So...I'm thinking about a name change. 

I had chosen Nadhima because I had googled "words for 'happiness' in different languages," and Nadhima was the one on the list that I liked (particularly for a name). It's arabic. Happiness is how I feel any time I'm anywhere near a horse.

But Dounia had just informed me that Nadhima doesn't mean what I thought it did. She said it means more like regret (like a girl regrets something) ... ugh ... Why it came up when I searched for 'happiness' specifically, I don't know. But I don't really want to be associated with regret while playing a horse game.

Wondering what everyone else's thoughts were.

I had thought about some other name possibilities.

1. Dounia had told that happiness in arabic would be saeada or farha - and a girl's name that means happiness would be Farah

2. I thought about Niijii because it means "friend" in Ojibwe. I learned it from the movie Spirit Rider as a child. The boy names his horse this. I loved it from the first time I heard it! I even named my childhood pet rooster this. It would also work because horses are pretty much my only constant friendships (ever), even though I want to be friends with everyone. However, Niijii is male. So I might have to use Niijikwe since this is the female form of the same word.

3. I also thought about naming myself after my RL mare. Her APHA registered name is Skippa Sally. She's known as Moxie around the barn. So it would be Skippa Sally, Moxie, or Foxie Moxie. I get a kick out of branding my horses for Skippa Sally as SS. I don't know why. I'm just a sucker for rhymes alliteration lol

~bumping for attention~

Farah is unique and sounds pretty!

I really like Saeada or Farha! 

Caraid - Scots Gaelic

Kataysa - Afar

Piqannarijara - Inuktut

I also really like Saeada or Farha! But... I also really like Niijikwe! 

The only problem is that all my layouts and default graphics say "Nadhima" and I don't really want to stop using any of them.

Lakra just looked up Nadhima and got the same meaning that I always did. I wonder if there are different dialects so it means something different depending on what dialect you're using?

Could it be something to do with translating with a different alphabet in the mix?

Like I know translating Russian words into latin alphabet can be a challenge because Russian uses a cyrillic alphabet that has more letters than the english

I just looked up Nadhima and I got Happiness :) Screenshot of my search results: https://ibb.co/vPfWLTH

I have no idea. I'm no expert on the arabic language (actually I don't know it at all, just that Nadhima was pretty)

Aw that's a shame, I really like the name, I think it's pretty!

I asked ChatGPT, and it came with this explanation:

"Nadhima" (or "نادمة") in Arabic generally means "regretful" or "one who regrets." This name comes from the Arabic root n-d-m (ندم), which is associated with feelings of regret or remorse. There isn’t a common translation of "Nadhima" to mean "happiness" in Arabic, so the translation related to regret is accurate.

If you heard "Nadhima" in a different context, the meaning might vary based on cultural nuances, but linguistically, "regret" is the closest interpretation.

If you're going to change it, I do like Farah! I think it's beautiful. :) 

I know! How can something so pretty possibly not mean something pretty?!!!!

The only thing is Farah is all I can think of is Amy Farah Fowler from the tv show The Big Bang Theory

**on a side note** I think I want to start Ojibwe Ponies. Not that I "need" another breed haha but I just made the connection that they're on HP and it's from one of my favorite childhood movies. Anyone have an upgrade i could borrow?

loveeeeee saeada

Of course, maybe Nadhima does still work because my heart is currently breaking in 2! I'm currently in a situation where I have to either give up my horse or go back to work and give up being a stay-at-home mom and home schooling my son. Which neither is something I even remotely want to do. I would've had my horse for 14 years in February. But the Christian school we had our son in completely failed him because he's not a typical learner and they didn't want to put in the extra effort to teach him. And no other Christian school in the state will have any more to offer than they did. But I don't want him in the crappy public school system either that's going to try to teach him all the "bad" stuff that we don't believe in. Plus, he'd be placed in a classroom with a teacher that went around behind my back lying about me when we worked headstart together.

I felt awful informing you, but knew that personally, I'd want someone to tell me if a name meant something other than what I thought. I do apologize and seriously commiserate with you! D:

Arabic is my second language, but I double-checked with my husband (native Levantine Arabic speaker) and he confirmed this.

I have a few more suggestions of happiness-adjacent names:

• Sahar - "dawn"

• Naima - "comfort" or "tranquility"

• Amani - "wishes"

• Noor - "light" or "brightness"

Naima is really close to your current name when you say it out loud. Maybe that's that the internet searches were supposed to be?

@Dounia, it's ok. I know you were only trying to help. I'm just torn. Half of me is glad you said something because it obviously doesn't mean what I found on Google. But half of me wishes I was still naive to it simply just because it messes up all my layouts and default graphics.

@Farewell, that was my exact thought when I first read it. And horses do bring me comfort and tranquility.

So I think I'm mostly down to 3 votes for Saeada, 4 votes for Farah (if I count Farah and Farha together), and 1 vote for Niijikwe. But id also be open to Naima because like Farewell said it's similar to Nadhima (it just removes the dh from the middle).

Nadhima, Can you find a job that allows you to stay home?  and you could lease out your horse - that way you still keep her but also getting a small income from her and she is being ridden

I tried to find a full lease for my horse, but no one in my area is willing to pay all the expenses for a horse that they don't own. People are greedy and have to have everything.

I don't know what I'd do for a work from home job. It would have to something where I'm pretty much my own boss and am free to make my own schedule because I drive my son sn hour away from home 3 days a week for speech therapy appointments which kills like 3 hours out of the day by the time I get home.

I had started making fleece blankets to try selling as a business but that's still in the beginning stages. I need more money now. I don't even know that it would give me a steady enough income to count.

Plus the barn I had her at closed the end of June. So I had moved her elsewhere where the people have shown themselves as untrustworthy because now they're going back on the deal that we had made before we had moved her there to begin with.

Naima would be my vote as it is similar to Nadhima -- and you might still be known as Nad as far as nicknames go, even if you take the "dh" out of your name. And depending where you are, and I am not a parent or have kids/neices/nephews, god-children or anything of the like, but I am a product of the public school system and I turned out okay, meaning you meet all sorts of perspectives and world views within the public school system(s), or have the potential to meet varieties of such views; some parents might even believe and raise their kids the same you do/want to and yet still send their kids to public school.

EDIT: Totally your perogative. Not trying to step on toes. Just offering a thought. It's totally fine to disregard. 

I grew up in the public school too. Hated every second of it! I'm not here or sharing to debate raising my own kid. My kid, my choice. And public school is 100% NOT happening! Especially with a teacher that lies about me behind my back. My son is at a very impressionable age and there are certain world views/perspectives that I do not want making impressions on him.