How Did You Choose Your Name?

[AidansMommy1012]

For those of you who have names picked out, how did you choose them? For DS1, we picked "Aidan" because we liked how it sounded and for its meaning: "little and fiery" (he was very active in the womb--and continues to be today). His middle name, "John", we chose because it's a middle name that's been handed down through the males in DH's family. For this baby, we chose "Nathaniel" because we liked the sound of "Aidan and Nate", it seemed to fit both a little boy and a grown man well, and we like the meaning: "gift of God". No middle name yet, but we're thinking about it!

[mimi_n_tre]

I'm kindof weird I guess. I love how I write my A's so I knew I wanted an A name. When I found out my son was a boy, I had decided on Austin Riley at first, but then started not to like it so changed it to Trevor Anthony.( I'm glad I changed it since there was another boy born the same time as Trevor who was an Austin at the hospital...)
If he would have been a girl he would have been Arianna Trinity or Arianna Jolie. So this one is a girl so she will be the Arianna. For the middle name we have chosed Kharma, but I don't know about it anymore because I had wanted a boy this time and wanted to have the same middle name as Jase's, so we might change it to Arianna Orion.

[turtlemama77]

Well, we don't know what we're having yet, but we do have names all ready! If little baby is a boy, he will be called Elias Martin (great grandfather's name, grandfather's name). If little baby is a girl, she will either be Julianne Rose or Margaret Rose. Julianne is a combination of my mom's name (Julie) and a good friend's name (anna). Margaret is my grandma's name, and the one I'm leaning towards.

[Red Sonja]

I also like the name Austin, but DH doesn't because we used to live on Austin Ryan Drive. Of course, I think Austin Ryan would be a nice name but won't name our child after our old street, LOL.


If he would have been a girl he would have been Arianna Trinity or Arianna Jolie.
DH and I both like the name Jolie, we are considering it for a middle name. Of course, then I wonder if everyone would think it was after Angelina Jolie.

[ksjhwkr]

We named Emma, Emma because I like that name! :) Her middle name is Joyce, named after my great-grandmother who was just an amazing woman. By cooincidence, her Mom's name was Emma. :)
When I was pg with Emma, we came up with the name Seth Michael for a boy. We both just liked it, so when Seth was born we looked at him and realized that was our Seth! :)
We have a couple names we like with this baby, but won't know what her name will be until she is born. Either Libby (Elizabeth Jane) or Kate (Katherine Grace). Again...just cause we like them! :)

[AidansMommy1012]

I also like the name Austin, but DH doesn't because we used to live on Austin Ryan Drive. Of course, I think Austin Ryan would be a nice name but won't name our child after our old street, LOL.


Hey, why not? My mom plucked my name off of a mailbox she saw on a walk while pregnant with me. :lol

[SoCalGirl]

We know we're having a boy, so we haven't even talked about girls' names. (We're screwed if he turns out to really be a "she" somehow...)

We haven't settled for sure yet on a boy name, but we have one frontrunner that we both like. It just sort of "came" to us...we bought some baby name books and we keep considering other names, trying to make sure we're as thorough as possible, but we both keep coming back to the one name we came up with first. We're still staying open to other ideas, at this point...

For his middle name, we are using the name of my DH's father, who died when DH was 17. That was an easy one--DH had always said he wanted to use his father's name for a boy child, and I'm fine with that, so that was settled from the beginning.

I love thinking about names...it's such a huge responsibility, though, to bestow a name on another human being!

[lotus.blossom]

For his middle name, we are using the name of my DH's father, who died when DH was 17. That was an easy one--DH had always said he wanted to use his father's name for a boy child, and I'm fine with that, so that was settled from the beginning.



That is the EXACT reason for our sons middle name too! How interresting!

I had been scouring name sites and books and writing down names and running them past my dh for weeks and weeks and weeks with absolutely nothing hitting us both equally, until I came upon the name Lochlan. It rolled off my tongue and stuck. We love unique names yet didn't want our son to be the butt of any jokes and so far we've really felt good about Lochlan. I think unique names have a way of sounding cute as children but limiting them as adults. I think it is a very strong name and goes well with the middle name and our last name.

[aydensmama]

My son's name is Ayden because I loved that name, and Brayden and Cayden, and my hubby choose out of all those Ayden! I changed up the spelling a bit since everyone loves the name, got to keep everything mixed up. His middle name is Glenn, which is my hubby's first name, and his mom's maiden name!

I love Ava Emily if it is a girl (I find out tommorrow, baby position willing) and Logan Fraser if it is a boy. Ava is a name I think sounds good with Ayden and Emily is my grandmother's first name. Logan is cute and was an option the first go around, and I can't use all the names up there I listed because I would get tongue tied yelling at the boys, hehe! Fraser is my maiden name! Soooo, that is the way we chose!

