Friday, June 5, 2009

The name game

I love baby names. I have always thoroughly enjoyed the process of naming our children. Dave has always had alot of input as well, so it's not like I just single handedly named our bundles of joy. I have usually had a long list of names that I liked. Most get vetoed because they are too "out there" or he can some how see some way that his child will get made fun of over any given name on my list. :) Still, it has been fun to look through names, collaborate together, compromise, and come up with some names that we both really love. I usually have had a boy name and girl name picked out before I have even lost my ability to snap my skinny jeans. Not this time. There are names we had picked out through out the other pregnancies, and never used, but they seem out dated to me now. I want something new. Something fresh and - just right. I also want to choose really carefully because this is likely my last chance to name a baby. I guess I just want to savor that fun one last time. :) This morning me and the boys were having our morning cuddle session on the couch and we were discussing what to name the baby. We usually pick a very important subject during our morning cuddle, while they are still doing those cute stretches and yawns. One morning last week the subject was whether peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and honey was the greatest. A few days ago we discussed our favorite animals of all time. K's was a wombat (That's my out of the box boy!). Jay loves Tigers. Noe had a hard time making up his mind, but I think he finally decided on a peacock. Oh - if you must know, mine was a giraffe. So this morning we embarked on one of those all important mother son talks. I mentioned the name Abigail for a girl. Jay shot it down on account of there being two of them in his "big boy class" at church (Yes, they are girls, but apparently they have been let in to the "big boy" class"). So I threw out a boy name,"I like Logan". "MO-UMMM! We already have one of those too. He plays in the nursery with me during Mom's group!" Okay, so apparently if there has ever been a time that we have heard of any one with the name, it can not be bestowed upon our baby, according to Jay. K decides that he really likes the name Lola - because he loves to play Charlie and Lola games on the Disney website. He likes the name Charlie too - but Jay quickly let's him know that is not acceptable at all. They have a cousin named Charlie. I really like the name Caden. And I think I have finally found one that can not be argued with by my four year old. We don't know any one with that name. So, I confidently put that name in the mix. Jay's forehead gets all wrinkled up and his eyes squint, as if trying to find the argument for that name. I think I may have scored finally. But then he opens his mouth and I hear his serious voice. "Mom, Caden rhymes with Caleb. We can't do that. We would get them mixed up!" (By the way, Caleb has been lovingly shortened to the first syllable of his name, which I have chosen to simply interpret as "K", and is quite often referred to as that in our house hold - as well as on the blog). Shot down again. Don't get me wrong. We aren't leaving the naming up to our kiddos. But I really love their cute ideas, and although the final decision will be mine and Dave's, I do want them to have some input. Plus, they actually had some legitimate thoughts on it all. After I attacked Jay with tickles and told him to give some of my baby names a chance, I asked them all what they thought of Henry. I was met with three little boy belly laughs. I guess Henry's out. So, give me some ideas people! What are some of your favorite names? Let's just see what Jay has left in his "Very good reasons why the baby can not be named that" collection.

24 comments:

Jodie | Velour said...

Here are some of my favorites:

--girl--
Eliza
Johanna
**In fact, if I ever have another girl, her name will be Eliza Johanna :)
Eden
Eve ,Eva or Ava
Nora
Blanca (I think it means white in spanish, but I just love it)
Annie
Ellie

--boy--
Ian (pronounced with and I not an E)
Dane
Ryan
Austin
Seth

I'm better with girl names evidently... my mind is slower with the boys.

Surely your boys can't protest them all, can they? ;)

Vicky Clinkscales said...

We actually did let Michael pick for us with Peter - we had a short list and just couldn't come to a conclusion so one morning I had Michael say each one of them (he was about 20 months old) and the way he said "Pe-uh" was so cute. I shared the story with Steve and we both slept on it and decided it was a go. But we didn't tell anyone else what we had picked. When I was in labor my doctor turned to me at one point and said "he is just a rock" - referring to his steady heartbeat. Peter thinks it's very cool that he was living up to his name already!

And I got outvoted by all the males in my house when Sara was born. I loved Julie Anna and had gotten Steve close to Anna Joy - but they all really wanted Sara. So Sara Ann she is. I'm also a fan of Ava.

That's about all I have to offer!

Sarah@Life in the Parsonage said...

