Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Way I see it...

The Name Game
You know what part of having a child (or I guess in this case children) is? Naming them! At least at our house, we struggle with it and we’re getting to that point in the game where we really need to get serious about picking out names.
What I learned very quickly is that you should never marry a teacher because they make it one hundred times harder when it comes to the name game. Haha! I’m only kidding, but my husband being a teacher does put a kink into things. It’s like every name I suggest he associates with one of his students and he just doesn’t want our kids to be named after one of his students, he wants something unique I guess.

One thing we have going for us is that we find it harder to name girls than boys, so with two boys on the way you would think that might work to our advantage. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they find girls easier to name, but that’s just not the case with us. In fact, my husband ended up picking out the name “Jenna” because I just couldn’t come up with anything. To be honest, I was convinced I was having a boy and therefore didn’t need a girls name, just in case. That didn’t work out so well!

Anyway, so with this whole twin thing it feels like there’s more to think about. Do we want names that start with the same letter or not? Is that cute or too much? Maybe it’s cute, but kind of a mouthful to say? I know it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but there are definitely decisions to be made.

And, with any child that you name, it needs to be a good kid name, but also a good adult name. You know what I mean? They can’t sound like they are 40 years old when they’re two and vice versa. I know a lot of people like trendy names, but Aaron and I tend to not go that way. Some people like that, but to each their own and it’s just not our thing. If there’s one other child in the class with the same name that’s okay, but I don’t want my kid to be one of four with the same name.

Something else we have to contend with this time around is an almost 5-year old who thinks her opinion should be heard. Jenna doesn’t understand that it’s not just her decision what the babies will be named.

For the time being, we can agree on one name. The other name, not so much. My husband and I were throwing out names the other night and I absolutely 100% did not like a name he suggested. Apparently he took offense to that and then said he didn’t like one of the names I suggested. Secretly, I think he just said that because he was upset I didn’t like his name. The drama continues...

I do have good news on the subject of names! We have middle names picked out for both the boys. There’s no going back on these, we are both in complete agreement. The thing with middle names is both my husband and I agreed early on that we wanted to name our kids after somebody in the family, so that’s what we do.

In the meantime, the debate will continue on the first names. We have to make a decision eventually, which is a good thing, but that’s just the way I see it.

3 comments:

Brooke Stevens said...

When we picked out names for the kids we had numerous names we couldn't use because Brad had dealt with them at work.

BTW--You look great in your prego picture! :)

Anonymous said...

Please don't call them Mike and Ike.
Thrilled to be Grandpa again.

Anonymous said...

Jamie-
This comment may be long because you blogged about my favorite subject. Baby names. I would have more children if only to name them.
My advice is: www.ssa.gov.
Click on research popular baby names. Enter the name you like (with no spaces after the last letter) and it will tell you where the name is ranked in the top 1000 baby names list. Or, you can find the most popular names in your state and compare to other states.

When we named Arabella (we heard the name in a rerun of "Three's Company") in 2004, the name wasn't in the top 1000. Five years later (2009), Arabella is now 447. I've read this may be attributed to parents wanting a version of the name Isabella (a very popular name) to still use the Bella nickname.

Years prior to having our 1st daughter, I loved the name Ava. I remember shopping at Mervins one day in 2001 and hearing a mom call her daughter, Ava. I was so sad, mourned the name for a short period of time, and then was on the quest for another name for my future daughter. It may not surprise you to hear I, in 2011, know MANY little girls named Ava. :) It's a beautiful name, but too popular for my naming preferences.

Although your boys will be born before Mother's Day 2011, the top 1000 list for 2010 will be released that weekend.

I LOVE the idea of using family names for middle names- Matt and I are believers of that rule, too. I cannot wait to hear what you and Aaron name your boys. You WILL find the perfect names for your two sweet babies. You and Aaron did a great job with Jenna and Brody. Have fun.
~Shanda
PS- Charlie (or Charles) is a nickname for the girl name Charlotte June. :)