What's in a Name? (Part 1a)

Becca has reminded me that "Maya" had been a favorite name of hers for years, which is how it came up in our baby-name search. I wasn't a big fan of the "Y" spelling, but then I did some research and found the old greek spelling with the "I". At that point, I was hooked. So the astronomical connection was an afterthought, a bonus, an excuse both to hang a picture of the Pleiades in the her room and to never have to pay one of those bogus places to name a star after her.

(Astronomers don't use those names, there are multiple registries naming the same stars, and they're generally too faint for you to ever actually see your star, even with the help of a telescope. See here. However, if your local planetarium or science center is "selling stars" as a fundraising effort, that could be OK. End tirade.)

And now, for your amusement, a picture of our baby in a tiny bathtub: