Your Baby Name Stories

[consultantmeghan]

It's always interesting to learn the name someone chooses for their child, but I think it's often even more interesting to learn why. I love hearing the stories behind baby names, so I think we should have a thread for it. How did you choose your child(ren)'s names? Did you encounter struggles, or was it a piece of cake? Did you look into meaning, popularity, family names, etc.? Please post your baby name stories here!

[jemama]

I always love hearing how parents named their kids, irl and online. (Maybe because I am name obsessed, lol)

Sebastian Elihu-

We had it narrowed down to Sebastian(My DH studied in Spain for a semester, he was reading an email from me in a town called San Sebastian when he figured out that he loved me) no-middle-name figured out or Ezra Eliot (my project to graduate in college was on the collaberation of Ezra Pound and TS Eliot) on the way to the "finding out the gender" ultrasound. We were stumped and my DH chose Sebastian because he thought it had "better nicname potential" and that Seb was a "really cool nicname". So we decided if we had a boy, he would be named Sebastian. We found out we were having a boy and then needed a middle name. I had HG (hypermesis, it means I puked pretty much my entire pregnancy), not to mention my DH was finishing his undergrad, we were very young (22), and got pregnant (while preventing) only 2 months into our marriage. So needless to say, while we were happy about bringing new life into the world, it was stressfull and I felt really down especially about the barfing all the time. DH went to church one day (I stayed home) and the sermon was about how Job was "sticking out" his trials even when it was hard. He showed me the verses in the Bible and there was this young wise man named Elihu who encouraged Job. The next day we were driving somewhere and I was telling him how I thought Sebastian Elihu was neat, and he wasnt too sure. So then he put in a live concert tape by Phish (I followed Phish "back in the day" and also participated in dubbing and mailing out of concert tapes...at once point I had over 200 shows on tape in my college closet, lol) and the first song was this one called "Sample in a Jar" in which there is a line called "I saw you dancing with Elihu". Mind you he chose this out of the big tape box we had along (remember those?) and the first song mentions this name. So it was meant to be in our mind and from that day forward, he was Sebastian Elihu.

Bronwen Eliza- We chose not to find out her gender, and I had a boys name I *really* loved.....The last LOTR movie had just come out and I had loved the book growing up. In this movie Gandolf uses Pippin's "full name" which is Peregrine and it just stuck with me. I loved the combo "Peregrine Silas" because it meant "traveler of the forrest" and we hiked a *lot* during her pregnancy and it just seemed fitting. I told Andy if he let me name the baby Peregrine (because I was *so sure* I was having another boy,ha) he could pick whatever girls name he liked from an "approved list" of 5. (Names we both liked). I was smitten with the name Iris Aviva during her entire pregnancy, but it wasnt Andy's favorite. After she was born, he chose the name "Bronwen Eliza" from our list. I known a Bronwyn in college and always *loved* her name (being a Jennifer who was one of a million, and her being the only Bronwyn on campus) and we had a back and forth the entire pregnancy of the -yn or -en ending...Being name crazy, I insisted that Bronwen was the correct way to spell it, plus at the time (and still too this day) names like Jordyn, Camryn, etc were very popular, taking boys or unisex names and adding the "yn" to make it girly and it reminded me of that....My middle name is Elizabeth, and he thought Eliza was neat and honoring to me. Plus Eliza is a Phish song (and the first name of a band members daughter) so Phish connection was there as well with Sebastian.

Linus Ezra Graham- When we were very newly pregnant, we were watching the Peanuts "Valentines Day Special". A tradition that we both had as children that we carried on with our children. (And Bronwen's actual bday *is* Valentines Day!). The character Linus is talked to and about a *lot* in this show, and I said to DH "You dont hear the name Linus much these days, and its a neat name" and he agreed and we were very much stuck on using Linus if the baby was a boy. We did find out with him, so he was Linus from that moment on, but nobody knew but us since people were weird when we told them Seb's name while I was pregnant (and nobody but my online friends knew the names considered during B's pregnancy). When I was pregnant with Linus, we had chosen Graham as his middle name because he was to be our first homebirth and we loved the significance of that as being meaningful like Sebastian's middle name is meaningful (B's is too, but as a family name). Graham means essentially "from the grey stone house" and our house is lined at the bottom with big grey stones. A few weeks before he was born, I had a very vivid dream where I was told "His name will be Linus Ezra Graham." and this feeling that I would know after his birth why Ezra needed to be in there....I had always liked the name Ezra so I thought maybe my pregnancy hormones were working overtime, lol, I am really not a big fan of 2 middle names (my own personal preference of course). Labor with him went great, all was well. When it was time for his birth, he got stuck by his shoulders. The MW did something called the "gaskin technique" where she puts me on all fours (graphic I know, oops) and pushes on my hips in such a way to make a bigger gap for the baby to come out. He came out fine, was very blue and needed O2 right away and CPR, but pinked up within a minute and scored great on her apgars at 5 and 10 minutes. My sister who was there is a nurse who works in L and D sometimes (she is whats called a float pool nurse). She told me that at the hosptial for SD they yank the baby out with forcepts....This is fine except that sweet Linus had not only a true knot in his cord, but the cord wrapped several times, tightly, around his neck. The force and time that it would take to do forcepts combined with the cord situation could have very easily killed him, or, caused lasting issues like CP etc. (And my sister is convinced that in the hospital, yes, this would have happened given these 2 things he had going on). Then it hit me, that Ezra meant "helper", and that Linus was "helped "by the MW who knew exactly what to do in this senerio. So I told Andy and he agreed that yes, that is a meaning that we need to honor plus the E middle name would match the older 2 kids.

