Monday, February 20, 2012

what's in a name?

The name game for baby Billy is ongoing at our house. And it seems to be going nowhere. Ryan has his favorites. I have mine. Nothing overlaps. It’s not that any of the names are bad names in general. Just not names that I want to use, in the case of Ryan’s list. And vice versa for my list. {FYI – I’m not posting the lists here. Sorry. It’s not that we don’t want everyone’s specific input on our name options…but…we really don’t.}  

Luckily we both like 'normal', but not too common. Classic but not over-used. Nothing too trendy or that no one has ever heard before. Definitely something that most will have no trouble spelling or pronouncing. And we most assuredly don’t want child services being summoned.

Ryan essentially named Leah. I had my list back then too {let’s be honest, I’ve had a rough draft of my list since I was 14}. He had his {brand new, of course}. He mentioned Leah one night and I thought, “Eh, whatever.” And then somehow it just caught on…not because I gave my go-ahead. The name somehow leaked and people thought that’s what we were for sure naming her so they started calling her that; and it weirded me out. But Leah stuck. Still, we didn’t officially name her until day four in the hospital because I just couldn’t make up my mind. 

Because of this, I think my vote should have more sway this time around. Ryan disagrees. But we’re still at an impasse. 

I want him to like the name, at least. 

I’ve looked at family names and there are some I really like {and some I really don’t}.

I’ve also looked at meanings of names this time. I found out after the fact that Leah means “weary.” Ironic? Yes. That can pretty much sum up a good chunk of the last five years. So maybe we should be more careful with this one?! 

I just don’t know. Am I stressing out too much? Will it just click when we see her? {I didn’t feel that way about Leah.} The clock is ticking and we’ve gotten nowhere

I’m totally up for suggestions. If you suggest a name on my list, bless you; we’ll add it to my defense case. But if you suggest a name on Ryan’s, your comment might somehow be accidentally deleted? Darn those computer glitches.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Boy? Abraham, Kenneth, Oliver

Girl? Elinor, Marion, Beatrice

congrats! -Doris (Edda's mom)

Baldersons said...

I feel your pain...we have 3 weeks and no name...nothing even close to a name infact. It keeps me up at night stressing about it. Aaaahhh. So sorry I'm no help whatsoever.

Julie Laughlin said...

I loved the name Luke when I learned I was having a boy. But realized that "Luke and Leah" (which people frequently mispronounce as Leia) wouldn't be the best. Especially since I don't really like Star Wars. :)

I don't have any suggestions, but I'm sure that it'll be perfect. We narrowed down our list to about 5 (with Henry) and then decided after he was born. Good luck and congrats!

Laura said...

Funny - the same thing pretty much happened with our daughter too. I liked the name Ella and somehow that became reason enough to call her that for 20 weeks after we found out she was a girl. So when she actually came, the name just stuck. I'm still not convinced it's the right name for her, but it's kinda late in the game to change that up.

As far as our second goes (a boy), we had TONS of names that we both liked, but nothing we loved. I think we had a list of 50 names or so but nothing we were for sure of. We decided to wait and name him until he was here. After arriving, we tried every name on our list and none of them felt right! They all just seemed wrong. So my hubby pulled out his laptop in the hospital and clicked on some baby-naming website. We searched through about 400 names and finally found one that just seemed right and seemed to stick. Once we had heard the name Tyler, nothing else seemed right.

So my advice ... take a long list with you to the hospital and see what she looks like. But be flexible. Sometimes they come with a name already in mind. :-) Good luck!

Catriona said...

I absolutely agree with your criteria - normal but not too common, not trendy, definitely pronounceable and spellable, etc.

And for me it has to pass the 'Secretary of State' test too - you have to imagine your daughter as Madam Secretary one day and think, does her name live up to this? That rules out (in my opinion) a whole heap of cute-little-girly names.

Finally, there's the HATSHIT test ('hard to shout in Tesco' - Tesco is a UK grocery store). You have to imagine yourself yelling it in public places.

