Everything I write turns into a list these days. Lists of things to do, people to call, things to find, checks to write, budgets, what to organize, where to put things, what else needs doing, what to add to the hospital bag, and on and on and on.
But I can't seem to write this list (which is driving my husband crazy) - top names for a baby.
You see, I'm kind of jaded on the whole name thing. We had a list when Grace came, but not one of the 10 names fit her. Well, five were for a boy, but still. They all felt to fluffy somehow. She came into the world so fiercely herself, so strong and so determined. I couldn't see those names on her. And so, they all went into the trash. I thought and thought. And somewhere in that first 24 hours of amazement and bewildering tears (poor baby couldn't get milk for a bit) her name came through to me. Clearly. Life felt like utter chaos when Joy was coming, and I just threw in the towel on the whole name thing, but this dear man of mine created lists which I just crossed off nearly everything from and somehow he doesn't remember that I didn't do a list. It wouldn't have mattered. Her name came about a day after she did too.
So, now, here we are. He needs a list. I'm pretty sure I won't stick to it even if I do have one and I don't have many names left (particularly of the girl variety). And that is where you come in, dear readers. Do you have any great name suggestions? (Think one to two syllables, simple names, kind of like Kate).
And while you're at it, is it terrible, just awful, to name someone a name that ends in the same letter that begins your last name? (Like Mabel Lewis - totally made up, by the way and clearly why I need help with this naming thing) Does it run together poorly? Is it worth kicking out the name of a dear family member? (This is actually a pointless argument. The name I want for a boy has been summarily shot down, and I guess thats okay, we both have power of veto.)
How did you name your kids? Do you think the 24 hour pattern will hold this time too? Oh, my goodness, I bet a could write a list of pointless questions. Don't you?
My absolute, best, most favorite name for a boy got shot down, too. That's okay, though, since we managed to find two more boy names we agreed on. And Lollipop's name? Was the one we came up with when she was a wee four-week-old embryo. Somehow, it fit her perfectly then, when she was born, and still now.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! And what about Emma or Lucy or Anne? Or Nate or Thomas or Ben? Sigh. Makes me want another baby ... well, not really, but almost. Almost.
Names are so interesting to me, in that we choose to name things (be they people or objects) and this gives us an illusion of control, mastery and power... but the soul of of things are just that, and a name, at best, is a hand pointing toward the essence of what it points to. With kids you want to bless them with a great name, but you also want a name that seems to reflect the essence of who they are (which is a little bit apparent when they first arrive), and then there is the functional name, the one everyone actually uses, vs. the one on the birth certificate... It seems a particularly heavy responsibility naming a sacred being who we don't yet know... sort of like making a mold into which we pour a kid rather than chipping away all the names they are not during the course of getting to know them.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we should have a birth name, and later more of an earned name, perhaps like some Native American people would do after initiation.
All Good wishes to you and your, especially whoever it is that is rising up to meet a name that is rising up to meet them.
We did the list with Eli and had it narrowed down to two. We needed to see him before naming him. Keegan's name I found on an internet site just a few weeks before he was born. We had a girl's name all picked out but didn't know the sex of the baby. I decided we should go to the hospital with at least one boy's name just in case. I was on a website that showed the name in one column and the meaning of the name in another. I was browsing through the meanings only - totally ignoring the name itself. I only looked if the meaning struck me. The meaning of Keegan is "fiery one". My pregnancy was so crazy that the meaning totally struck me. Other meanings led to things like "stubborn" and "ornery" and I just knew that this baby suited all of those things so well. And boy does he ever!
ReplyDeleteA proper name for this baby will come to you, just as your other babies names have come to you. Listen to this baby. He or she will most certainly tell you who they are.
Best wishes for a good delivery and a happy, healthy little person!
Naming both girls was a pain. Hubs was so dang picky that he vetoed everything I suggested. Then, after childbirth, I was so woofed that I couldn't be bothered. I was ready to name the kid Huey Lewis or something.
ReplyDeleteWishing you lots of luck.
ps: I love talking baby names. If you need an ear, I'm in!
Well, I don't have a suggestion. But here is my favorite name site, which shows, pictorially, how all the names have fared through time. Takes a minute to get the hand of it. You can click on names, or enter them: http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#
ReplyDelete