Mother Night & Odin's Oath

As noted in my previous post, my father's Norse name, connected to Odin, means "Son of Night." Wyrdly, my patroness is the giantess-goddess Hela, also known as Mother Night, like the first night of the twelves nights of Yule. Interestingly, also related to Odin, Yule is a time for swearing oaths.

In days of old, our ancestors would swear their oaths for the coming year (remembered today as the weaker New Year's resolutions) on the sacred boar on Twelfth Night. Now, it is our Kindred tradition to swear our oaths on a sunwheel, and then toss it into the fire as a part of our yearly Yule party.

My Father's Real Name is One of Odin's Names

Though the family is not known in recent memory to have practiced Nordic Tradition Paganism, it is wyrd that my real father's name is Audra, a name passed down to him through his paternal line (with other males down the line also named Audra), often shortened to Aud. Aud, as a Norse boy's name, means "son of night" (related to Odin's Wild Hunt). The full name Audra (Norse Odr) is connected to a name of Odin, namely Óðr.

"Odin" is generally accepted as the modern English form of the name, although, in some cases, older forms may be used or preferred. His name is related to ōðr, meaning "fury, excitation," besides "mind," or "poetry."  

and

In Norse mythology, Óðr (Old Norse for "mad, frantic, furious, vehement, eager", as a noun "mind, feeling" and also "song, poetry"; Orchard (1997) gives "the frenzied one") or Óð, sometimes angliziced as Odr or Od, is a figure associated with the major goddess Freyja. The Prose Edda and Heimskringla, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, both describe Óðr as Freyja's husband and father of her daughter Hnoss. Heimskringla adds that the couple produced another daughter, Gersemi. A number of theories have been proposed about Óðr, generally that he is somehow a hypostasis of the deity Odin due to their similarities.

Related to its meaning as the "son of night", the name Aud is further connected to Odin and his nightime Wild Hunt:

As well as his role as oath-god, the one-eyed deity was also regarded by the Norse as the gatherer of souls, and to this end was responsible for leading the Wild Hunt on its nightime rampages across the sky.

UPDATE - Aud/Unn is also a Norse name which means "the Deep-Minded."