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Monday, October 17, 2011

What's in a name?

In three and a half weeks, if nobody decides to make a surprise entrance, we will have a new member in our family, a little boy.  In three and a half weeks, I'll have to fill out the information for a birth certificate, which I will then use to procure all of the documents necessary to transport our little boy to Baku.  I have all of the necessary information - after all I've done this three times already - except for one thing.  A name.

Back, back a long time ago before I was even pregnant with Kathleen, Brandon and I talked about baby names.  He asked how I liked the name Edwin, and I said that I liked it just fine.  Edwin is the middle name of his maternal grandfather, who Brandon got his first name from.  And so we decided to name our first son Edwin.

Then we talked about my Aunt Kathleen, who I've always been close with.  As a child, I used to drive my parents crazy be claiming that I'd really been meant to go to her and not the crummy family that I'd been stuck with.  Then we decided to name our first daughter Kathleen.

We both liked Sophia, and its meaning, wisdom.

So when Kathleen was announced to be a girl, it didn't take any time to decide on her name.  Sophia was named just as easily, and Edwin didn't have a chance to be anything but Edwin.

This baby, however... I suppose that's what happens when you have a larger family.  All of the good names get used up early, and then you have to stretch for the next ones [sorry baby, when you're old enough to read this.  We love you just as much].  Brandon knew a family whose fifth son was named Quentin.  Sometimes creativity fails after awhile.

I've had a name that I've like for quite some time now, but Brandon just isn't sold on it.  And every time we try to discuss names, nobody can quite get serious and choices like 'Thor' and 'Ignatius' are thrown around.  So baby boy is still referred to as baby boy.

I know we'll have to make some sort of decision soon - as in three and a half weeks soon - but I have no idea what that will turn out to be.  I do know, however, that it won't be Ignatius.

7 comments:

Bridget said...

I'm not in the baby-name market anymore, but I loved using nymbler.com to help us pick names. I also looked at the Baby Name Voyager a lot. Nymbler is nice because you can plug in your existing kids' names and find some that fit the same style.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll find a lovely name when the time comes.

kelley said...

It was my plan that instead of giving our new baby a name, we'd legally make it Baby Girl Belcher for the first year of her life. Then after we got to know her and her personality, we'd find a name that fit her better and then have it legally changed. I think it makes complete sense...

Unknown said...

Glad to hear Thor is still an option! *grin*

We have such a hard time with boys names, too. Xander came to us thanks to my visiting teacher at the time. Her son, Alexander, went by Xander and thankfully James could get behind a cool nickname as long as the real name was Alexander. He'll always be just Xander to me, though... ():) Ethan wasn't a choice. It was one of those strong feelings that came from the Spirit. If we have any more boys, I sure hope that happens again because James and I's taste in boys' names is significantly, wildly, insurmountably different.

Seth Sherwood said...

Ignatius is great, but I promise you that if you steal Liam, Colin, Tristan, Rafe, Ewan, Anders, Mads, Carl, or Seb, I'll come after you. Or adopt quickly.

UnkaDave said...

I could suggest several interesting names from the annals of my career in obstetrics, but I won't. I did know a lady once who wrote down what SHE wanted on the birth certificate form when her husband was gone from the hospital at work. Nah, don't do it.

PaulaJean said...

Names get tough after multiple kids. Good luck.

The Olsen's said...

Here is my argument for names that I keep using on Pete. Paternity is implied in most states if you are married. I fill out the birth certificate with what I like. Just know he may give the baby a different name when he blesses him. Thankfully Pete is too cheap to pay $100 to legally change the name. That's my plan anyway if he doesn't come around soon! Good Luck! I hate the name game!