My Name

My Name

My name is Dianna, which means, “divine.” I know that she was the Roman goddess of the moon, the hunt, pregnant women, and the witches. I always thought that was an odd combination. But I have read a Jungian analysis of the goddess Diana and her Greek counterpart Artemis, and interestingly, both of these goddesses remained single and were also were the patron goddesses of unmarried women. Witches tend to be unmarried, so I think it single woman somehow evolved into witch. The moon association must be tied to how women change each month, according to their hormones.

Dianna is the number 49,114,149 divided by 6 which is 8, 185, 691.5.
Dianna is green, the color of the forest where the goddess resides.

My name was chosen for me by my Aunt Ursula who is my mother’s sister. She loved the song “Dianna” by Paul Anka. My aunt led a repressed life with a verbally abusive husband. Maybe “Dianna” was her theme song, because the lyrics go something like, “Stay by me, Dianna.” She stayed married to her husband although she was extraordinarily unhappy. My mother married 3 times, so she was quite unlike my aunt.
There are two pronunciations to my name, the American way—Dianna and the German way, which sound more like Deonna. I used to always go by the German pronunciation, but I stopped because people never understood it the first time, and then I would have to explain it’s German, and then people invariably ask me to say something in German, or they say something like, “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” in a Hogan’s Hero accent.
Since I have been going by the American pronunciation, I am often called Dianne, which dislike, but I never say anything, because in the big scheme of the universe, it’s not worth fussing about.
If I could change my name, I would change it to Amy. I have always loved that name and gave it to my daughter. It means “Beloved” and she certainly is.