Violet Leona- Again, didnt find out the gender, had a list for both genders. I was given full naming rights since my DH was finishing up graduate school, working full time and doing an internship for the entire pregnancy (well, he graduated one month to the day before she was born) and so he sort of let me do whatever I want because of that, and being so sweet. I was stuck on the name Ingrid for a girl that whole time, I also loved Althea but wanted to wait to see what the baby looked like. The two boys names I liked were Ansel and August. Major surprise having a baby girl, I thought I was having boy (obviously I am always wrong). I was in labor with her for almost 24 hours, and during my pregnancy my MIL told me she thought the baby would be born on her fathers birthday, January 21st. He died when she was 19, so never met my DH, and his middle name is Leonard after the first name of this person. I labored all day the 20th (watching the president take office, sadly didnt keep my mind of contractions) into the next day so I felt like this little girl needed a version of Leonard as her middle name. DH's favorite color is purple, this is one of the first things I learned about him when we met (in high school, at the age of 14..we were in English class together and the teacher went around and had each student say their name and asked them a random question, his was "whats your favorite color") and he has loved the name Violet since we were pregnant the first time but I always nixed it. But for this little baby, it just seemed right, she looked like a Violet, not an Ingrid or any other name, and to this day she *is* a Violet (we call her Vio most of the time actually) and I am so glad I chose it even if it does look like its really coming up on the charts. It still has meaning, plus Violet Leona means "purple lion" which is just awesome! And the older 3 have the middle (first for Linus) names that start with E like me, and her a middle name that starts with L like my DH. Variation of a family name just like her sisters.

Felix Emmanuel - He was stillborn at 21 weeks. We found out at a routine MW appointment that there was no heartbeat. We did not know his gender before any of this, but from the time I became pregnant DH loved the girls name Blythe, which means happy. A day or 2 before we found out he had died, I was flipping through a baby name book and saw that the name Felix was listed on several of the same lists as Sebastian and Linus or both. So that made me inquire enough to look it up and see that it too meant "happy" just like Blythe. I didnt say anything to DH until we were in the hospital (I was induced after 2 different US's on 2 different machines confirmed there was no longer a heartbeat) and he said Felix sounded perfect. We chose Emmanuel because it means "God is with us" and gosh, we really needed a spiritual something or other during that time in our lives. Chosen for meaning (like the boys), starting for E, and an old testiment boys name so it fit the bill.

I probably put too much time into naming my kids, but I love that we did and that they have meanings behind each and every one of their names. That is why at barely out of the first trimester I have joined these message boards since this babe's name has a lot of trends to follow for our personal family.

[heytherepigeon]

I don't have any kids, but I can still contribute!
First of all, my name has an interesting story. I was going to be named Hailey, but my parents decided it was too popular. Then they changed it to Harley. But then my mom found out that that was a motorcycle brand, and they sat down and went through a big book of baby names to find the name of a girl my dad had never dated - and thus, I was Amanda!

And here are the ways I found the names in my signature!

Seth Austin - I saw Seth in a book once and I fell in love with it. It's been my number one ever since. Austin is my favorite brother's name, and I've promised myself to name a son after him in one way or another.

Tessa Marie - I went to my mom's friend's baby shower and one of her friends there was named Tessa. I loved the name and it's been at the top of my list since then. Marie is a family name.

Thomas Gordon - Thomas is after several people - one of my closest friends named Thomas, Thomas Monson (I'm LDS), and admittedly, Tom Felton. Gordon goes along with the LDS faith - Gordon B. Hinckley, anyone?