I think you need an Eli ;)

jennifer said...

oh! henry is shot down? That's what I want to name our next boy... I loooooove that name!

ok.

boy -
hudson
charlie (i'm still keeping that one in the mix. you know i'm partial)
miller
harrison
tucker

girl -
harper
blake
tyler
georgia
hunter

that's my two cents....
you may see one of those in my future...

Mozi Esme said...

Celina Janelle for a girl - call her Sally Jane for short...

Sorry - I don't have much for you! Naming is so personal.

Though I am with Jay. Avoid names of people you know. Especially family members and old flames. Nothing on the top 100 list - too popular. It has to have a nice meaning, too. And not be the obvious butt of playground jokes. Those are MY rules!

Jamie said...

Oh, I loved the baby naming process too. It has been a lot of years for me. Can't wait to hear what you decide on.

BaronessBlack said...

When my daughter was in the womb my friend nicknamed her Phoebe the Fetus and the name stuck. Then I got out my Bible and read about Phoebe the Deaconess in the early church (Romans 16). Then came a boy Gaius (Guy for short) also Romans 16.
So know I'm kind of stuck with names from Romans 16! This time round it's probably going to be Olympia if it's a girl and Lucius if it's a boy.
Otherwise we're on to Sosipater and Aquilla!

Katarina said...

boy's names were hard..we only agreed on Owen's name about a week before he was born (and ironically it mean *well born* which he was)!

Others on our list included:
Nathan, Marcus, Kai

Girls names were tricky. Thankfully we only have one girl!
I like:
Isabella (but it can be made fun of easily)
Megan
Lucy

Good luck finding one you guys like!

Mel said...

I am partial to my daughter's name it is unique it is Demaris

another name I love is Alexa for a girl

for boys
Nicholas
Ian
Aaron
Nathaniel

Sara@iSass said...

Naming a child is SO personal. You are in fact naming who'll they'll become.
My mother wanted to name me Martha. Good grief that is horrible. But instead she continued her S thing. (Sheryl is my sister, goes by Sherri) and I became Sara Kay. Love my name hope one of my kids names a grandkid after me.
Rob had "rules" too, I really liked Cooper. Cooper Cox. He said "Cooper's the kid that will pick his nose and they'll call him Cooper The Pooper."
So the other day I was watching Nick out of the corner of my eye, he was picking his nose in the corner. I burst out laughing and called Rob on it, "SEE! ALL little boys pick their noses..."
I think it's great that you are including the boys.
I can't wait to hear what you come up with. MckMama did a post not long ago with her favorite names. They were very different. Things like:
Poppy, Haven, Ginger for girls and I can't remember the boys...
But I can tell you they weren't on the top 10 list if that's what you want.

Jodie | Velour said...

I came back to vote for Eli. I fought hard to name our last little boy Eli... I did not win that battle. We named him Alexander instead, and we call him Xan. It suits him very well. :)
But I do still love Eli...

Hayley said...

Mom and Dad went between Hayley and Dorothy for me (seriously guys? - eternally grateful for your choice).

We had our kids names all picked out before our first child was born. Now we just have to fill in the appropriate boy and girl left. :) Jacob Daniel and Cambria Faith down, Gabriel James and Leigha Elizabeth to go. Although we've talked about tweaking Leigha-easpecially after I ran across the name "Selah." Love it. I like Drew, too, so we have some options incase our children don't coordinate with the names we have picked out. :)

Happy baby naming, I seriously think it's the best part of the pregnancy. I know you love being preggo, but I just can't summon the warm fuzzies!!! I'd have ten kids if I didn't have to be pregnant! :)

Rach@In His Hands said...

Ohhhhhh, I LOVE baby naming. SO fun!

I tend to lean toward Biblical names for boys. Some favs are:
Josiah, of course!! ("Si" for short)
Jonah (or Jonas)
Elijah/Eli
Zachariah
Judah or Jude
Levi
Isaiah

Girl favs:
Elena
Lorna
Layla
Nora
Ayla
Sonja
Faith
Molly

Cannot wait to hear the name you choose!!!!

Unknown said...

Girls:
Amelia
Lily
Zoey
Taylor
Love Kate (Wish I would have called Katie, Kate instead ... her real name is Katherine)
Reese

Boys:
Would have definitely named my boy if I would have had one, Josiah
Dakota

Wow ... boys' names are hard.

