Baby Names

Thanks for the questions and suggestions for topics.

First to answer an easy one ... sort of.

My oldest daughter was named long before she was born. I knew what her name would be when I was in elementary school. No ifs, ands, or buts.

When we were expecting our second we found out he was a boy. And the name discussing/arguing began. Turns out, Jason and I don't agree on boy names at all. I wanted Daniel, Matthew, Eric ... more traditional names. He wanted Stone, Quinn ... not traditional names. Lucky for us, midway through that pregnancy someone suggested a name, we both liked it, and it stuck.

With the third we didn't find out the sex ahead of time. We knew a girl name, Jason agreed on the one I liked, and we opted for Noah, no middle name, for a boy. She was a she and all was well with the world.

For the fourth we choose not to find out the sex. For a girl ... Grace Caroline. Easy peasy. For a boy ... no, no boys name. Lots of arguing and frustration. On the way to the hospital I was suggesting names that were street names we passed (Lance, Dean ... I actually liked them, Jason didn't). A few hours after he was born my MIL asked me the name and I said "His name is A___." I was so groggy and icky from the c-section that poor Jason wasn't going to disagree with me so that was his name. Somehow that moment was captured on videotape. We do love his name and it fits him perfectly.

#5 ... again, Grace Caroline for a girl. For a boy ... again, I was traditional, he wasn't. We agreed on nothing. We did find out that time that he was a boy* so we knew we had to come up with something. Lots of arguing and frustration. Three days before he was born I suggested K__. Ok, we had a name. But middle name? Please, he was going to be K___, no middle name. Finally we agreed on using both our father's names as his middle names, so he has three names. K___ turned out to be very trendy popular, which we didn't know, but we still like it and it certainly fits him.

And now for #6 ... my brother and his wife used Grace. We weren't expecting at the time, didn't know if we would be, and certainly didn't know if we'd have another girl so we really didn't have any rights to the name, and their Grace is such a Grace ... it's perfect for her ... but now that name isn't an option. Lucky for all concerned (ha ha), I decided three or so years ago on names. Jude for a boy, Elyse for a girl. Jason doesn't like either ... no surprise there. But I've told him that until he can suggest something that he thinks I might like (today his *great* name was Wolfgang ... fine name, but certainly not my style and he knows it, oh, and Apple for a girl ... I have nothing to say ... he knew I wouldn't want to use it, whether it's cute or not) I'm not discussing it. Period. The end. So there you are ... Jude or Elyse.

I'd actually love to hear any suggestions for short names (C. has the longest name at 6 letters ... the shorter names thing comes from signing so many cards with everyone's name on them ... short is good!), preferably with two syllables (I know Jude is only one syllable, but since we're not discussing names it's a moo point), that don't start with A, C, I, K, or M.

*How we found out #5 was a boy: Jason had wanted to know the sex and I really didn't - our kids are all c-sections so we know ahead of time exactly when they are coming ... not knowing the sex leaves an element of surprise. The tech wrote the sex down on a sheet of paper, folded the paper, and sealed it in an envelope, then give the envelope to Jason. We got home and Jason tucked it away and forgot about it. Fast forward two months or so and we're moving out the house we were going to outgrow. I'm packing the kitchen up and cleaning the cupboards. I find an envelope with a question mark on it, on a shelf with a bunch of other crap. I thought perhaps it was C.'s schoolwork or who knows what so, of course, I opened it. And, lo and behold, we were having a boy. I was so upset that I found out (and tired from all the moving) that I left the house just bawling like a baby. I recovered before too long and we can now laugh about it ... but oh was I upset.

I'm not sure if we'll find out the sex this time. We'll see.

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9 Comment

  1. I am confused? What number baby are you up to? Did you actually state any names on the blog?

    We are not finding out & we are not thinking about names just yet. For now he/she is "Sprout."

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  2. Funny about not agreeing on names. I had an emotional pg hormonal fit during a tiff about choosing my DD's name. I felt bad when my husband later agreed to it, but now I'm so glad!

    BTW, wow 5 c-sections (+1 to come)? You look great (think I've seen one photo of you in past posts...)

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  3. Funny, I have a friend whose two most recent children are named Elyse and Grace. I'm still quite a few years away from kids but my older cousins and younger aunt keep stealing all of my favourite names. I'm hoping I'll still have some left when it's my turn.

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  4. I love the whole baby name quandry. We had our first son's name all picked out...even had a savings bond in that name. Minutes after he was born my hubby said he couldn't do it and he named him something else that minute and it stuck!

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  5. It's always great to hear the origin of names. Brian suggested Dexter when I was just pregnant and I loved it. Months and months later someone said 'oh like the cartoon?' and I looked at Brian and he said 'of course!' How was I duped into naming my kid after a cartoon?? Either way...it's so him!

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  6. My full name has seven letters, not six, even if I don't like being called anything but the-not-full-name-that-everyone-calls-me that has six letters. What ever happened to Eva? And I like Quinn. and Wolfgang is cool, but it wouldn't go with the rest, and when Daddy and I were talking about names in the car he said he knew you wouldn't name it that anyway...

    love ya mom--C

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  7. Bob! or Glenn?

    My husband and I couldn't agree on a dog name for our first dog, so we went through the whole alphabet one night in bed. The dog's name was Zeke.

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  8. Ohh! We always wanted a Grace but we got a Fin and Joe instead!
    Fin is Fintan an Irish boys name that means 'Little fair one' which he was. I wanted a boy I could call Fin but at that stage the plain 'Finn' hadn't really registeed on my radar.Its very popular now. Joe ..is obvious.

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  9. I have wanted to name my son Jack since I was in elementary school. I just LOVE the name. But for some reason I have four children and no Jack.
    I have 4-6 letter names for my children and they are all 2 syllables and end with an 'n'.

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