Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The naming game

I was just having a conversation about baby names with Sonya on Twitter, and it prompted me to want to elaborate in more than 140 characters!

We don't know if we're having a boy or a girl yet, but my hubby and I have already started a list of baby names. Unfortunately, we don't agree on very many names. Names I love, he hates. The few names he has suggested just aren't my style. The only thing we agree on are middle names.

If we have a little girl, the middle name will be Ann-Marie, after the two most important women in my life, my mom and sister. Ann is my mom's middle name and Marie is my sister's middle name. My sister will also be the baby's Godmother. They are both strong, independent, caring women, and what better legacy to pass on to our daughter than the legacies of these amazing women.

If we have a little boy, the middle name will be David, which was the first name of my paternal grandfather who passed away in 2003. Growing up, we only got to see our paternal grandparents once a year because they lived so far away. Despite that, I always had a very special relationship with my grandpa and I loved being his little "princess." So I feel very strongly about honoring him in this way, if we are blessed with a little boy.

There are first names that my hubby and I agree on, but nothing that we are dead set on or are absolutely in love with yet. Sonya asked if we will be sharing the name once we decide and my answer is a definite NO. We will share after the baby is born, but no one will know before, not even (or especially not even) our family. (That, of course, is assuming that we agree on a name before the baby is born!)

We both have family members that do not hesitate to share their opinions, whether they are asked for or not. Let me state this clearly: I do not care what anyone other than my husband thinks of our child's name. However, I feel that if I hear people expressing negative opinions about a name that I love, that I will start to question the name myself, and I don't want that. So we will not share the name. It's as simple as that. Once the baby is born and named, hopefully they will fall in love with the new little soul, now a physical part of our family, and the name will be less of a focus. At that point, the baby will be named, and there will be no changing it anyway.

So what about you? Did you and your significant other have trouble naming your child/children? Did you share the name ahead of time?

2 comments :

GodseySix said...

Ooh! The baby name debate/discussions. One of my all time favorites! =)

We did share our name choices, but I can totally understand your reasoning behind not sharing. With our 2nd born, I kinda got to name him by default. I suggested my dad's middle name, my hubby laughed at the name (he didn't know it was my dad's middle name), I cried b/c that was my daddy & I was hormonal, hubby felt bad & I got to use the name by default! Hehe!

Soooo, when our 3rd was born, we chose not to find out the gender (afraid that it was gonna be another boy!) We did decide that hubby could choose whichever name he wanted since I named our second baby. For a girl, hubby chose Lydia. She was, in fact, a girl. Everyone said Lydia was too old-fashioned for an infant. I began to agree, but it was hubs decision in the end. Now, we couldn't imagine her as anything but Lydia! Fits her perfectly!

Our 4th, well, we didn't really care about names at that point. LOL! She has her pediatrician's name and we decided on that at the hospital when her pediatrician came in since we didn't even really look at baby names until about a week before she was born! Hehe!

I love that you are keeping it a secret. How fun! Can't wait to hear boy/girl in a few weeks!!

Ahhh, pregnancy. Such a fun time!!

Sonya said...

Like I said before I don't blame you one bit! Brian and I had a bit of trouble naming Lauren. Mostly it was to convince him of her middle name. Her name is Lauren Paul after my brother that passed away 7 years ago. He was afraid to name his baby girl with a boy name but now he loves it and so does she! I can't wait to share his story with her to let her know she was named after someone so special. NOW with Colton we had a bit more of a problem. We couldn't agree on a name and went back and forth a million times. We thought about Colton and Brian said he didn't like it and then when it came up again he said he did. Go Figure!!