Have I helped?? xx

Catriona said...

I should have added: Leah totally passes my tests :)

Colleen said...

The name game IS hard! We were butting heads over here for a long time but we just figured it out last night...yippee. When I was stressing about it I would just tell myself, look, the kid is going to have a name. And I'm going to love it, whatever the name is. It will seem perfect once she's here. Just like you hated Leah at first but now you can't imagine your little Leah Bean with any other name, right? I hope you're feeling great! Can't wait until she arrives and we get to hear your choice : )

Erica said...

I vote for Avery.
:)

in all seriousness-it is HARD to pick a name someone will have for the REST OF THEIR LIFE! Im not helping am i? is maren on the list?

Jessica M said...

Naming babies is so hard! I always thought it would be fun, and perhaps it would of been but my husband insisted on having an opinion. =0) Always made things more complicated. Good luck! I say go to the hospital with a short list and then make up your mind once you see her.

KaraLyn said...

Richard and I totally compromised with our boys' names. We had such a hard time deciding. But, we both agreed that we didn't want anything weird so we ultimately went with traditional. Thomas - William - James. Extremely traditional, and certainly not on my 14-yr.-old-self list either. But, I am so glad now. They seem to fit each boy perfectly. And, the more weird names I see out there, the more happy I am that we have good, solid, NORMAL names. But, that's just me. :) Good luck!

Jenny said...

Agh! That happened with us too. I said I liked Samantha, Marcus really liked it, so people started calling my unborn child Samantha. It totally weirded me out. I didnt' like it...at. all. Maybe that just makes me weird, but whatev'. We have the same criteria, yet I feel like "Callie" isn't as traditional, yet I love it. I love her name. Ohhh, I just saw that Erica voted for Avery. Marcus and I were JUST talking about that name last night. Is that name making a comeback or something? We may just have a kid with that name one day. We both just kind of love it a little. Anyway, this is about you, not me. If that's on yoru list, we love it! If it's on Ryan's...I guess this comment will not be seen again. But, good luck! (I sound like a total spaz tonight don't I?!!! ahhhh)

Anonymous said...

francesca

Anonymous said...

How about Sybilla (wonderful character in the movie "My Brilliant Career")? then you can keep "billy" for short.

Laura said...

I think you should post a quiz of names on the side of the blog and then we can vote. :) I like names like Sophia, Olivia, Eleanor...

Amelia said...

Oh Names. So fun. :) How about Lydia. I think it is beautiful. Or Amelia? :) Here are all of my nieces names...Madison, Sydney, Brenna, Reagan, Leneah, Kaela, Malia, Nanita, Keandra, Samara, Aubree, Aliya, and of course my Kate, Kara, and probably Adaleigh/Adalee/Adeline/Addy/Addie Jane. :) Good luck! (p.s. over half of those babies are polynesian...so the names are a bit different, i know. :)

Rob and Marseille said...

Rob thought of both our boys' names & I love them now, though when he first suggested them I wasn't sure. We like Mikayla, but is that too close to Michael? I also like the name Emma. Rob just says 'what's wrong w/the name Mikayla?' (that was always our girl name before we knew the gender)

Natalie said...

oh names are so hard... We have boy names set, but girl names have been harder for us. If we have another girl we have kind of agreed on a name although it is not traditional at all. It is isla agustina... super foreign sounding, but we love it:) I also love the names lila, sophie and eva. although all three of those seem super over used these days...

carolee said...

Love that ultrasound image. Such a sweet little profile! Hope you're feeling good and having luck with some names. Naming kids is hard!

Amy said...

you have great taste in every single area of your life, so i'm sure the name you select is going to be perfect. We had two names when we went to the hospital last time, and when we saw Nora, we knew what her name was supposed to be. Good luck! :)

Janel said...

For a girl: Aivlynn (can call Aivy for short)
For a boy: Have no idea!

Good Luck!