Thursday, February 9

Grace...Lily...Abby...Dylan...Caleb...

When little girls play house, there is great joy in choosing the name for one's baby. I had Mandy and Annie amongst my little girls. As a girl daydreams in her high school English class, she may plan her perfect wedding or she may doodle possible names for her future children. Let's see...I remember that I was going to name my son Andrew "Drew" Cole or Daniel "Danny" Reid. My daughter was going to be Lily or Abby (not bad!).

Then you get pregnant and the burden of giving a person the perfect name is upon you. Most of the names we have as the "perfect" choice when we are younger become outdated or over-popular. You may also get a new last name along the way that ruins a few of your great options -- Lily White just isn't nice; Willow White is out, as well.

Everyone has a different set of criteria for choosing a baby name. Some want all of their family to start with the same letter. Some want all Biblical names; others use family names. Some like to go with what's popular; some make up a name no one has ever heard or could ever pronounce or spell. Certain number of syllables. Alliteration or not. Ancestry. Personality evoked.

So for the next five-and-a-half months or so you can help us with this process! I'll share with you our criteria and some of our favorites and you can chime in with ideas. My brother, Jeff, is great at thinking of all of the ways a name can be made fun of (probably out of practice) - which I totally appreciate! It doesn't matter to me that your third-grade nemesis had a name that is on my list, but if it makes you think of eating donuts (Duncan - still on my list) or an industrial town in New Jersey (Camden - also still on my list), I want to know! Life is hard enough sometimes; I don't want to burden my child further by providing him or her with fodder for bullies!

Stay tuned...

13 comments:

Johnathan M. Thomas said...

I cannot think how I could be any help as I have no idea for my own soon arrival.

High on my list are:
Judah... That's out, however, because everyone will call him little jewboy.

Levi... 501.

Grace... I like it but my wife has yet to be sold. The meaning for the name Grace is, Grace of God... The meaning for the name Hannah, our oldest, is Grace of God. Is it possible? How can it be?

But, you're also looking at someone who didn't realize that banana rhymed with Hannah until the nurse said, "oh Hannah, Hannah Banana."

I have never felt the sudden urge to HIT anyone before in my life... I can still hear the haunting echos of the nurses british accent... "Hannah, Hannah Banana."

The sad thing is I really thought about it.

I keep telling myself, "it can't be this hard."

peace.

Lori Ann said...

Hmmm...we were at a loss with #3 boy...I loved my girl name and wanted it with the last two.(Brenna Ann)I too like Lily.
I knew a family in Memphis, the Beaches, to be funny had girls with the names Wendy, Sandy...you get the picture, so Lily White isn't that bad!
I like Camden(boy or Girl)
I also like Payton. For either, but was to chicken to use it!
I also like the rugged boy names of Jake, Joe or Hank and Jack.
As you can tell I like a lot of boys names.
Have fun finding the perfect one!

rebecca marie said...

if it's a girl, you could call her rebecca marie.

done and done.

i remember this saturday night live skit from years ago... i'm going to censor myself to tell you about it, but i'm gonna anyway.

it was nick cage and uhm, oh man, the woman who played pat. she was pregnant, and they were picking out names. every name she'd suggest, he'd spin it, till they finally settled on byardker, as nick's charachter couldn't find a nasty rhyme or anything to go with it.

just then, the doorbell chimes, and it's a delivery person...

"i have a delivery for A**Wipe Kline..."

"the naaayyym, is Auhzweepay!"

Kristi said...

So I am only giving you girl names since thats what I think you are going to have. They are almost all names that start with a vowel, because Trinity and Connor do not have names that start with a vowel.

Ella

Emma

Addison or Addy for short (i really like this one, try not to think of Greys Anatonmy)

And I also really like Madelyn

Cheryl said...

Names ARE tough. We were SO stressed about boy names with #4. Okay, I was stressed. Jeff, was still holding out for Sebastian after Sebastian Cole. But all it took was a well-timed Little Mermaid viewing...
With girls I had Briley, Jaci (Jeff's initials), and Jenna on hold three times. All followed by Grace. Grace is one I love...but is VERY used right now. I also love Kira...
Happy hunting...

Anonymous said...

Come on, has no one suggested the name "Seven"?

Or you could look for inspiration from the word verification!

Bjoelasr White

rebecca marie said...

randy - ha ha ha ha ha "what about soda???"

Steve Maxwell said...

OK! I have relied on Alasha for names. I think of fairly normal names that have a flow to me. So the best I can think of now is: Julie Diane or Jackson Garret. See told ya. Of course I like the flow of Stephen Allen so it looks like I like two syllables plus two syllables.

Patty said...

I just have to thank God that we haven't had a boy-- Edwin has said since before we married that our son would be Nebuchadnezzar. So, he's off the committee. I'll have to put my thinking cap on. Missed you this morning.

Christense Andersen Jiang said...

Well gee, I like all the names on your tagline. I have always liked the name Cayleb spelled like that. I also like Chloe. I always wonder why parents would name their children with all the same letter...my brother's name is Barrett and my mom still called us by the wrong names! Speaking of which, everyone else is suggesting their own names, so Christense is up for grabs. Everyone mocks me, but the name that I am saving for my son: Caspian. Not only a great name, but a great role model. I have yet to find anyone who agrees with me. But don't stress, I think that so far you have done en exceptional job naming your children.

Christense Andersen Jiang said...

Oh, and PS: I disagree with Jonathan, I think Judah is a killer name, I have a friend named Judah. Everyone's going to get made of for something in their life...trying to avoid unfortunate rhymes and associations is important, but you'll talk yourself out of every name.

Jennifer B. Davis said...

I think your challenge will be finding a middle name that is both a plant and a color, to keep up with the theme you started with the other kids (Rose, Sage). Periwinkle? Coconut? Tomatoe? Grass? Tangerine? None of them workin' for me. I'll keep thinking.

I had a friend in elementary school who was Egyptian and she was named "Dahlia." I thought that was the beautiful name ever. Dahlia White sounds lovely.

Now, an alternative to finding a name that doesn't rhyme with anything is to pick a VERY popular name. That way no one would dare tease a person when 1/2 the class would go after the bully. My name, Jennifer, is perfect in both regards. Rhymes with nothing and there were a zillion of us.

Jennifer B. Davis said...

Here is some sites to help your search:

* Graphic timeline of name popularity.
Pretty cool! Illustrates the cycles and peaks of name popularity. Even shows you the mix of boys and girls for those unisex names.
http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/

* OhBaby! Best overall baby name site.
Includes drawbacks (like common teases), famous namesakes, and a perceptions area where people have left their comments and ratings of the name and the kind of person the name brings to mind. It even helps you identify if the baby's initials will spell something.
http://tools.oxygen.com/babynamer/

* Rhyme Calculator.
This is fun not only with names, but other words. Type it in and it will tell you every other word that rhymes.
http://www.rhymezone.com/