Names

Over at She Likes Purple, Jennie posted about baby names. She had a boy's name and girl's name picked out prior to marriage. Her husband, however, had his own list of baby names (and hated her name choices, Tanner and Caris ... both of which I like). They went with a name that wasn't on either of their lists.

The story reminded me of Blake, the name I had picked out prior to meeting Husband. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to name any potential son Blake. It was classic, but fresh. Not popular, but far from bizarre. It's a soft, but the one-syllable makes it masculine.

Two boys later, though, and I don't have a Blake. I love my boys' names, and I wouldn't change them to Blake ... but I still really like the name.

My husband says, "It sounds like someone trying to be cool." I don't know what that means, but one of my friends agreed. "Yeah, I get that," she said. What does that even mean?

Bean was named after my great grandfather's middle name. I remember thinking it was sort of a funny name. Cooper? Who ever heard of a Cooper? Anyway, it was actually his mother's (my great-great grandmother's) maiden name. So, despite the alleged trendiness of Cooper, Cooper is very much a family name for us. My aunt and uncle were thinking about Dylan Cooper if their 5.0 (yes, 5.0) was a boy. She was a girl, though, and born about 6 months before our Cooper. My husband chose Joseph in honor of his father. We were settled on Cooper's name before we even found out he was a boy. About two weeks before I had him, I tried to talk my husband into Ian Cooper ... but he wouldn't budge. If he was a girl, he might have been Cailin Frances (I say might, because we hadn't settled on a final girl's name). We thought Cailin was cool (umm, I don't think so anymore - I've never really seen a common spelling for it, and I have a thing about spelling) and Frances was my grandma's middle name.

Moose (officially, Camden Jack)
Husband and I tossed around quite a few names throughout the pregnancy. Sawyer was a serious contender for a while. Eli/Elijah was also considered ... as well as Maxwell, Lucas, and Charlie. Naming my dear Moose was an exhausting process. I remember seeing Camden on several lists - when I would search "C" names, when I searched surnames in the book The Baby Naming Wizard, when I scoured the Social Security website for current boy names and popularity. I never suggested it, though, or said it aloud. I don't know why. I just skimmed over it. About two weeks before I had Moose, I told my husband, "We need a name. I am picking the first name, you pick the middle name. Deal." This worked with Cooper, so we agreed. A Toyota Camry commercial came on and I shouted, "Camden!" "Camden?" Husband said, "I like it." That was that. I was reading a baby naming website and someone had recently named their son Callum Jack. I just loved how spunky it sounded (umm, and I love Jack Johnson and Jack from Lost and Mark from Blink 182 has a son named Jack and who can forget Captain Jack Sparrow). My husband stepped aside on the middle name and agreed on Camden Jack. Bean also loved the name, because it sounds like a pirate. If he had been a girl, he would have been Cara Frances. Cara is close to my mom's name.

If I had a son tomorrow and didn't have to consultant my husband on names, I think it would be Reeve Patrick. Reeve, like Christopher Reeve and Patrick in honor of an uncle (it also lends itself to my husband's middle name). If I had a daughter tomorrow ... that would be harder. I love Sonnet, but I don't know anyone else who does. It's sort of harsh, and I get that. Summer is nice, but has some rhyming issues that make me uncomfortable. Cara is still nice, but I fear overdoing the "C" thing. I've always liked Lillian (a family name), but Lily/Lilly seems so common nowadays. I also LOVE Winnie, another family name, but I don't think I could get Husband on board with that. Whatever I would name her, I think I'll call her Winnie anyways. Lena, a family name, and Leah are also nice.

I could talk about baby names forever. Really. I wrote an outline for a baby naming book, but that's as far as it got.