We have not really spent a lot of time pondering baby names, as I think we are still, even now, leaning toward the side of "overly cautious." However, my ultrasound is three weeks away. I do not have any feelings one way or another toward a certain gender, although my friend Angie has been working some "boy" voodoo magic my direction.
When we were expecting Abigail, it seemed we knew from the beginning that she was a girl. I just did. The ultrasound just confirmed what I was already certain of. Therefore, we did not spend a great deal of time choosing a boy's name. We really discussed all of the aspects of the girl names, tried out how they sounded, tried different middle names. The boy name we just kind of threw in for good measure at the end, just in case.
I find that one of the things that has become a pet peeve of mine, and I'm sure it is just me needing to lighten up, is discussing baby names with other people. I naively went into things with Abigail's name, prepared to tell everyone that she was "Abigail" as soon as we knew. Then I realized how quick people are to share their own opinions of names. They would say things like, "Are you going to call her Abby? I like Abby." As if to say, "Abby's fine, but not Abigail." Or I would throw different names out that I was considering and they would say, "That sounds more like a girl's name than a boy's name." Then, when my friend Debra was having her baby shortly after I had Abigail, and in all of her wisdom decided not to share the baby's name until he was born, it all made sense. It had never even occurred to me to not share the name.
I don't know what we will do this time. Chances are, we'll share it. Because it helps us identify with this baby even more to have a name for him/her. I've already had plenty of conversations over what everyone else thinks we should name the baby, and frankly, I'm over it. As soon as I shared with a group of friends the name we are (pretty well) decided on for a boy, and one of my friends said, "Ewwwww!" I realized that it's just up to us. It seems no one has the same taste overall in names, and no one has the same reasons for choosing a name. We just have to choose the one that will suit our child and our family name the best. People adjust to all the names once they have a baby to put with it anyway.
In the meantime, after looking through a decades-old baby names book, I've decided to just call it "Hortense." It'll do for now.
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9 comments:
I joked with a friend that she should just tell people she's naming her baby boy Eeyore and stun them into silence. Problem solved. :)
Well, I think you guys did a superb job in naming Miss Abigail Rose, so I'm supremely confident in your ability to name this little blessing. :)
SO excited for three weeks to pass, so we can learn a little more about the amazing person who will be joining your family next!
Love you guys!
Woohoo! I got a mention :) Honestly, I started out sharing names with some people at work and I got my feelings hurt a lot because I like original names. So I suggested Kaycen for a boy (which is by far my favorite boy name ever but Kyle hates it) and I got the most negative responses. And I knew I wouldn't do "traditional" so I figured wed name our kids then people could grow to love their names. lol. And now I get complimented on both of their names all the time. I do also get... "thats a unique name" quite frequently.
FWIW, you have super taste in names. I am not one for shortening names and we correct people on the baby's name all the time because of it. So I have that side of it too :) Can't wait to find out what the gender is! And it will be fun to find out the name as well.
I'm just astonished that one of your friends would say "ewwww" to a name you had chosen!?! That's just a little rude.
Your the parent so you and Paul have the right to name it whatever you would like, no matter what other people think!! They have that same right with their own children.
I understand though. We didn't find out the gender when we were having Noah, but had a girl name and a boy name picked. We did find out with Liane, and people offered their opinions both times.
Why not totally be free of the worry of the choosing and let Abigail name this baby. I mean, Puster D. Cooper might be president some day.....or Charlotte Barlett Cooper.... the girl's got style!
I can't wait to find out who I have been praying for daily....I think Peanut might have strong male leanings so I think Mr or Miss Peanut so I am not messing with who this baby is!!!!! Love, Memaw
Chris tried to warn me not to tell people the names we were thinking of, but I didn't listen...I was constantly feeling offended, so I finally just quit talking about it, which is very hard to do because that's like the 1st question people ask...It's much harder to criticize a name after it's attached to a sweet, adorable, perfect baby :)
Ah Amy! You hit the nail on the head in this post. Names and peoples responses are such an interesting thing! I have started encountering the same types of responses. People are so opinionated and feel free to let you know =) I'm excited for your ultrasound. We had ours last week, and have the gender safely tucked in an envelope for us to open in a few weeks. We wanted to wait a little longer and have a nice dinner date, and make it a special occasion.
Love you guys and celebrating with you.
The test for a name for a boy is to scream it in it's entirety out the back door. You will know why in a few years.
Lisa
Amy - just catching up on your blogs - been behind. Anyway, right after I had given birth to Zack, I was spelling his name to the nurse z-a-c-k-a-r-y....my dad said "you can't spell it that way." I told him I just gave birth to this kid & I can spell it however I want!! :)
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