Violet Jo - I just have a thing for flower names. I don't know. Violet's probably my favorite, though. Jo is after a character called Jennifer Jo in my favorite book.

Carter Joseph - I can't remember where I got Carter from...Hah. Joseph is my father's name.

Erica Beth - I've always liked Erica and I don't remember where I got it from/when I started liking it. Beth is my middle name.

James Nathan - I got James from Harry Potter, hah. Nathan is, again, a character from a book.

Lydia May - I got Lydia while reading a book. May just sounds nice with it.

Logan Michael - My mom's friend named her son Logan. I think he's two now. Anyway, I loved the name when I heard it. Michael is after one of my best friends.

Nola Juliette - I first got Nola when I was assigned a random scene in theater class where I played the main character named Nola. At first, I thought it was kind of a strange name. I don't recall why. But my love for the name grew and now it's officially on my list! Juliette just sounds nice with the name, aha.


Kenneth William - Kenneth...I think I was looking up names for characters when I stumbled upon it. I really liked it, so I added it to my list! William is another family name.

Joanna Kathryn - I can't remember where I got Joanna from, but I just really liked it...You could call her Jo or Anna or simply Joanna. Kathryn is - what else? - after a character in a book.

Asher Jay - Asher was the first name that's made it to my list from Nameberry. I think I was playing a Chance BNG and it was one of the options. Jay was suggested to me as a middle name, either here or on Yahoo! Answers.

Lilly Diane - Like I said for Violet, I just LOVE flower names. (Rose is so close to making it onto the list!) But Lilly also honors my grandmother as well. Diane is after my mother.

So...yeah! Hope you enjoyed, hah.

[consultantmeghan]

jemama: Wow, I love how your childrens' names are all so sentimental! And I love Peanuts, too. <3 I'm sorry to hear about Felix. Your children all have wonderful names, though... I hope that I'll have similar experiences with naming when I'm ready to have kids!

heytherepigeon: I love the names on your list! Isn't it funny how you can just stumble upon and name and fall in love with it? Especially from reading... I love literary names. I've also discovered names thanks to BNGs! They're surprisingly helpful when it comes to finding new names. <3

Thanks to you both for sharing your stories!

[texasemily]

I have 3 kids; a girl and twin boys. My daughter and one of my twins names were easy for my husband and I to agree on. My husband is Joseph David and I am Emily Clare and we wanted our kids names to fit well with ours.

Our daughter is Ella Claire Rose. I always loved the name Ella because it's timeless and beautiful IMO. I also wanted her name to begin with an E like mine. My husband thankfully agreed to it (he's picky). However, we could not agree on her middle name. I wanted Ella Claire and he wanted Ella Rose, so we compromised and did both. My mom is Amy Clare and I'm Emily Clare my Aunt is Marcia Leigh (Mar-see-ah) and her daughter is Cassie Leigh and my paternal grandmother is Wilda Ann and her daughter (my aunt) is Connie Ann, so I really wanted to continue the tradition of giving my daughter my middle name. I don't particularily like the spelling of my middle name so I spell Ella's Claire rather than Clare. My grandmother is of Irish decent so that's why she spelled it Clare. My husband just thought Ella Rose went beautifully together so we just added that. Ella Claire Rose fits her well.

