My friend Amber, who is coming to the end of her pregnancy, posted about names for her baby. She asked her readers to post how they got their names and/or decided on the names for their children. Was it after family, saints, or just liking the name? I thought it was a very interesting discussion so I'm challenging you, my loyal readers, to comment! And I know, I have some blog stalkers - y'all can post too!
Here is some background on my name:
As many of y'all may know, I was named Alexis Marie. The names they had thought of before going to the hospital was Clare (or Mark if I was a boy). I've been told I am no Clare. The only problem they had was my maternal grandparents lived in South America, where Alexis was a male name. They were not very happy that their first grandchild (and a girl) was named a "boy" name. Marie was after my mom Maria. I just loved my name, and loved having a good nickname too - Lexy.
I'll let Ry post on how he got his name! I look forward to reading your postings!!
Also, to keep everyone in suspense, we are not revealing the gender (since we don't know) or our names (since we still can't decide). We are taking suggestions...
12 comments:
I'll start! This is a fun topic. My parents named me Amber simply because they thought it was a pretty name. I know that my mom never liked her name growing up (Ellen) and just wanted to name me something I'd like - and I do! My middle name, Michelle, is a family name (though I just learned this).
My husband's parents didn't have names prepared when they gave birth to him. His dad said he couldn't name a person without seeing them first. Once Chuck was born, it was clear that he looked exactly like his dad, so they named him Charles, after his father Charles.
We'll be naming our daughter a first name that I think is pretty and that I hope she'll grow up liking, with a middle name that's in our family on both sides... but you don't get to know those names until she's born (which won't be much longer!).
Thanks for being my first post Amber! I loved reading the stories on your blog!
I don't know why I have the name I do, I guess they thought it was pretty :)
Child 1 - Benjamin Anthony - Benjamin for the youngest brother of Joseph in the Bible; Anthony for the Saint.
Child 2 - Elliott Damian - Elliott as a derivation of Elijah (Biblical); Damian for the Saint.
And... both names are 3 syllables, and in "reverse alphabetical order" in keeping with older brother's name ;). That "system" didn't get devised until we were choosing Elliott's name though. But it's a fun challenge to see if we can keep up without picking just strange names!
And all I know is Brian would have been Gretchen had he been a girl :)
kinda complicated Kristy! But, your husband is an accountant, so there has to be some guiding principles to naming your children :-)
This is fun! I was named after a song...can't remember which song about a Sarah right now though. My middle name is a derivative of my mother's. It's Marie and hers is Marietta.
So, our little Lucas Francisco was named "Lucas" after the 5 generations of first born males before him and Francisco after St. Francis.
Charles Joseph was named after Karol Wojtyla (Charles in English with patron Saint, St. Charles Borremeo) and Joseph Ratzinger. We're going to use St. Charles Borremeo as his patron and then when JPII is canonized, have him as a minor patron, sort of like a lineage of patrons for our little man.
I actually got my name because my parents wanted me to have the same initials as my Dad (Robert James, but he goes by Jim). They also wanted me to have a first name that I'd use. ;-)
Mom found Ryan in a book, with the description of "Little King", and felt that was the right name.
The two names my parents picked out before I was born were Michael Christopher for a boy and Michelle Marie for a girl. When I came out a girl, they immediately started calling me Shelley so they decided that should be my name instead of Michelle. So I am Shelley Marie; oh, Marie is after an aunt on my mom's side and an aunt on my dad's side (and I also think it's the standard middle name of my generation because I know at least 8 women of my age who have the same middle name).
My kids: I, unfortunately, did not learn from my parents and named Drew, Andrew Kaleb, but we call him Drew and now he is often confused by the whole Drew verses Andrew thing (slap me now, sorry Drew). Andrew was the name my parents would have named my youngest sister had she been a boy (I loved it then and love it now). Kaleb is from the Bible, though it usually is spelled with a C there. Kayla JoAnne is after my mom, whose name was Kay and is now a saint with a lowercase s. JoAnne was just a name we agreed on after going through several months of back and forth. Hindsight is 20/20, but one of the options was to name her Kayla Dawn, but I voted that one down. If I had known Dawn would not be around for the duration, she would be Kayla Dawn without a doubt. I have even seriously considered changing her middle name but will let her decide that when she gets older.
yea, what great stories! Thanks everyone for posting!!
This is fun! Let's see, my name Sharon Ann falls into the "parents thought the name was pretty," category. It's funny though because both my parents are Hispanic and my mom from Mexico and my name is far from being Mexican!
Our kids: Therese Marie, Fulton Timothy, and Gianna Maria. We decided all our girls' middle names would be in honor of our Blessed Mother.
Therese was named after St. Therese, which Adam and I have a very strong devotion to. I actually said a novena to St. Therese that we would be blessed with a pregnancy and we were.
Fulton was named after Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen, and Fr. Timothy Alkire of the Diocese of Lafayette, IN. We love Fulton Sheen and read and listen to a lot of him before we were married. Fr. Tim married us and has baptized all the kids--he's such an awesome priest and loves our Blessed Mother so much. He also has the best sense of humor. I think our little guy is taking after his namesakes quite well.
Gianna was named after St. Gianna Beretta Molla. Although the name has become more popular in Catholic circles, St. Gianna inspires me and I want her to inspire our children as well if they are called to the vocation of marriage and motherhood.
Here's an idea for you: In my grandmother's family, everyone was named by the Saint that was on the calendar that day. Since my father was born on April 25, he was named Mark for Saint Mark's feast day!
I am named Catherine after my great aunt and Grace after my paternal grandmother.
My daughter Mary Elizabeth is named after the Blessed Mother and her cousin. (My cousin is her birthmother.)
Start by doing this: get a list of the top 30 baby names and CROSS THEM OFF YOUR LIST.
;)
Have you ever visited "Baby's Named a Bad, Bad Thing" on the "Not Without My Handbag" blog?
It's hysterical and a must-read for parents in waiting.
Here's the link:
http://notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/
PS
Congratulations on your beebee!
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