What's in a name...

There's been a lot of discussion at our house about names. Boy names, Girl names, First names, Middle names, meanings of names, nicknames, and the list goes on.

It got me thinking. How many people use their given birth name on a daily basis. I know for me it's not super often that I hear my name. At work if someone needs something from me they walk into my office and ask.. they don't begin the question with my name. At home if I'm needed I'm refered to at mama or mom, or go ask mommy. And many places I'm simply referred to as "Lily's mom" or "hey." Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind that people don't mention my name every time they talk to me. In fact I could imagine that would be quite annoying.

With almost any name someone is given, down the road somewhere, somebody will come up with a nickname for them. Take Lily for example. I know personally I hardly ever call her Lily. It's usually Lil, Lou, Hunny Bunny, Snuggle Bug... and the list goes on.

So I figure when we pick a name, we should keep it short and simple. I was reminded of this when Lil was writing out her Valentines for school last week. Parents, let's face it.. if you name your kid a name that consists of more than 6 or 7 letters, a 6 year old kindergartner will not be able to fit your child's first name on a single line on a 2 inch valentine. It just won't happen. (And yes you welcome classmates of Lily who only had to write 4 letters.)

Now I'm not trying to bash anyone who has a child with a long name. I know names are chosen for many different reasons.. named after a relative, tradition, heritage, or just because you like the way it sounds. And thats ok! In fact there are some longer names that I adore! But personally I like to keep it simple. I like to pick something that will be easy for the child to learn to spell and write. I think about the child as a youngster, a teenager, college student, adult, and senior adult. I imagine a name that will last through time as the child grows. I mean.. it's okay for me to call our baby "Peanut" right now, but when he/she is 14 they won't appreciate that much!

So for those of you who've made it through my rambling this far, I'm sure you're wondering. Have we picked our names? The answer is yes. I'm pretty sure we're set on a boys name and a girls name. (We have to have one of each since we're not finding out the sex of the baby) And no, we're not sharing those names with anyone.

Karl had said when we were pregnant with Lil "it's only right for the baby to know it's name first." So no one knew what Lil's name was until after Lily was told.. (well not counting the anesthesiologist who I told when Lil was born but hey, I was drugged up at the time). When this kiddo is born, we'll tell the baby the name and then Lil, then we can announce it to everyone else.