[eco_mama]

My DD's name is Marley Anne Ryan. (2 middle names) Her name is after Bob Marley. Who is one of the biggest inspirations in our (my dh and i) lives. Before I ever got pregnant I knew if I ever did, and had a girl. Her name would be Marley. Her MN's are mine and my dh's mn's. I liked them both but couldn't decide which to use so I used them both! They totally fit though. :D Anne is also my moms and my dh's grandma's MN as well. :D We have names picked out for this baby. My dh always said that his 1st born son would be named Elijah and I also love that name. I picked out Mathias for a MN cuz it's a variation of Matthew (my dh's name) and also has the same meaning. :) It was tough to find a girls name. I struggle with them. I finally found Ada. It was on my list but it wasn't untill I found out that in hebrew it means "a beautiful addition" that I was like, "Ok, this is the name." The MN will be Moss. Which means "to be drawn out of water" We are going for a water birth so its perfect. I love how Ada Moss sounds. :love Plus they're both two names that you hardly ever hear.

There is a slight possibility that I'm carrying twins (ill find out next week) so if it turns out that I am then I'll have to find an additional boy and girl name just in case I get 2 of the same. If I have to do that I don't know what I'm gonna do! Names are so hard for me!

[Panserbjørne]

DH and I have pretty strong irish roots, so our kids names reflect that. Ds's name is traditional gaelic for "cub" and dd's name is not a name, but an irish faery/folk legend. Middle names were names that went with their first names-to some extent. Ds has my dad's middle name as his middle name, because we adore my dad and it fit. Dd's midle name was a "watery" name that went perfectly with her's. This kiddo is tough though...we used our names! We have a boys name that we like, but nothing for a girl. It'll come, I guess.

[Jade2561]

We are pretty boring - with both of our girls it was looking through baby name books and asking each other what we think about the names we like on the list. Unoriginal but we love them!

[Jish]

April, Lochlan is on my short list of boys names also.

Our first two boys first names are names that we liked and are their biblical names and their middle names are after dh's grandfather and my grandfather. Our third was going to be done the same so we had his middle name ready, but we couldn't decide on a first name. Then he came and none of the names on our short list fit him, but the middle name did, so we promoted it to his first name and made his biblical name his second name.

[beansavi]

I kept track of the "messages" baby was sending me about his personality before birth. Then I looked up the names backward, typing in the meanings and getting the names. I kept going with my intuition and when I found the right name(s) I knew it!

For me, too, I have to have a spiritual aspect or spiritual hope/intention for the child.

With my latest, I found out my brother's name (the one I felt called to name my babe after) meant "Peaceful Traveler" or "Peace-Bearer". I loved that.

My newest baby's name is:

Geoffrey Finn William...Peace-Bearing Fair Protector
:love

[sewaneecook]

We have been considering names since we were dating. It took us 3 years to come up with a very short list of names that we both liked, so hopefully the baby fits the names we have: For a boy we like Seth Robert ... Seth b/c we like it and every Seth we have ever known has been a good person and Robert is both my FIL's name and DH's MN. For a girl we like Claire Kathryn ... Claire b/c we like it and all Claire's we've known have been great people and Kathryn b/c it was my maiden MN. We also like Evelyn Rebecca (Evelyn is an Aunt's name and Rebecca is a cousin's name, but we aren't necessarily naming the child after either one ... we just like the name) and Calvin James (Calvin b/c we like it and James is my dad's name).

We use a combo of names we like and family names.

[pdxcdingmomma]

Well, DH and I have been together for 12 years, and early on we decided we liked Tristen (just liked the name) for a boy and Mara Jade (obscure Star Wars character - DH is a geek) for a girl.

So when we found out DS1 was a boy, we knew he would be Tristen, DH wanted Indiana for the MN (for Indiana Jones :o), and I had agreed to that years ago, but cut a deal to throw Paul in for the first MN (DH's first name FIL's MN, great grandfather's name), so he's Tristen Paul Indiana.

When we found out DS2 was a boy, we were stumped. DH and I both like unique names, but he likes really unique names and wants them to be Star Wars or other sci-fi related (again - :o), while I don't want the poor kid getting beat up his whole life. So searched for more obscure SW names, DH found and loved Mace (Mace Windu for fellow geeks), I wasn't in love with it until one night I decided to add an "n" to the end, make it "officially" Macen, and we'd call him Mace. That way he can have a grown up name if he wants it. :wink
Had to have 2 middle names to follow the pattern, so went with Eric (my daddy's name) and Joseph (DH's dad's name, my grandpa's name, a derivative of my mom's name), so he's Macen Eric Joseph.

