What's in a name?

What's in a name?  An awful lot, actually.  Our name is one of the things that people use to identify us.  It is something that we are given at birth and carry with us when we die.  That's pretty heavy for two, three or four little words.

So, it is an awesome responsibility for parents to give their newborn just the right name.  And coming up with that name is not as simple as the biblical verse when Zacharias proclaimed, "His name is John."  (Luke 1:63)  No argument there!  When you start talking about names with your husband, you learn things you never learned before (and vise versa).  You can't name the baby after a former ex-girlfriend/boyfriend.  You can't name him or her the same name as your arch nemesis in elementary school.  Certain names remind you of someone mean or rude or not-very-bright.  Your movie crush is off limits.

Then there's the practical considerations.  Do you want a gender neutral name or one that is definitely male or female?  What about names that rhyme?  What about initials?  If you name a daughter, Faith Ann Taylor, it won't take long for kids to realize that her initials spell out F.A.T.  Not good!  How does the given name sound with the last name?  Oh, and do you want to name a son after his father?  Are you ok with people confusing your husband's name and your son's name?  It happens...I know, we did that.  :)

What if your husband has always wanted to name a child a certain name?  That was the case with our first son.  When my husband was a child, he always wanted a brother so all his stuffed animals and pets were named David.  It wasn't hard to decide on that baby's name.  :)  It would have been harder if I associated the name David with someone unpleasant but that wasn't the case...luckily!

When naming your baby, think ahead to the future.  Think about your little boy or girl in school and the teacher calling his/her name.  Is it a name to be proud of?  Are her friends going to make fun of her name?  Is he going to be embarrassed when someone thinks he's a girl based on his name?  Think further in the future.  He's applying for a job.  How will his name represent him?

There are numberless combinations of names available for your baby.  Even eliminating certain emotionally charged names leaves more than enough to choose just the right name for your little one.  That is unless you have the same experience we had when our fifth baby was born.  We had the perfect name for him but when we actually got to see him and hold him, we looked at each other and both said, "He's not a ......"  The name we chose did not fit the little guy.  It took us an additional week before we came up with a name that fit him.  And it was a good name.