About our name

“Beloved Brook” is a nod to my ancestry, both maternal and paternal. While researching my family tree several years ago, I discovered that there had been not one, not two, but three surname changes in my father’s paternal line. It turns out that our immigrant ancestor came from Wales, and the family’s original name was Nannau (pronounced “Nan-eye” in Welsh), with the spelling later changed to Nanne, Nanney, or Nanny. Nannau is a place name, referring to the Nannau estate near Dolgellau. The name derives from the Celtic word “nant,” meaning “brook.” Ever since I was a little girl, my very favorite thing to do is to splish splash in a cobblestone creek, and when I discovered that our original family name meant “brook,” I can’t even describe how deeply resonant it felt for me.

“Beloved” is more of a funny story. When I was a girl, my mother, whose parents were Norwegian and Swedish, would call me “Frida.” It used to make me so mad! She knew it upset me, so she would tease me with it even more. And I could never figure out where she got it from…no one in our family or family tree was named Frida. It was always a big mystery to me.

One day, not long ago, I decided to look up the meaning of the name in Norwegian. Imagine my surprise when I found out that it comes from the Old Norse “Fríða,” meaning “beautiful, beloved.” Hah!

So there you have it.

~ Fríða Nannau, aka “Beloved Brook”