mtDNA Haplogroup: IRIS

[MORRISJE1@aol.com]

All,

 

It sure is surprising what turns up on the internet when you are searching information.  I came across this and thought it might be of interest.  Looks like 'Blue Shimmer'?

 

Jim M.

 

Your overwhelming choice was . . .



Iris

So go ahead and use the name we've chosen, and enjoy!

Here are some eloquent words about it by Dick Kraus.*

"I was attracted to Iris because my mom loved to grow flowers and Iris were among her favorites. [Same here!  - B.] Then your comment about an ancient-sounding name provoked me into research...

Iris is a truly ancient female name.  It is the word for rainbow in both Greek and Latin... The Greeks early on personified the rainbow and Iris became the Goddess of the Rainbow. She was seen as the daughter of the Titan, Thaumas, and the ocean nymph, Electra.  The rainbow was a symbol of peace -- thus Iris was the Goddess of Peace -- but that was never very big with the Greeks -- they celebrated the God of War, not the Goddess of Peace!  

Iris was a messenger between Heaven and Earth, being the favored messenger of Hera, the Queen of the Gods.  One of Iris' special tasks was to escort female souls upon death into the afterlife -- Mercury, who performed the same task for male souls, got all the press.

So the result of my research makes me think even more that Iris should be our name -- her name is truly ancient, she is beauty, peace, heavenly communication, and Goddess, and she performed a very special task just for females -- what better name for an mtDNA Haplogroup?

Cheers, your very distant cousin Dick Kraus" (as slightly edited by Bonnie.)

* Due to his very unusual haplotype, there is doubt over whether we can claim Dick for our haplogroup, or whether he may perhaps belong to its mother haplogroup, N.