Deciding what to call our new little person was surprisingly difficult.
Ridiculously difficult when you consider that her name turned out to be something Rob and I thought of years ago, sitting in a movie theater when we were barely a couple. I really thought our front-runner girl's name might change and evolve through three pregnancies, but it didn't. We just hung onto it until we needed it.
Even with a top choice already in place, names remained a frequent topic of discussion—especially before we knew for sure that this baby is a girl. Rob and I settled on a boy's name (first and middle) relatively quickly. Much like Westley, the second name we came up with was the one we both loved. Girls' names were tougher, because there are
just so many that I adore and would seriously consider bestowing on a child.
Westley also played a small part in the naming process. At first, he suggested names from favorite books and movies. Then he switched gears, and became adamant that the name not be "already taken."
Without further ado, here are our shortlisted baby names. I'm more than a little sad to see them go. I would have 20 children, just so I could name them all.
* * *
Haven (F) —
Any place of shelter and safety. Haven is one of my favorite words, and it sounds like a name even though it isn't one (usually).
Blaze (M/F) —
A bright flame or fire. I lobbied hard for Jasper Blaze as a boy's name during my pregnancy with Westley. Rob vehemently opposes Jasper, but hadn't weighed in on Blaze, so I brought it up again. It's a strong first or middle name, and works well for a boy or a girl. (According to one baby name book, Blaze can also mean "stammerer." Whatever.)
Alchemy (F) —
The magical process of transmuting a common substance into a substance of great value. We both liked this, but it didn't quite fit. And what if someone decided to call her "Alchie"?
Eve (F) —
Life. This was the fiercest contender to replace our top choice. Old-fashioned, simple, and so lovely. Rob liked the connection to our mutual friend Eva. I liked the link to Preston Sturges' screwball comedy classic,
The Lady Eve. (We never mentioned this possibility to Westley, but I think he might have rejected it on the grounds that Eve is already "taken" by the robot in
WALL-E.)
Walker (M) —
A person who fulls cloth. Rob and I briefly discussed giving all of our children matching initials. I'm not sure how serious the discussion was, but Walker was a favorite name nonetheless. Other boys' W names I love:
Ward, Warren, Wolf.
Story (F) —
A narrative designed to interest, amuse, or instruct... Rob vetoed this before I'd even finished saying it, but I don't care. It's feminine and beautiful, and with our film and theater backgrounds, especially meaningful.
Athena (F) —
The Greek goddess of wisdom. A fierce middle name contender.
Dexter (M) —
Dexterous. Increasingly popular, but still so great. It sounds old-fashioned and contemporary at the same time. I love "Dex" as a nickname.
Oracle (F) —
A person who delivers wise and influential pronouncements; a divine communication or revelation. We both found this hard to say, which breaks my heart because I think it's perfectly feminine.
August (M/F) —
Majestic dignity. I like this for either sex, though it seems especially cool for a girl. Except I wondered, was it nickname-able? "Gus!" Rob suggested, and I completely fell in love with the idea of calling a little girl "Gus."
Sophia (F) —
Wisdom. One of Rob's favorite names ever. I like it too. But it's only
the most popular girls' name in the country!
Orson (M) —
Little bear. This was my top choice for a boy's name. I love the sound of it, and I love the meaning more. The meaning was my whole argument for using it. "But Rob, it means
little bear!" "So you've said." "But—!"
Easter (F) —
Easter (naturally). A bit too much maybe, with my name meaning "Christmastime" and her brother being Westley. They'd be West and East.
Andromeda (F) —
"She who has bravery in her mind." Awesome. I love the connection to space (The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest spiral galaxy to our galaxy, the Milky Way). But the Andromeda of mythology is one of the original damsels in distress, chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster. Not awesome.
Clark (M) —
Scholar. Rob brought this one up several times. All I could think about was Clark Kent (a fine, upstanding fellow, but not my favorite fictional character), so I vetoed it.
Elswyth (F) —
Elf from the willow trees. I liked that this kind-of-but-not-really matched with Westley's middle name (Oliver, which means "elf army").
Oren (M) —
Pine tree. Such a strong, simple name. I think it works perfectly for a tiny baby, a little boy, or a grown man.
Marina (F) —
A promenade by the sea. A romantic name with ties to the performance art world. It's absolutely musical when you say it out loud.
* * *
Other names I love that didn't make the list: Wren, Zorra, Iola (pronounced EYE-o-la), Griffin, Guthrie, Sonnet.
Westley's suggestions: Rosebud, Honeycomb, Honey Penny, and Charlie.
.....................................
8 comments:
I really like Honey Penny! It's uber-sweet and feminine :)
I've literally been looking forward to this post for weeks! Such beautiful names, I can't wait to hear the winner.
Oh, man. Honey Penny is maybe the cutest thing I've ever heard. If you ever get a dog, name it Honey Penny because that name is too good to pass up.
I had so many awesome hippie names that Wade vetoed right off the bat. The name I really love right now is Lark. I really wanted Willow Lark for Audrey, but Wade thought that sounded like something that people who do lots of drugs would name their kid. Meh.
Love all your names... and I'm name obsessed in general too. We knew we would do Wyatt for a boy long before we had him but we kicked around a million other options just for fun... and we do have a girl name too in case that ever happens, but no boy back-ups.
Can't wait to hear what your final choice is!
I adore the name Orson. I mean c'mon, little bear, is there anything more adorable? I can't wait to hear your final choice!
I love Dex and Iola...can't wait to hear what you actually picked!
I have the next two childrens' names picked out and filed away. Is that crazy? I plead "female with a womb full of baby fever."
I love the name Wren though. I have since I was a kid. I think Westley is on to something with Honey Penny though :).
Gah! I'm so excited for you guys!
Love the Wall-E reference. I wanted Eva because of how he pronounced it :-) Though I like long names and couldn't find one that shortened to Eva that I liked.
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