Thursday, April 1, 2010

What's in a Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

I told myself this was NOT a blogworthy topic, but as some of you have inquired, and it's at the forefront of my brain these days, it made its way to a post... What will Baby G be named?
Unfortunately, she still doesn't have one - not even close - and I'm starting to panic!
At this point in the Waiting Game with Avery, we had three names picked out, but wanted to see her before we decided which one fit her best. I feel the same way with this baby in that I wouldn't be able to settle on a name for sure without first meeting her, but the ugly truth is that Ben and I can't agree on a name! I have a favorite he doesn't like, he wants to use the name we've been pressured suggested by family to use, so we've pointedly avoided the subject.
In desperation, I've hit up the baby name books, only to be inundated with overly trendy suggestions. I don't want our children to have the same name as two or three other classmates, and I was dismayed to see Avery had moved up the popularity chart of names since we selected it {sigh}. I know, it may be silly, it's just one of my things...
Although I'm not a fan of "leaking" name considerations, I'm opening the proverbial can of worms. These are a handful of names I would at least consider naming this baby girl (and a couple I wouldn't, to keep it fun!)
I don't necessarily need opinions on the names per se, but I would love to hear how you, or a family you know, came to agree upon a baby name. Also, if you have one more sec, please take this poll:


16 comments:

Unknown said...

i love the name isla ("eye-la") and emery too! i can't wait to see what you choose :)

Jess said...

Oh my-- can I just tell you we are in the same exact position with names! 11 weeks to go and we still haven't nailed down our "3" to take to the hospital. We are also considering Isla, and at one point had all but settled on it, except we would spell it Eila after a relative in our family tree. Unfortunately, we have the same fears about pronunciation. I want it to sound like "Eye-lah" and instead I'm afraid it will come out "EE-lah" and if we spell it "Isla" which is also a beautiful spelling, they'd call her "IS-lah" .... so frustrating. Please let me know what you get on the results of your poll. I am wondering if the popularity of actress Isla fischer will help matters. Our other choices at this moment are "Juliette" and "Aubrey" and we still don't love any of those. *sorry for the long post!!*

Laurie from Laurie Jones Home said...

I agree about waiting to see the baby before deciding on a name, when I had my daughter it was either going to be Reagan or Sloan, once we saw her it was obvious...she was totally a Sloan! (: Good luck with coming up with a name, I'm sure it will be great, your first daughter's name is beautiful!

Blondie's Journal said...

With both of my girls, we had an alphabetical list a mile long which we brought to the hospital with us. For the sake of not arguing while I was in labor, we made up our minds quick...Emily and Abigail. Didn't make it far down the list!!

Good luck. By the way...I LOVE Isla!

xoxo
Jane

Kathysue said...

I know when you see her little face her name will come to you like it was there all the time.It looks as if you have some lovely names on hand. I am partial to Kendall and Laurel.Not that it matters, just had to share in the fun, Have a great day,Kathysue

Tricia said...

Ooh that's a toughie...we were also pressured by family and traditions (hubby being Indian= LOADS of traditions surrounding this). I too wanted something different and tend to like more gender neutral names for girls (Peyton, Taylor). On a walk one evening my hubby came up with Naya, and I liked it right away. I was leaning towards Olivia, but we compromised and named her Naya Olivia. She gets called Maya a lot, but she's quick to correct people! :)
Good luck with this...hopefully something will just come to you and you'll both love it.

Averill said...

Dave and I definitely don't see eye to eye on names! In fact, I ended up naming my dog Olivia because, while I ADORE the name, Dave hates it! So he consented to letting his dog (but never a future daughter) have the moniker.

Names are tough. You want something unique without being weird. Something that most folks won't mispronounce her whole life. I'd say 80% of the time folks initially mispronounce my name is "Avril" instead of "Averill" (Avery is actually a derivative of it!) and while I'm used to it, I still hate it. Since "Averill" is also gender neutral, I often get the "oh I thought you'd be a guy!" when I answer the phone, etc. Also annoying. But ultimately, I love my name and that it's unusual -- and that it's a family name.

Bailey@ peppermintbliss said...

I LOVE the name isla (eye-la to me) and it is a big fam name for us. I have no idea how Pete and I will choose baby names when (god willing) that time comes. We have already had SERIOUS fights about it! Names are so tricky...I really have been pressuring him into Daniel (it's my last name and I am the final Daniel as I dont have any cousins on that side) and he can't handle the name, has bad associations, whatevs. I hope you get some good advice as I clearly am rambling and have none for you. Sorry!

hush said...

Check out "The Baby Name Wizard" by Laura Wattenberg, or visit her Baby Name Wizard blog and search for the names you're considering.

My DD has a rather unique name that people constantly mispronounce, misspell, and mistake for another similar girls name that is far more common. It is annoying, but we are still glad we went with the name we did.

The perfect name will come to you!

JMW said...

We knew we wanted traditional names and incorporate a family name as well. For a while, we struggled to get pregnant. Leading up to that certain times, I would hear the Bible story of Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother, and it just spoke to me. Then, miraculously, we got pregnant. So, Elizabeth Louise (my grandmother) it was. Then, my son was named after my hubby's grandfather, William Hartford, and he goes by "Liam." Love the names you are considering. Arden is very pretty.

Carolyn said...

I'm surprised that many people think it's ees-la. I guess it can be what you want, but I'm loving Eye-la. (That's what it really is anyways! :) )

MFAMB said...

i think of isla fisher that little red headed tramp married to bruno. just sayin.
fiona's name means "fair skin" in celtic.
my name jennifer, means "fair skin" in welsh.
but i FOUND the name after watching the secret of roan inish- a john sayles movie. there is a little blond girl in it named fiona. the fact that our names mean the same was just sort of a coincidence but kinda sealed the deal for me, it was a sign.

Razmataz said...

I named my daughter Mikyla. I wanted a more feminine loking written version of Michaela, and a pronounciation as Mik-eye-la not Mik-kay-la. My son had a speech ipedimant and couldn't say a K in the middle of a word. He called her Ky (k-eye). Since day 2, she has been Ky. If I buy her something with her itial it is a K not M. I don't think of her as Mikyla.

lemondropdreams said...

I figured since I had to go through pregnancy, then labor and delivery I got to choose the name. We have four kids and I've chosen them all. My daughter is Grace, which unfortunately is very popular now, but I love traditional names that seem fitting for a baby to an old woman/man. Good Luck!

Lindsay Fletcher said...

I love the name Isla as well with Bevin coming in a close second and Mercer third. I was so surprised to see Bevin on your list. That is my dog's name, which i picked out of a list of Irish names online. Let me tell you it gets a lot of attention at the dog park. The only downside is, everyone thinks she's a boy, so keep that in mind. Good luck with your choice and best wishes.

Stephanie Sabbe said...

My brother's name was Brennan:)