Jacy said...

Are you thinking another boy? Because you wayyy outnumbered the girl names by the boy! lol Just sayin!

I love the names you picked out, your boys sound SO CUTE though shooting them all down, how adorable hehe

I have always liked different names, I could tell you a few, but only if you don't tell your boys...I'm afraid of what they'll say...

for a boy I have always loved the name Asher, Benji wouldn't have it.
I also was told the name Journey, again Benji WOULD NOT have it lol

I love the name Logan (benji wouldn't have it!) I also think that Reese is cute...

For a girl I like Zoe, Lucy, Audrey and Jordan lol I haven't given the girls a lot of thought, but if someday we end up with a little girl her name will be Jozi Day I think it's pretty...

Good luck with finding baby names, Wendi, it's one of the funnest things I think!

Jules from "The Roost" said...

Picking a name is both hard and fun.... For a boy I like Henry ;), Colt, Luke,Kyle. Girls: I like old fashion like Emily, Margaret, Roma, Johnise. Can't wait to hear what you choose! I am sure it will cause more belly laughs! :)

Jackie said...

Ok. Throwing my two cents into the ring. :)

First, I don't think I told you today but I love Hudson and Jackson. I know those might be names that you had considered with other pregnancies, but anyway, I really like those.

Our top names for boys are Malachi (my fave), Christian, Alexander, and Zachary.

For girls, we love Amari, Sierra, and I also like Naomi and Lia, although I don't think my husband is sold on it.

Amber said...

A few of my favorites that we were not able to use are:

Girls:

MaKenzie
Jonessa-Renee (JR)
Alyssa /Alissa
Marianna
Kaylee
Eleanore (Elle) very old I know but I always loved it

Boys:

Corbin
Casey
Aiden
Tyler


Not a bunch but a few ideas.
Hope they help.

Since we are done I will enjoy finding out what you come up with. I miss naming our little ones. It was fun.
Ak

Amanda said...

oh how i love thinking about baby names...and if it was only up to me...and not my dearest husband's input as well (oh dear me...if the girls got to involved, i daresay we might NEVER have a name!)there are a few more that would be added to our list. at this point, though, we can't tell elizabeth our baby name choices anyway...because we tend to keep the name a secret until the babe is born...and well, elizabeth just isn't the best secret keeper! :) but here are a few on my list...

boys...
-andrew
-asher (i'm with jacy...LOVE this one...always have..but it wasn't on mike's radar!)
-jack...love it but it doesn't quite go with our last name
-davis...this is my ALL-TIME fav...but not so much for mike
-isaac

girls...
-bethany
-kate (obviously!)
-elizabeth (obviously!)
-eleanor
-claire

Lisa said...

this is so much harder then I thought!
we are in the middle of a name-tug-of-war at our house, I guess it is one of the only thinge we have any control over during pregnancy...

can't wait to hear what you come up with!

Joyfulsheep said...

I would love to give you some ideas, but I do need to save some of the names that I like for when I finally get to have my turn...some day. Two of my favorite names that I have had in mind since I was little have already been used in your family. (In case you're wondering...Jacob & Joshua.) I will share two of the girl's names since you're having a boy and they should be safe. :)

Rachel Naomi
Rebecca Ruth

It was nice to see you yesterday for the brief moment in the parking lot.

Dawna said...

What fun! I'm a day or two behind on blogging so I already know you're having another sweet boy, which makes it easier. I love your boys' responses to your choices... after teaching I had the same problem (already knew someone with the name; therefore, couldn't use it. I had a whole list of "naughty kid" names that have been ruined for me forever!) My picks would be Henry, Jack, and Elijah (and yes, you could call him Eli). If Emma had been a boy, she most likely would have been Elijah Gabriel. Have fun baby-naming!!!

DeAnn said...

How about Miles...as in, Miles of Smiles...especially because of your grinning reaction to watching him in your sonogram. Just think of the "Miles" you have come to get to this point...of having this little wander in your life. Congrats by the way and good luck picking out a name!

Lisa said...

I can't help out at all. Sadly, we don't find the name game fun or easy around here...I think its hard...and permanent!

REALLY don't know how the clutter free homes are in existence.

And, I'm SO jealous that you got to hug Jackie's neck and sit and talk with her for hours. Glad it was mostly as you expected.