Why Evangeline?

Evangeline of the Acadie

Mimi and I have been asked by quite a few people why we chose the name Evangeline. Is it a family name? Are you just big LOST fans? Do you just like long obnoxious names?

Ish. Mimi and I had been talking about names for years. YEARS. The positive thing is that Mimi and I are pretty agreeable people, so finding names we could agree on wasn't overly hard. Evangeline had been in our head originally after watching season 1 of LOST, in which we liked the character played by Evangeline Lily (then, of course, we watched seasons 2 through 6....). So we began researching the name a bit. We liked what we found. Then overtime we grew bored with it. Then we liked it again. Then we got bored with it again.

When my grandfather passed summer before last, I learned a great deal about my heritage. I'd always thought it was weird that the French spoken by my grandfather in New Brunswick was so different from the French in other parts of Canada. What I discovered was that I was a direct line Acadian--Acadians being the French who intermarried with the Native Americans in eastern edge of Canada (Side note: the discovery made me realize that I'm an ethnic minority--but not the kind that receives government assistance for anything). If you look at any Seven Years' War maps of the Americas, you'll find a country called "Acadia" distinct from Canada and the U.S. Acadia occupies what is now modern day Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In 1710, the British invaded and wiped out/relocated the Acadians. Some submitted to British rule while others were relocated to Louisiana (and became known as the Cajuns).

The story of the ethnic cleansing and relocation of the Acadians was immortalized by Henry Longfellow in an epic poem called "Evangeline." I believe it's based originally on a folk legend from the Acadian people. Mimi and I fell in love with the story--although the story is a bit tragic.

After being fairly decided on the name, we also discovered that Evangeline means "Good News"--which is fitting because Mimi and I are both journalists. We had also watched the movie Nanny McPhee and loved the character Evangeline in the story.

So that's why in short. People have been asking for a nickname. Mimi calls her Evan sometimes. I call her "Evan-Monster," "Evang-linguini" and the "Evan-burrito" when properly swaddled. Mostly I just call her Evangeline.