I have always loved names. For as long as I could remember, I was planning what I would name my children. The name I remember loving the most as a kid was Sara(h). I don't remember if I liked the H at the end or not. I knew I would have a great time naming my children when the time came.
The time came in 2007 when I became pregnant with my first. I had a spreadsheet with names that I've liked in the past. I had a column for first names and middle names. I finally had a last name to go with these beautiful names I had conjured up. Now on to naming this child!
What I discovered was that I am very picky. I didn't want a Top 5, 10, or 25 name. I wanted a name people knew how to spell. I wanted people be familiar with the name. I didn't want a name that was a flashing sign for the year my child was born. This became a task that suddenly weighed me down.
I gave birth to a baby girl and named her Audrey Grace. I loved the name until I had her. Fears overcame me. I just knew she would hate the name. It didn't fit her. What was I going to do? I know a guy whose parents changed his name at 2 months (I think). Was I going to do that? I'm a horrible mother. That feeling of doing my child a disservice lasted about a week. She can't be anyone but Audrey Grace. I love her and her name.
Then I got pregnant again. This one was even more difficult because it had to match the style of Audrey's name. I pretty much resigned to whatever my husband, Michael, wanted. He liked Julia. I don't think I would have ever listed Julia on my spreadsheet, but I dwelled on it for awhile. It grew on me and I agreed to name our second child Julia Kate.
I haven't been too nervous about the name Julia, but I still haven't truly connected with it yet. It is even hard for me to remember at times, or maybe that's because of my lack of sleep. I do know I love my beautiful daughter, Julia. And I know that she will grow into the name really soon and no other name will do.
Do you like your name and are you still happy with your children's names?
14 comments:
I love both your girls names! :) Audrey was my grandma's (dad's mom) name and I love it. I may have an Audrey someday too!
I was unnamed for 3 days and Kaitlin wasn't even one of the options. I was going to be either Emily or Lauren.
Also, Houston was renamed when he was almost a year old, I believe, but I don't remember what his original name was.
I've never particularly liked my name, but I don't hate it, either. The E on the end helps a little.
I still love the names I gave my children. If I had a do-over I MAY change Brett's middle name and make Brooke your FIRST name. But I don't lose sleep over it. I still think Blake Jordan is wonderful. I must admit I wasn't overly fond of "Audrey" at first, but I love it now. I've always loved the name Julia. Or Julianne, which is one of my all time favorites. Sometimes I hear a name and wonder why in the world a parent chose that, given their last name. Of course, sometimes we have to take a last name that doesn't really go with our given name. For example, I used to have a patient named "Gladys Gaddis". ;)
Houston is who I was referring to in the post. I didn't realize he was that old! For the life of me, I can't remember his original name.
Lauren was on my list when Julia was born.
Now it's going to bother me til we remember Houston's original name! For some reason the names Jeremy and Dustin pop into my mind, but it was probably neither of those. You'll have to find out!
Yea, I think it was quite old for having his name changed. I don't know the exact age though. I do remember though, his childhood Christmas stocking has his original name on it still because it was made before the name change.
Okay! Jill remembers it being Derrick. I'm pretty sure she's right.
I have always liked my name - Bethany - as it is unique. Whenever I meet another Bethany, I always say, "There aren't many of us out there!" And, for whatever reason, I like being that unique. The story behind my name, although not amazing in and of itself, also makes me feel special. (I'll have to write about it now, Brooke! :) ) But, being a 9-year veteran teacher, I am humbled and appreciate that you took so much time thinking about the names of you children. I, too, have a list that I keep for (God-willing) future children... there have been a few names scratched through due to children in my class named that particular name. :) And, isn't it just like God to turn our names into little people.... like you said, you would never name Audrey Grace anything other than Audrey Grace because now she's a little girl and not just a group of letters... Great blog! :)
I don't have name remorse for my boys, but we did have a tough time coming up with names we both liked. Part of the problem is that it is such a trend for girls to have boy names these days, so that reduces what we had to choose from! By the way...I love the name Audrey and if we had had a girl either time, that probably would have been her name!
Hey Brooke,
Like you, I kept a name book since I could spell! haha For our first child, as soon as Danny and I found out she was a girl we instantly agreed on the name Hannah and never looked back. As for our second girl things couldnt have been more complicated. I wanted a less common name and we couldnt agree on anything. And if we did it only lasted a few days and one of us would admit we didnt like the name and we were back to square one. At one point our second daughter was named Hailee, Natalie, and Kaitlynn. Due to certain people in our lives or just plain spelling disagreements those names went into the trash bucket. So then we were down to three, with Kaitlynn at one point being written into the baby book! Kami, Kaitlynn, or Kylie. We threw out Kaitlynn due to spelling disagreements than Danny said to choose either Kami or Kylie and you know the rest! haha And Kylie is definetly a Kylie!! But sometimes I get frustrated when people call her a different but similar name and I have to correct them!
Mom, thanks for my name. I've always liked it!
Rachel, congratulations on the birth of your son, TODAY! Don't think you'll look back on naming him Logan!
Bethany, being a teacher can definitely ruin a name for you!
Amy, first, I miss you! Second, I knew Audrey would be called Aubrey. It doesn't bother me a bit, so I hope she's okay with it too.
Choosing names is tough!! Ideally you find a name that is both parents' "favorite" but that rarely if ever happens and so you have to meet in the middle and find something you both like. For us, Savannah was a name Todd came up with. It was never on my "list" that I'd started in high school (ha!). But Todd loved Savannah and I was sold on it prior to her birth. Wouldn't change it for anything now. And Marshall.... took us FOREVER to come up with something we both could live with. Impatient me finally made a list of 30 names and let Todd pick the one he liked best. Some of the names I liked better than others but ironically he ended up picking one of the 30 that I truly loved!! Savannah has my middle name as hers and Marshall has Todd for his middle name. I'm still happy with both names...thankfully!
I love my name. Kama Linn. Both are unique and mean a lot to me, even though the real meaning of my first name is the Hindu god of love and can be seen on various not-so-nice websites and books. :) I also love the names we picked for our boys. Dietrich and Hudson. We have a spreadsheet with potential first and middle names for both genders that we add to and take away from every so often. I think picking a name is really important since you're stuck with it forever, so I would never really name my daughters Shasta and Sunshine like I have always told my mom. :) Your girls names are cute (and so are they)!
I was just talking with someone and saying how with both boys it took me awhile to be convinced that their names were the right ones. Of course now, I can't imagine Tate as anything other than Tate. I'm sure that will happen with Will as well...right??? :)
I love your girls names, they are classic, but not common.
I had a baby boy almost 9 months ago and we named him Daxon. I still do like it, I haven't heard of anyone else with the name, but some people have. The only problem is when people ask us his name they always think we said Jaxon, so I'm sure he will get a lot of that.
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