Sunday, May 8, 2011

The Arduous Task of Baby Naming

So, we've been talking about baby names. We've used up all the ones we had! We haven't come up with a single name we like (or agree on).

Our baby naming history:
When I was pregnant with my firstborn, I just knew it was a boy. He would be Isaac. But he was a girl, so we went straight from the sonogram clinic to the bookstore to find a girl name. I needed to take ownership of my non-boy, so I named her.
When I was pregnant with Chloe, I just knew she was my Isaac. But surprise, surprise, she wasn't and I was actually thrilled that Elena would have a sister. Kyle named her and I loved his choice.
With Lydia, we didn't have a sonogram. I was confident she was our Isaac. I didn't need no stinking sonogram to tell me that! But as her birth neared, I started to get upset about not using our girl name. I just loved the name Lydia. After the shock wore off, I named my precious girl the name I had fallen in love with.
When Pedro joined our family at 17, we all decided together that he would keep his name.
I have always liked the name Maya, but when I read about our soon-to-be daughter, I knew it was the name for her. Maya means motherly. A perfect fit!
In every pre-adoption picture we had of our son, he had a huge smile on his face, for which he is now famous. We knew we finally had our Isaac. His name means laughter.
Daniel is a name I have long loved, because of the integrity of the man of the Bible. When we found out our youngest African was named Daniel, we quickly decided to keep his name.

  • So, here's the thing: All our kids have short names.
  • When your put all our initials together, we have: C, D, E, G, I, J, K, L, M, and P. All we need is F, H, N, and O! We think that's pretty funny and no we have no intention of planning our family around the alphabet!
  • I like names that aren't difficult to spell.
  • I don't like inventive names. I like well-established names.
  • I'm all about the meaning. I strongly prefer the name Leah over Rachel, but Leah means fattened cow, so we've ruled that one out.
So, give me your best ideas!

15 comments:

Bobbi said...

I’ve sent you all the names I've got…but I’ll keep thinking! The picture of your baby is too cute with the little count down. Love it!

Melodie Kejr said...

So some how I missed your announcement that you're pregnant! Congratulations!!!!

You mentioned liking the name Leah, but that it's meaning wasn't very pretty. One of my top baby names is Aleah ("Ah-leah") which is a Hebrew name meaning to ascend or to go up. In Arabic it means lofty or sublime, and in Swahili it means exalted. So maybe it could still work! Janelle is another favorite girl name. For a boy I like Jadon (one of the builders mentioned in Nehemiah 3:7). In Hebrew it means He will judge, or grateful.

There you have them! Don't tell anyone, 'cause I don't want the names to get stolen and overused ;-). But I'd be honored if YOU chose one of them!

heartchild said...

Baby naming is one of my absolute favorite things to do! I have always loved, but never got to use, the following names: Allison (Ali), Erin, Lauren, Kristin, Zane, Seth, Judah, Ethan. It looks like I like names that end in the letter n though none of my kids' names actually do!

Anonymous said...

We are in a similar boat Ginger, we have used all the boy names that we love so we are keeping our fingers crossed we can finally use a girl name.

Good luck picking one!

The Pennington Point said...

I don't have any name ideas, but I had to comment. I always find it so challenging to decide what someone's name will be! I mean...it's their NAME! I take it very seriously. I will pray that the Lord leads you to that perfect name for this precious child. Lisa~

Rachel Marie said...

Olivia will always be a favorite- because of the reference of your children being olive branches in Psalm 128- I even like Oliver a lot :) That could be your O!
By the way, congratulations! I didn't know you were pregnant- things have been a little crazy here so I haven't had much blog reading time :)

Elizabeth said...

I've been reading your blog for about a few weeks now. This is my first time commenting on it. I don't usually comment on blogs much, but I like talking about names. Here are some of my ideas.
Boys:
Henry
Oliver
Nathan
Jacob (You should know that this is the #1 boys name in America right now and has been for 12 years.)
Noah
Ethan
Marcus

Girls:
Abigail
Naomi
Grace
Emily
Hannah
Anna
Claire
Tessa
Ruby
Clara

Faith said...

I think Faith for your "F" is a great name. Honestly, I'm not saying it just because it's my name, I truly love my name;)
I love talking about names but find it so hard to choose one. Jonah has chosen all our names except for Canaan. I was adamant that it was my turn since I had something I really liked! Hahaha.

Edward and Gretchen said...

I am not pregnant but Elizabeth has named my boy name of many years and the girl name I would love to use one day.

I LOVE the name Evelyn, nickname Evie. Isn't it sweet? It's a name we can't use. It's already in the family.

MommaofMany said...

I have read that an alternate meaning of Leah is "delicate". Most often it is said it means "weary". I love the name. One of my daughters is Leah Nichole.

Other names I like:

Olivia
Helen
Opal
Naomi

Angela said...

Congrats on your new little one! Prayig for a beautiful pregnancy and birth. :)

God bless,
Angela

Nealy said...

What happened to A, B, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z?? NANCY is an established name, a derivative of Ann, and means "grace." Nancy has 16 variant forms: Nainsey, Nainsi, Nance, Nancee, Nancey, Nanci, Nancie, Nancsi, Nanice, Nann, Nanncey, Nanncy, Nannie, Nanny, Nansee and Nansey. Convinced yet??

I like Oliver and Nathan, too.

Nealy said...

Quinton aka Quinn: "From the Latin Quentīnus, a derivative of the Roman personal name Quintus, which is from the vocabulary word quintus (the fifth). The name was traditionally bestowed upon the fifth-born child."

Nealy said...

Kylie! My neighbor's name is Kylie - isn't that pretty? And her baby daughter's name is Saige.

A said...

I think the name "Hope" is beautiful for the "H" girl name. You could do "Henry" or "Hank"

What about "Olivia" for the "O"? Or "Oliver" or "Owen"?

Let's see "N"....."Noah", "Nathan", "Nathaniel", "Nate", "Nick" for boys. "Nora", "Nadia", "Noreen", "Noelle", "Nadine"...I also know a "Nia" (pronounced Nya) for girls.

F...."Faith", "Frank", "Flynn", "Fynn".

Congratulations!
Allison ~
www.togiveafutureandahope.blogspot.com