Whats in a name?

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

--William Shakespeare

The famous writer of sonnets had it right when he penned those words. After all, what is in a name? Wouldn't the rose smell the same no matter what we called it? Wouldn't a rose, if we called it skunk weed still smell just as beautiful? Maybe, maybe not. As a parent to be I am beginning to ask these questions as I consider the name of my child to be.

Yesterday we learned that the child within Amy is a girl. Of course, if you know us you can imagine that this was quite a shock. We had been nearly certain that the baby would be a boy. We had a name. We knew what colors we wanted. Amy even had a pattern (tractors and cows) picked out for the crib fabrics. Then, the bomb was dropped. Its a girl, or at least that is what the doctor thinks (and he has a good record behind him on this).

Now we are left in the wake of this explosion in our lives. We are planners, but we are now without a plan. We are dreamers, but now our dreams have to be reworked. Before I go too much farther I should note that we are by no means disappointed. We are excited that we have a healthy baby on the way. We just simply didn't expect it to be a girl. Now, the difficult task of choosing a name lays before us. The names nearest the top of the list are: Lydia Jean, Amarah Jean, and Sadie Lynne (all names are in some form borrowed from current or former family members). You might be interested in how we came to these. Here is our logic:

1) We want a family name: I guess we're pretty traditional in this regard. We would really prefer to adopt a family name for our child. This, for the child, we feel gives them a stronger sense of who they are and where they come from. These are things we are proud of.

2) A Biblical name is great: This further adds to the identity issue. We want our child to be reminded the rest of his or her life (whether he or she likes it or not) that we are Christians, called by the name of Jesus Christ. A biblical name underscores this fact.

3) We have to really like the namesake: The namesake has to have one or several outstanding personality characteristics that we would admire. I wont say too much more about this since I know some namesakes will be reading (we don't want them to get a big head, do we?)

4) We want something normal: We don't want a name that sounds like it could be a Crayola crayon color. We also don't want a name that is too reminiscent of a piece of fruit or other inanimate object (such as Apple or Chair). We would also prefer to steer clear of very infrequently used names.

5) We don't want something too normal: We don't want a name that three or four other kids in the class will have. Again, if you know us, you know that we're none too interested in being trendy. We also don't want to be too boring with a name.


So, here is our criteria for selecting a name. Different people use different methods, but this is ours. Can you think of any other names using our formula?

It was easier for Mary. After all, she had an angel tell her what to do.