My twin boys are Jack David River and Jake Duane Riley. Duane is pronounced (Doo-ain) people pronounce is Dewayne all the time which drives me nuts, but that's neither here nor there. When I discovered I was pregnant I was convinced it was a girl because my grandmother had 3 girls and my mom and aunt had 2 girls so I assumed I would follow suit. We decided fairly quickly we would name her Olivia Charlotte Lily. I always loved the name Olivia, again it's timeless and beautiful IMO, and goes well with Ella. Charlotte is my maternal grandmother who passed away when I was 13 and who I loved dearly and wanted to honor her. We wanted a 2nd middle name since Ella had 2 and Joe suggested Lily since its a flower like Rose. To our pleasant surprise we found out we were having fraternal twins at my 8 week ultrasound and immediately started considering other girl names that would flow well with Ella and Olivia. I again was convinced that I was having twin girls and on the off chance that one of them was a boy we already had the name Jack David River decided on for Ella had she been a boy. We decided on Amelia Caroline Iris for baby b. Amelia in honor of my mother (Amy) and I thought it went well with Olivia. We knew we wanted the middle name to start with a C since Ella's is Claire and Charlotte was going to be baby A's. Caroline is my cousins name so we had the family connection there and I just love the name. I wanted the to name baby b Amelia Caroline Laurel, but Joe wanted something with 4 letters since Rose and Lily have 4 letters (yeah he's a little OCD like that ) I suggested Iris and he agreed. We were so excited about the arrival of Olivia and Amelia and even went so far as to tell Ella that her sisters Livvy and Milly were on their way! As it turns out we were waaaaaay off base. When I went in for my 14 week high risk ultrasound and the doctor told me baby a was most definitely a boy I was shocked but very excited. We knew we were naming him Jack David River. My husband picked out the name Jack when I was pregnant with Ella. He wanted something that began with a J and he's a fan of traditional name. Again we were at odds on the middle name. I wanted David after him and he wanted River. So we used both. During the ultra sound baby b was being shy and not wanting to show us but I was telling the doctor "that's ok I'm quite sure it's a girl" a few seconds later baby b moved and my doctor said " no baby b is a boy as well!" We were floored and had not even considered a second boy name. Neverltheless, we were ecstatic about having twin boys. We didn't decide on Jake Duane Riley until I was about 20 weeks. We went back and forth. I was set on naming him Luke because I think Jack and Luke go great together, but Joe was insistent on his name beginning with a J and having 4 letters. He suggested Jake right off the bat and I said no because I thought it was too similar to Jack. He turned down Judd, Jude, Jett, and John. Finally I was convinced by Joe and my mom that while Jack and Jake are similar they have different end sounds and are fitting for twins. So Jake it is. Duane is my dads middle name and so I chose that to honor him. We knew we wanted a 2nd middle name for Jake as well and we wanted it to begin with an R like Rose and River. My dad suggested Riley since had I been a boy my name was to be Riley Matt. (My dad is Matt Duane). So we both just loved it and went with it. I'm glad we did because my dad has since passed away and I'm glad Jake is not only named after him but he also had a hand in naming him.

I still love the names Olivia Charlotte Lily and Amelia Caroline Iris but I am done having kids so I will never use them. I'm very happy with my kids names. We put a lot of thought into them and they all fit them well.

I love my kids:
Ella Claire Rose
Jack David River
Jake Duane Riley

[consultantmeghan]

texasemily: Your kids have wonderful names. Olivia Charlotte Lily and Amelia Caroline Iris would have made lovely names as well.

[pixielily]

Lillian Hazel "Lily" - I always knew I wanted to name my first daughter Lily, I got lucky and my husband loved it too but he wanted a longer form. I wanted Lilia or Liliana but my husband wanted Lillian. At first I wasn't sure but my father reminded me that Lillian was his grandmother's name. I wanted her middle name to be after my grandmother Cecily, my husband didn't like the sound of Lillian Cecily so we used her middle name Hazel instead.

Oliver Luca - If Lily had been a boy we were going to use Oliver. We decided we bother loved it so much we would use it for our baby boy. Oliver is also after my SIL who's middle name is Olive. If Oliver would have been a girl he would have been Olive. My husband picked Luca after we picked the middle name Lucia for his little sister. Luca is after my grandmother Lucille, my best friend Lucile and my brother Lucien.

Iris Lucia - Her name probably has the most meaning to me. I love her name so much. We knew from day one that Iris would be apart of her name. Iris means "rainbow" and she is our rainbow baby after our daughter Lily was stillborn. Her middle name is after my grandmother Lucille, my best friend Lucile and my brother Lucien. I love how Lucia sound with Iris.

Miles Harrison - His name was the hardest to decide on. My husband wanted Harrison after his father who's middle name is Harrison. Which worked since we wanted a H middle name like Lily. We debated with Harris or Harrison depending on his first name. I wanted Silas, I really wanted to name him Silas. It is my favourite boy name. If Iris has been a boy we picked Silas but when I got pregnant with Miles I realized Iris and Silas rhyme so I couldn't use it. My husband suggested Miles and I loved it.

Felix Humphrey - If our new baby is a boy we have decided to name him Felix. I love that Felix means "happy, fortunate". I also love how it just fits with Oliver and Miles. Humphrey is my mother's maiden name.

If our new baby is a girl. We don't really know what we will name her. My husband wants Amelia Louise but I want something more uncommon like Clementine or Cecily. Once we find out what we are having we will figure out if we need to find a girl name.

[consultantmeghan]

What lovely names, pixielily! I'm sorry to hear about Lily. Your children all have / will have wonderful names. Felix does fit in perfectly with Oliver and Miles! And I agree, Iris Lucia is simply gorgeous.