Name Game

This morning as I was showering, I was thinking about what we're going to name this baby that will shortly join our family. And as the water was so warm and the water pressure so perfect, I didn't want to get out of the shower. So I started thinking about how we came up with names for our other children. And then I decided it might be something the kids would like to read about one day and I decided to blog about naming children. And here we are.

Some interesting facts:
1. We have never used the same list when trying to choose a name for a baby. None of the "runner up names" for one child have been used for another one. We always started completely over and eventually came up with different possibilities for each kid.

2. Kyla is the only one who was named before she was born. Not intentionally, but that was the name we both liked best and finally we decided to stop trying to add any more names to the list.

3. All of the kids' middle names are family names and we always knew we'd give our girls middle names too.

DAMON
I was induced with Damon 3 weeks early and we had only briefly talked about names to that point. Our short list included Damon, Tanner, Scott and Cameron. I had always loved the name Damon after seeing the movie "Only You," where the Ouija board told Marissa Tomei that her soul mate's name was Damon Bradley. The other names came from books. I wasn't crazy about the name Scott, but I loved the idea of calling him Scottie when he was little. We knew for sure his middle name was going to be Jeffrey, so it had to sound good with that. Damon was always my favorite name (not too trendy and not hard to spell), but I was hesitant to stick it to him until I saw him and tried it out. And once he was born I couldn't commit to any of the other names. And so Damon Jeffrey he became.

Interestingly enough, he gets called Damien a fair amount, especially in Florida. Maybe it's a southern thing? I have met a couple other little boys named Damon, but only a handful, and I have never second guessed giving him the name.



CHANCE
Of course, this tiny love never had a name picked out before we knew that we weren't going to be able to keep him here on earth. After my water broke, it was five days before I delivered him, and during those five days I tried to really get to know him and what kind of little spirit lived inside me. I checked out a name book from the library and started going through it, knowing that we wanted to give him a name that had some meaning. We decided against any middle name, more because we thought no one in the family would be thrilled that we used their name as a middle name for our child we knew wasn't going to survive.

When I read the name Chance in the name book, I knew we had found it. Everything about it just seemed to fit. He had his "chance" on earth, and we will one day have the "chance" to be together again. Jeff agreed and that is what we named him.


ALLIE
My favorite girl name had always been Lydia, but Jeff nixed that right away. He said that we were absolutely NOT going to name our daughter after a fictional character (Lydia McBride from Work and the Glory, and yes, the reason I loved that name so much. That also took away the possibility of Nathan for the same reason). My second choice was Rachel. I loved it and secretly thought of her as baby Rachel for many months. Jeff didn't love it but didn't hate it, so it stayed on the list. The other name we tossed around was Bexley. At the time, we lived just outside Bexley, OH, and I thought it was such a cute name, especially when I could call her Bex.

We knew her middle name was going to be Karen, after my mom (also my middle name). Rachel on Friends is Rachel Karen Green, and that may or may not have been an influencing factor.

Just before she was born, we each made a list of names we liked. Besides Allie (never Allison), we both like Jessica. Some of my other favorites were Sarah and Leah, while Jeff liked Hayley. Apparently, I was on a bit of a bible kick. But Allie was the top of both our lists.

Once she was born (the only time I spontaneously went into labor and the only time I had a natural birth), Jeff told me we could name her Rachel if I wanted. Apparently he felt sympathetic for me. And rightly so. But as I held her, I knew I had to be really sure she was Rachel, because I knew Jeff didn't love it, and it just didn't seem like that was who she was. And so we decided to go with Allie. I liked Alli (like in Karate Kid, "Alli with an I"), but Jeff thought since it wasn't short for anything, it should seem like less of a nickname. He also didn't care for Ally because it could be pronounced another way, as in "the US is an ally to England," which left us with the spelling we chose. And that's how Allie Karen came to be.

I didn't realize Allie was a fairly popular name until we brought her home and I started hearing more and more people tell me they knew an Allie. There are definitely more "Allie's" than "Bexley's," but that's who she is. So she'll have to live with it.



KYLA
We were living in Jacksonville at the time I was pregnant with Kyla, and we had already decided if we had a boy his name would be Jackson. When I found out we were having another girl, somehow the other names I had loved (Rachel, Leah, Sarah and Jessica) never made the list again. I'm not exactly sure why. I still loved the names, but I kind of felt like if a name wasn't right for one child, it wouldn't be right for any of them. Probably a dumb way to look at it, but it's true. (Side note: I'm so glad we didn't have a boy named Jackson. I still love the name, but apparently so does everyone else in Utah.

