Eli and I have been talking about baby names. I guess I just figured that if we had a boy, he would take the lead in choosing the name, and if we had a girl, I would get to name her. I was wrong (though it's probably just the first time that's happened). There's nothing terrible about the situation, just that compromise is hard. The poor child is stuck with the name for life! This is a huge decision.
Speaking of being stuck with a name for life, a funny blog I follow called Cakewrecks (see the link at the right) reported today on an article in a Pennsylvania newspaper about a grocery store bakery that refused to decorate a 3-year-old's birthday cake. Why? Principle. The boy's name was Adolph Hitler [last name withheld]. To add insult to injury, the parents named the sister Aryan Nation [last name withheld].
Really?
I like to think I'm saner than that. Now that I have the family genealogy on the Greenawalt/Ventura side of our new little family (thanks Stacey!), there are several more names on the table, including Gertrude (see, Mom? you were just kidding, but it's a family name!). Some others that are quite lovely: Beulah, Ida Belle, Carmella, Elva, Clara, Estell, Jane, Caroline, Rhoda, Eliza, Alice, Anna, Lorena, Melinda, Cora, Emily, Roxanna, Florence, and Ethel. Lots of Marys. Lots of Sarahs. Now, we had to omit all color names due the first/last combination, but we have great family names like Violet, Rose, and Olive. For the same reason, the family name Fanny is out. Alas, they will never be used.
On Eli's side, his grandmothers are named Myrtle and Elsie. He doesn't remember anyone else so we're waiting for genealogy information from his aunt.
In the meantime, there are a lot of names that I really like, some of which are listed above. Many of them start with the letter E, which brings forth a dilemma. Do we break the "E barrier"? Name one child a name starting with E and we are obliged to name the others the same, lest one of our children feel left out, unloved. And then we'll have to pay for therapy one day. I just know that's how the world works.
Anyway, once we do choose the name, it is highly likely that we will keep it to ourselves until the baby is born, just in case we change our minds (Lilia Elisabeth became Micah Elisabeth at the last minute, and I felt like I was the last to know). With persuasion, we may be willing to share initials...
But for that to happen, we have to work through this compromise thing. :) 'Twill be fun.
And I'm thankful I'm not in therapy...yet.
7 comments:
I like Roxanna. Belle is cool. And Caroline. Our Papa also had a sister named Caroline. His other sisters were Mary, Anne, Carmella, and Dora.
Estel was pronounced ES-tl, not es-TELL. His sister was Cara.
Other Great+ aunts are Delilah (possibly Delia--depends on which census year), Eliza, Malissa, two more Carolines, Lettie and Nettie (not twins, but sisters), Maria, Juliette...
I think it is common to change the baby's name once he/she enters the world. You may think Caroline is "the" name, but once you meet her, she just may not look like a Caroline - but a Gertrude! Keep having fun with it!
Thank goodness Halley Lou became Julie Ann! Wasn't Mom surprised (and relieved) by that one! ;-)
Hypothetically, you may be set on a name (and in fact may have chosen the name for another child if he were a girl), but by the time the second baby's birth approaches, you may be sorta bored with that name, and you may be hormone-ravaged and really into say, the summer Olympics where a gold-winning athlete has a really cool name, hypothetically. You may be so enamored of the name that you go ahead and change it in the home-made birth announcement that you may have made several months before, but it may still be a full month an a half ahead of the arrival of the baby, hypothetically. Then after the Olympics are over, you may decide to stick with the Biblical name, and being hormone-ravaged, of course forget about the changes you made to the birth announcement and email (because who remembers stuff they did last week when they're pregnant, let alone what they did more than a month ago?). Then when you bring the baby home, you may be so excited to get the email out that you enter the baby's weight, length, etc., and only remember that it has the wrong first name a... nanosecond... after... you click Send. Hypothetically, of course.
You'll still get the printed announcement right, though ;-)
I really like Belle and Eliza. I just looooove Eliza actually. I also like Elsie. Hmmm...okay I realize two of those are E names, but E names are pretty. Erin (yours!), Emily, Estelle (okay, I don't really like that name too much, but I can't think of a bunch of E names right now). I'm rooting for Belle and Eliza. Oh, another name I always liked is Liesel (not sure how to spell it...Lisel?), like the oldest daughter in Sound of Music.
My parents gave my older sister the initials KAT because they thought it was funny that it not only spelled something (sort of) but that it was a compliment to my dad's RAT initials. Then I came along and you can't even pronounce JMT. To solve the "feeling left out" dilemma, they gave my brother JMT as well. Just so we would fit in. Then Katie came along and all went out the window with MKCT.
I say, don't give it too much thought. And don't misspell the name to be creative. i.e. Jereld (Craig's first name). It will always be misspelled and/or mispronounced. He has had to send back formal documents sooooo many times because of this.
I do think Olive Beaver is hilarious, although inappropriate!
Ya'll are just overthinking this! Geezzz. Micah and I have already decided I will call her "my muffin". Mainly because I tried changing her name from "Sunshine" to Muffin and she would not have it. There is still only one "my guy." P.S. if you go with the E thing, I like Ebby!
Allison was almost Ashley Beulah. David figured we would keep a family name and a constant reminder of our hometown. I refuse!
Have fun-whatever you choose will be the right name!
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