The Gift of My Name

"Fend kiling dorong leh warrata ka ieh tee." (Behold--the only thing greater than yourself.)

~Alex Haley Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976)

I hear that as a part of your Soul Contract you chose your name & date of birth....This intrigued me as I, like many others, have an interesting story behind my name & how I got it. As I got older and in to spirituality & symbolism more, I researched and found the meaning of my name. Finding that out gave me a purpose and destiny as I resonated with the meaning and significance of my name. Here is the story of how I became La'Toya (Therisa). My mother had already decided on a name for me. She was to name me after her two sisters. This was not an uncommon thing in her family. Many on her mother's side shared the names of brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles. Names that paid homage to grandfathers, grandmothers, and cousins littered our family tree. I eventually became curious of this renaming as it caused me some difficulties when I decided to research my family lineage. Common names of Elizabeth, Hortense, John, Alexander, Georgiana, & Sarah Ann came with much confusion yet taught me invaluable lessons of record keeping & research. My father's family even carried a few Juniors & seniors; although those where easier to follow due to the fact it was usually done in a traditional way ( son after father and so on). So it was no surprise that my mother had chosen to name me Deloris Therisa. Up until only a few days or so before I arrived that was the name I was to be called. So the story goes as this (I will try to remember the details as best I remember)....My grandmother sees a T.V. show or some type of T.V. special ( It could have been re runs of their Variety Show). For whatever reason she gravitates to the name La'Toya of the Jackson sisters. She mentions this to my mother and for whatever reason my mother likes and agrees. I do know that my mother and my grandmother became close after she married my father. So my mom probably didn't think twice about it. She decided to keep Therisa as the middle name (pronounced Ther-ree-sah, and she always made it a point that it was not pronounced like her sisters name and she also spelled it different). I was the first of my name. There was no one before me....which later signifies the powerful path I'm called to lead. I always knew I was different yet had no problem blending in. Now as I got older and went off to school, I began to meet many La'Toya's. I still always found a way to separate myself from them (Even the infamous name of a classmate, Latoya Jackson). My mother had separated my name with an apostrophe ...she had capitalize my T...she had made it unique. I myself named my first born with this same concept... I find the story of my name interesting not only due to the fact that it is yours truly, but due to the fact of it's significance. My mother and I had a relationship that eventually grew toxic. During my healing process, I decided to distance myself and dig deep into growing into the best version of myself. I always joke that my mother wasn't my real mother and I had a white mother...or she stole me....When I became older I finally rested on I must have taken a wrong turn or I don't remember signing up for this.....Well the irony of it all when I later see this spirituality video on the 10 Facts About Your Soul Contract, and the 1st thing is "You chose your name & date of birth.... In the video she explained that the baby (your spirit/higher self) will whisper what their name is to parents or whoever will deliver the message....In this case it was my grandmother, my father mother, who would give me the spirit of the Lotus...the energy of the Phoenix and the namesake that I could make my own....I was always grateful to her as I would hear this story due to the fact that she saved me from Deloris ( I love my Aunt but I really don't think that name would have made the same impact)....Now as I've grown my gratitude is centered around the story she started by giving me the gift of my name.

LA'TOYA~Name Summary

Origin: African-American

Meaning: Victorious one, praised woman, or a flower which blooms and grows in spite of the darkness, or chosen one. It is widely believed to be a variation of Toya, a Spanish nickname for Victoria. However, its origins are more ancient, being derived from "Latona", the Latin name of Leto, the Greco-Roman Mother Goddess, who by Zeus gave birth to Artemis and Apollo. It is because Leto/Latona was forced to give birth to her twins in hiding, on a floating island, that the name Latoya means "a flower that blooms and grows in spite of the darkness." Latoya is, therefore, associated with the Lotus and the Asiatic Lilly.

Gender: Female Colors: White/Purple Lucky numbers: 2, 8, 3 Planets: ☾ Moon Metal: Silver Zodiac sign: ♎ Libra Day of the week: Monday Gems: Garnet, Gold, Meteorite, Moldavite, Smoky Quartz, Spinel, Sugilite, Tanzanite, Tavorite, Tourmaline, Brown Tourmaline

~L.T. Davenport