I used a name book this time, and spent hours going through all the lists of names. The names I loved this time around were Riley, Bailey, Kya, Kylie and Kyla. Jeff really didn't have anything to add, but concluded that Kyla was his favorite. Neither of us knew anyone named Kyla, but it was easy to spell and wasn't too crazy. We decided on it about a week or two before she was born. Unlike the first two, we didn't know what her middle name was going to be. I liked Kyla May, because it sounded southern, and she was born in May after all. But Jeff thought that was dumb.

So, while we were in the hospital (comfortable, with an epidural this time after getting induced), we started talking about middle names. We talked about Jane, which was Jeff's grandma's middle name, and we had decided it sounded good and we liked it. Then Jeff's mom called and offered a suggestion. How about Kyla Collette? (Collette is her middle name) I wasn't opposed to it, but knew that another granddaughter already had that as her middle name and I didn't want to take anything away from her. Nancy (my MIL) assured me it was fine, and we decided we couldn't argue with an outright suggestion from grandma. Kyla Collette it was. I like the fact that both of my girls are named after their grandmas.

After we brought Kyla home, there was an incident in the news about a woman who was kicked off an airplane because she wasn't dressed appropriately. Turns out her name was Kyla. Haha. Luckily, her five minutes of fame were over quickly and no one remembers her name anymore. I have only met a couple of Kyla's since. And every where she goes, people tell her what a pretty name she has.

CARTER

Again, when I found out we were having a boy, I consulted a name book and began making my list. My very favorite name was Jace and that's what I really wanted to name him. I loved the idea of naming him Jace Edward Trapnell (initials JET), the Edward after Jeff's dad, Frederick Edward. But Jeff told me quickly that he did not like Jace at all, and that it sounded too girlie. Boo for me. I couldn't talk him into it. Some of the other names I had on my list were Carter, Camden, and Jaron.

When we lived in Ohio there was a family in our ward who had a little boy named Carter and he was a cute chubba bubba and I first started liking the name then. I loved Camden, too, because I just love the nickname Cam. Jeff wasn't crazy about that either because it reminded him of Cami, but he wasn't completely opposed. I had a dream a couple weeks before Carter was born and in the dream we named him Camden (oh it is also the name of the baseball stadium where the Baltimore Orioles play--Camden Yards--and I told Jeff there would be few people who would associate the two. But in the dream we were at Camden Yards taking a picture because our baby was named Camden), and I was leaning toward that for several days. And then my sister told me she knew a girl named Camden. And I just couldn't do it.

So, in the hospital again (again induced and comfortable with an epidural), we agreed on Carter Edward. I assured Jeff the middle name had nothing to do with Twilight and he bought it. Haha, no, I am not a Twi-hard and would never have suggested Edward if it wasn't such a strong family name. Plus, with the other kids being named after dad and their grandmas, it only made sense to name Carter after his grandpa. And Carter Dale Trapnell wasn't quite right.

This past year, I have heard of several kids named Carter. But nowhere near as many as, say, Mason. I think it's just right.

THIS BABY

Things are a little different this time around, not knowing if it's a boy or girl. We have to come up with TWO lists of names. And I don't have a strong feeling either way, so I haven't grown attached to any names, really. I'm always a little hesitant to put my names out there because, inevitably, someone isn't going to like them. But since I'm not committed to any of them, here is my short list of names:

Boy
Austin

Logan

McKay

Easton

It has also been suggested (not so mildly by my MIL) that if we have a boy, we give him the middle name John, which is Jeff's grandpa's name, and all four of Jeff's brothers have a son with the middle name John. I'm not opposed. But I did tell Jeff that I would spell it Jon, after my brother, Jonathan. Haha. We'll see what, if anything, comes from that.

Girl

McKinley

Morgan

Layton

Avery

I have no idea about middle names for girls. That will be a hospital decision if it's a girl.

Jeff has yet to tell me which, of any, of these names he would actually go along with. That is a conversation we will have in the next few weeks, and probably in the hospital.

Phew, that was probably really boring. But it's good to have documented. And if you've made it this far, here is a little treat for you. Carter's birthday present to himself was deciding he was ready to walk. I LOVE babies who are learning to walk. It is probably my very favorite part of watching a baby grow up. So you can imagine how this warms my heart.