Now, with the girl, (as you'll see in my own post/poll), we're going with Mara Jade (the "a" sound in Mara is like Mark, not Sara), and having a hard time agreeing on the middle name. DH likes a particular name (which I do, too), but I really want to honor family again, so have a couple other choices. Our options (alphabetically) are: Arden, Arwyn, Eowyn, and Juel ("jool"). We have a few months to work it out.

I love this kind of stuff! :lol

[Red Sonja]

The way we actually decide the name isn't very exciting, either. :lol DS' middle name is DH's first name, and this baby will probably have a middle name from my side of the family.

I'm keeping a list of boy and girl names we like. We find out the gender on Thursday and DH is deployed. I'll send him an email with the list of boys or girls names and he will chop it, removing the ones he doesn't care for and then email it back to me. Once he gets back we'll narrow it down to 3 or 4 and then make the decision.

[gumby74]

Our little boy's name is going to be: Andrew. Andrew is the name of DH's friend who is also a cancer survivor. The difinition of Andrew means strong and courageous and that definetly describes his friend.

[~pi]

We have a first and middle name picked out for a boy or a girl (Campbell Alexander and Esme Heidi). All are family names, except Esme, which is just a name that I've always loved and one that fits well with our languages and last name.

We aren't 100% committed to anything until we meet him/her, though. There is family tradition here: my mom and dad changed their minds after meeting me. April, we were supposed to share a name! My real name (not Maria, which is my middle name) is nothing like April, so they definitely went another way at the last minute. :lol

P.S. I know a Lochlan and he's a great guy. Everyone calls him Lockie.

[~pi]

We have been considering names since we were dating. It took us 3 years to come up with a very short list of names that we both liked, so hopefully the baby fits the names we have: For a boy we like Seth Robert ... Seth b/c we like it and every Seth we have ever known has been a good person and Robert is both my FIL's name and DH's MN. For a girl we like Claire Kathryn ... Claire b/c we like it and all Claire's we've known have been great people and Kathryn b/c it was my maiden MN. We also like Evelyn Rebecca (Evelyn is an Aunt's name and Rebecca is a cousin's name, but we aren't necessarily naming the child after either one ... we just like the name) and Calvin James (Calvin b/c we like it and James is my dad's name).

We use a combo of names we like and family names.

Laura, those are all such lovely names! I love the whole, "naming because of good associations with the name," thing. :)

[lotus.blossom]

Thats interesting, Maria! You were supposed to be an April till the last minute?
My middle name was Marie till I married and now my last name is Murray and April Marie Murray sounds terrible, so I kept my maiden as my middle.

I love Lockie as a nickname. You are the second person that said they knew a Lochlan. Not too bad!

Jish- I'll arm wrestle you for the name Lochlan :) J/K of course if you use it thats fine!

pdxcdingmomma- I can respect the star wars names. I'm shocked that my dh didn't insist on one. He is the biggest SW geek ever (he build a full sized R2D2AND met George Lucas at C3) I actually suggested Saber as a boys name and he said that would be too obvious (he has several replica light sabers)

[sewaneecook]

Laura, those are all such lovely names! I love the whole, "naming because of good associations with the name," thing.

Thanks, Maria! We like names that aren't too unusual, but also aren't common. I have a friend who is using the name Campbell for her girl due in May (it is her MIL's maiden name), I've really grown to like the name ... however I do think it is more appropriate for a boy! :thumb My sister did something similar with her DS #3 in naming him that your parents did with naming you. All through their PGcy they were going to use the name Johnathan, but when I got the call that he was born ... they went with William b/c he looked nothing like a Johnathan. Our list of names we both like is so short, I really hope one of them works!

[Jish]

Okay, so now that I know it's a boy, we will officially never use the girl's name that we had picked out before our first child was born. That's the one thing that makes me sad.


Will someone please name their girl "Harper" for me. I just have to know that I have a Harper out there somewhere.:wink

[~pi]

Thats interesting, Maria! You were supposed to be an April till the last minute?
My middle name was Marie till I married
Too funny! Yes, they decided after they met me that April wasn't it. (Personally, I'm not entirely sure why they were considering it anyway, since I was due and born in December.)

