Names III

(As usual, I will share the first names that have been ruled out. I will also share potential middle names since we have opted to use family names for middle names. This puts our families on even ground so that one side isn’t left in the dark, while the other side has the inside track by being related.)

In typical NM and AB fashion, we are 10 weeks from the due date of our new baby and no name has been chosen. We bring this partly on ourselves out of the simple fact that we opted not to find out the gender. So instead of having to settle on one name, we have to settle on two names. Or at least have it narrowed down substantially to about two options so we can choose what fits when we see our baby.

As I mentioned previously, we have different issues with each gender. Girls we like and agree upon most every name out there and so have subsequently agreed that we cannot “look” for anymore girl’s names because it only complicates our decision. With boys we have the opposite problem. We can’t agree on many and dislike even more. So we are constantly looking for new boy’s names.

Last night at dinner we started talking names again. I am feeling particularly rushed right now, we need to get things done and names decided. (Nesting?) I threw out our three girl’s names and once again asked AB to rank them. Much to my surprise his favorite has changed. In fact, the name he pushed and pushed for if Leif was a girl had fallen to #3. It is my #3 as well. Number three in our book isn’t bad for girls. It means we really, really like it. Given this number three position though, AB states that it sounds as though we have just narrowed it down to two names. I agreed.

Then a little voice pipes up. Leif says the name, and again. And darn it if hearing him say the name wasn’t just the cutest thing in the whole world. He said it perfectly, repeatedly. AB looks at me and says, “my number one is back”. And no way I could argue with him. We may have our girl’s name. Hearing it come out of Leif’s lips makes me think I can live with it not passing the Supreme Court test.

Oh and I now understand how my SIL gave in on her son’s name (that she didn’t like) but was lobbied long and hard by her husband and two daughters. Hearing your other little darlings utter the name of their sibling in utero is just too much to counter.

Then there are the boy’s names. AB says we have a list, but I ask him to name the list and it changes each time. One of the names I previously listed as being knocked off my list, was back and on his list of top 3. The second, Liam, was a newcomer to the list, one we had talked about previously but I had ruled out for a number of reasons (too popular, we know too many boys named this). I ruled it out again. (Which is why I get to share it with you.) The third is the only name that both of us have, over time, agreed upon and continue to like. But everytime I dare note this and suggest we have found our boy’s name, AB backpedals. He isn’t sure he likes it *that* much.

The biggest step forward, in my mind, from last night was in boy’s middle names. By our naming method, this name should come from my family. But like I mentioned previously, I just have very little to offer. Since my last post where I had one option, Albert after my great grandfather and great great uncle, I added one more name to the list courtesy of my dad. That would be Hunter, his grandmother’s maiden name. I liked them both, but was still not sold on either. I talked with my mom about boy’s middle names and like me, she drew a complete blank. She suggested Michael after her brother. Michael is out as it is AB’s middle name as well and he doesn’t want to use that. David is one of her other brothers and would be acceptable, but it is also my FIL’s middle name. That doesn’t rule it out, it just means that my FIL’s entire name will have been used in naming our two children. We love him, but… Oh and we didn’t even broach the subject regarding her youngest brother.

She agreed with me that the best boy’s middle name would be my grandfather’s middle name, Lemuel. I love that name. But if you recall, AB previously nearly gagged at the mere mention. Still I was always so close with my grandpa, I thought it maybe worth mentioning again. Jackpot. If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. AB thought a little and then said, “I like that”. I didn’t mention anything about what he had said about it previously. I just left it at that. I think we have a boy’s middle name.