What's a Hoopoe and How is it Pronounced?

The Hoopoe bears the burden of uncleanness in the Old Testament, so it might seem strange to name this company after an unclean bird. 

Leviticus 11:13-19 reads, “And these you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the falcon of any kind, every raven of any kind, the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind, the little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl, the barn owl, the tawny owl, the carrion vulture, the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.”

In the New Testament, however, the apostle Peter is given a vision of a sheet descending from heaven filled with all the Levitical unclean animals (insert Hoopoe). God tells him, "Take and eat." Peter is aghast.

No way. Never have I, never would I. 

SO WHAT IS A HOOPOE? A slender-billed, crested, colorful bird found across Europe, Asia and Africa.

HOW IS HOOPOE PRONOUNCED?  

hūpū

Yes, your childlike refrain echoes my own: hūpū…hūpū, WHO POO?!

I suspect it also echoes the Old Testament prophets' attestation of the Hoopoe's uncleanness. I went through the same evolution of thought more so as I let its scientific name roll off of my tongue in some unattractive ways:

upupidae (U poop, I die)

My first reaction to using this name was much like Peter's: "No way. Never have I. Never would I."

Yet after much thought and prayer, it didn’t deter me from naming my company Hoopoe. Here’s why.

It was personal to me.

Three weeks before the birth of my second son and during a tumultuous time of my life, the Lord brought life to the seed of faith planted years before in the arid soil of my heart, and changed me through reading the book of Acts. By the end of Chapter 7, I knew my life would never be the same – despair turned to hope – and I felt compelled to change the intended name of our son to another - Steven - after Stephen in Acts. Steven means “crown." I knew the day of his birth when a friend ran down the hospital hall screaming, “Look out your window!” life would never be the same. The day was dubbed by the local newspaper as "Stormy Thursday," yet here in my hospital room, the rainbow’s end kissed my window not with a pot of gold, but with a reassurance that I had indeed found a crown. 

This same son would nearly lose his life to a head injury, as if opposing forces determined to snatch that crown. But God. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39.

It was Steven's luminescent painting of a Sea Snail that inspired my first beaded design which gave birth to this company.

But what to name this new endeavor? Colorful earrings brought pictures of colorful birds to mind. I googled every bird I could think of. None struck me. So, I turned to my Bible. What birds, other than ravens and eagles, are specifically named in the Bible? I came across one I’d never heard of – a hoopoe. Wikipedia confirmed my choice in one sentence: Hoopoes are…notable for their distinctive “crown” of feathers. The fact that they are my favorite color – orange – cinched it.

So the credit belongs to Steven, my crown, for it was Steven’s art that inspired me, and the glory belongs to the Lord for a name that suits me so very well.

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