How and why I chose my name... | Artist And Pattern Designer

Creating a brand name with meaning!

Choosing the right name for your brand is one of those things that sounds straightforward until you actually try to do it. It has to be unique, memorable and reflect who you are and what you stand for. When I was deciding on a name I knew I wanted something personal, something that meant a lot to me, rather than something generic.

What I didn’t expect was that it would come to me while I was making dinner.

The story and the serendipity

I’ve always believed that signs find you when you’re ready for them and this one arrived quietly, completely out of nowhere. The name that popped into my head that night was a way of honouring my two Great Aunts, May and Ella, who died tragically when I was very young. They had just returned from their annual January cruise when carbon monoxide poisoning took them both. It had been a particularly cold winter and while they were away the snow had settled into the ventilation of their chimney and frozen solid. When they lit the coal fire on their return, the fumes had nowhere to go.

I have such fond memories of them both. They babysat my brother and I when we were kids and because they were seasoned travellers they always brought me back a doll from every country they’d visited, it’s the little things you tend to remember.

How it all came together

May And Ella on one of their adventures!

Jean and Mary weren’t twins but they were extraordinarily close and our family always referred to them together as May An Ella, the Scottish way of saying it where the “d” quietly disappears. When the name came to me that night it already had that rhythm to it. What made it feel truly meant was the realisation that Ann is my own middle name. So there it was: May and Ann and Ella, woven together into May Annella. Three women, two generations, one name.

Having a name rooted in that kind of meaning gives the whole thing a different kind of weight. It’s not just a brand name, it’s meaningful, heartfelt and hopefully a legacy that will carry into the future.