationalities, with one section for each country. I picked Alexis as her middle name, which isn't exactly common (but certainly not unheard of, either), because I liked how the names sounded together. And then, right after she was born, someone from Finland told me that their most famous author is named Aleksis Kivi!!  I did find out though, that in Finland, it would be pronounced "kih-vee".  Ah well.  We're keeping our adapted pronunciation.

Most people older than I am, think the name is weird (my mother occasionally slips and calls her "kiwi"). Most people my age, or younger, seem to like it.

But she's also unusual, not just because of her name, but also because she has curly red hair and dimples. For years, people have been telling me she looks like Shirley Temple or Annie. So, between her name and her hair, she's a pretty unforgettable kid.