I have a friend who is using the name Campbell for her girl due in May (it is her MIL's maiden name)
That's why it's on our list, too! :lol

Will someone please name their girl "Harper" for me. I just have to know that I have a Harper out there somewhere.:wink
I can't do it because of our prime minister (very right-wing for Canada and that's his last name) but I am bumping your request in the hopes that someone else sees and likes the name! :wink

[Mama2ABCD]

in my dad's family all the first born males were named Alexander Adam (and incidentally my mom's side all were Alexander Marshall). My mom was a 2nd dd, 2nd child so she got the name Alexandra. She used her maiden name for my brother's middle name. So keeping with her using her maiden name, and in case my brother ever had children...i used Adam Alexander for my son. (Emma Mae would have been used if a girl).
My 2nd child Boyd Bryant came about because of a rivalry i have with FIL about football coaches. My dh's name is Bryant after famous Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant (dh nickname is Bear which is why i call my kids "cubs"). I'm from Michigan and so i joked i'd name my next boy Bo Bryant (bo schembechler for Univ of Michigan) which didnt' sit well with FIL (the bo part). When i got pregnant i realized i didn't really like Bo (would have used Beau) because i would picture Bo and Luke Duke, the general Lee, and the confederate flag. I'm a yankee. So i remembered the name Boyd which i loved (i remember a guy in college with that name and i thought it was cool), plus my nana's 2nd oldest brother name was Boyd (she doesn't remember him much she was one of 16). Glad i picked it because he's a little tow head and Boyd is scottish for blonde. His girl name was Lily Alexandra.
So by the time we got to #3 we had a pattern and Dh wanted to keep it. C.C we picked Clint Callahan for a boy (dh huge Clint Eastwood fan) and we just like the name Cali (i choose this spelling because the my boys both had 4 letter first names). Cole is a name i always liked. Callie is irish meaning "from the forest". the way my little red head was born, it was like she came from the forest.
This one is a D.D. Dane Denali if a boy. I sold DH on the name because Dane means "only God is my judge". Dh is kinda the black sheep of his family. That name really caught his attention.
Dacy Dyanni for a girl because Dacy means "from the south" and i don't always plan to live here. Dyanni because my best friend's name is Diane, and Dyanni is native American for deer (according to google)

Whew, sorry for the novel.
And i do have some EE's picked out in case there are twins. Everett Edwin (Edwin is FIL's name), and some combo of Evelyn (got an Adam, must have an Eve) and Elle or Ella. But, won't worry about any more unless it actually happens.:D

[carouselrider]

My DDs are named for a combination of liking the name and it having family significance. We chose more traditionally for both of their names - Margaret Anne and Alice Elizabeth.

If this one is a girl I think she will be Lillian Marie, but go by Lily. My 5 year old actually chose the name, and instead of dismissing it out of hand, my husband and I both thought about it and agreed that we liked it. My five year old thinks all names should have a short i sound in the middle and a y sound at the end. For a while she insisted the baby would be a girl named "Cinny" or "Jimmy", luckily she moved on to Lily!

If this one is a boy, he will be John Benjamin, a name we chose six years ago and still like.

I didn't change my name when I got married, so all of the kids have my last name as their second middle name, and carry DH's last name.

[Maxine45]

when I first said it, it was just a joke.
My DH was enthralled with the public transit light rail system here in this city when we moved here . . . it's called Max.
He really studied up on it and became something of a Max expert.
One day as he was showing off his knowledge about Max I teased him: "you would probably name your firstborn son Max if you could".
and immediately we both thought it was a perfect name!
So we've called the baby Max since more than a year before he was even conceived.
He's been Max for a long time now, and we're both excited for his arrival :-)

[bass chick]

Okay, so now that I know it's a boy, we will officially never use the girl's name that we had picked out before our first child was born. That's the one thing that makes me sad.


Will someone please name their girl "Harper" for me. I just have to know that I have a Harper out there somewhere.:wink

I know how you feel. We are expecting another boy and now it is doubtful we'll ever have a girl. We've had a girl's name picked out for years before ds #1 came....and have struggled so much with boys names. I feel sad that we will likely never get to use our awesome girls name.

We picked ds1 name from the Bible...the prophet of fire. His name (Elijah) means "The Lord is my God", or something to that affect. Elijah did some pretty cool things in the Bible. And his mn is James, after my grandfather who was very very very very special to me. Still not sure about ds2 name. The responsibility to give my child a name is just too much for me!! It stresses me out!

[pdxcdingmomma]

when I first said it, it was just a joke.
My DH was enthralled with the public transit light rail system here in this city when we moved here . . . it's called Max.
He really studied up on it and became something of a Max expert.
One day as he was showing off his knowledge about Max I teased him: "you would probably name your firstborn son Max if you could".
and immediately we both thought it was a perfect name!
So we've called the baby Max since more than a year before he was even conceived.
He's been Max for a long time now, and we're both excited for his arrival :-)

I read this from my email - without seeing your profile - and immediately thought, "she must be from Portland!" :lol

My dad, who's a former city planner, would really appreciate this! :D