When I announced we were pregnant, one of the first pieces of advice we received was "Don't tell anyone your baby names."
Naming your child is a personal decision and one that it seems people are more likely to criticize before the child is born, at least to your face. When receiving the birth announcement in the mail, I think people still criticize your name selection, they just do it behind your back.
But Benny and I are an open book about this whole process so we decided early on to not keep our baby name choices a secret. Sure, we didn't shout them from the rooftops. But if someone asked, we would tell them.
Our finalists haven't changed in the last eight months. We also haven't narrowed it down completely to two names, one for each gender as I thought we would have by this point. Or maybe it is just me who can't make a decision.
Our No. 1 choices are Olivia Lydia for a girl and Jack Benny for a boy. Yes, I am aware that Jack Benny already lived and died a famous life in the United States. I don't care and Grandma Lydia said if the baby comes out telling jokes, this would be the perfect. Plus this "famous name" matches Baby Volkmann's 4-year-old cousin Grace Kelly.
I love the name Jack and since Benny's first name is Benny (not Benjamin or Ben), Jack was one of the few names that I liked Jack paired with it. And Olivia has been a name that I've loved since I was child. And yes, I know there is a children's book with Olivia, who is a pig. Since it is one of my favorites, again it is a perfect fit for us.
So you may be asking yourself, it seems like the V-Team is done. They got their two names so they are good to go. Then I looked at the Top 100 Baby Names of 2008 and found both Jack and Olivia in the top 5.
Even though I don't want our child to have an unusual name that is hard for people to pronounce or spell, I don't want our Jack or Olivia to be surrounded by 5 Olivias or 6 Jacks in their kindergarten class. (Benny, among many others, says this isn't a big deal, but then again Benny has never found himself in a room with another Benny.)
Armed with the Top 100 Baby Names list, I went back to the drawing board to reevaluate our options. I looked online at the entire name list. I researched traditional German names, which are pretty popular in the United States. This is how Hannah (Another top girl's name) moved up on our list of finalists. But names like Olga sounded a bit too East German during the Cold War for my liking.
I took an online quiz to determine my "Baby Naming Personality." In this 10-part quiz you answer questions about your dream vacation, your dream car, what type of movies you watch and what you liked to eat, etc. The verdict? My baby naming personality is Retro: Reviving forgotten charm in names that are unique and classy.
Suggested girl names for the Retro mother: Alice, Gertrude (a popular German name), Mabel, Rose and Ruth
Suggested boy names: Ernest, Oliver, Theodore, Wallace and Walter.
This helped me find two more names I like: Oliver and Ernestine. Benny's mom's name is Marie Ernestine, so one option is to name a daughter Ernestine Marie and call her Ernie. That is sure to be unique, right?
Finally I turned to a Web site called "Baby Name Genie," where you type in your last name and it suggests first and middle names that compliment your last name.
The first option the genie suggested was Tamara Donna Volkmann. Strange, since Donna is my mom's name.
Second option: Nehemiah Walter Volkmann for a boy
Third option: Alexis Julie Volkmann, again a girl's name
Hmmm. We aren't getting any closer to finding new suggestions that I like for our baby. So I turned to Benny to make the final decision. You choose, I said. His response?
"I don't think about names the same way you do. If I really didn't like a name you suggested, I would tell you, but I like all these names you talk about."
"And besides," Benny added. "I can't even order off a menu, how can I name our child. It's all up to you, babe."
Our decision right now is to wait until we see the little one. Maybe he/she will tell use what his/her name should be.
5 comments:
Humm, interesting. I think that happens in many cultures, parents wait until the child is born to name them. I hope something wonderful pops into your head.
Hannah is beautiful. It seems very timeless to me. Also the name of someone with pretty hair.
You got some interesting names here....Ernie would be cute, but would kids compare her to "Ernie" from Seasame Street? Something to consider. I'm a big fan of neutral sex names like Ernie, Joey, Ryan (Rian), but Justin says no way jose! You'll know in your gut what to call them when they arrive. We picked from Austin and Tyler when hew as born, but loved Tyler more. Now I can't imagine him as anyone else. And besides, you'll have more kids = more names. You can use them all! :)
You could always look up your family names. We have some doozies in the Crawford line: Roy Paxton (my dad), George Earl (my grandfather), James Fidella (my great-grandfather), Theopolus (a great cousin), and Greenbury (a great uncle) just to name a few. Don't think I'll use any of those. Can you imagine the jokes?
Hey! So after reading this I was playing on the internet and found this site... http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/
Not sure if you've seen it...but I thought it was kind of fun to play around on! LOL it looks like my name has never been cool...this dates back to 1879!!
I've been behind Tamara from the get-go. The baby name genie is wise, Michelle. Listen to him.
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