What's in a Name

One of the most stressful aspects for me of bringing a child into the world is choosing a name. On the list of stressful aspects of pregnancy, I doubt name choosing is at the top of most people's lists, but it is for me. It's something EVERYONE has an opinion about. When I was pregnant with Reagan, Brian finally got to the point where he forbid me to discuss names with anyone because every time we'd come close to being settled, I'd talk to someone who would dissuade me and we'd be back to square one.

Not that my dear husband is much help in this department, mind you. The following is a conversation we had last evening. I was perusing a baby name book and throwing random thoughts out there, attempting to get at least some options on the table:

Me: Jackson
Brian: No, don't like Jack.
Me: Ashton
Brian: Kutcher. No.
Me: Cameron
Brian. Huh... I kind of like that. Wait, no, Duke plays at Cameron. I don't like Duke and therefore we cannot use the name Cameron.

Um, really?
Turns out Cameron means "crooked nose" anyway. Guess we'll scratch that off the list. I prefer straight noses. Not that I'd love my child any less if it's nose was crooked, but lets not try to get it there on purpose. Which brings me to name meanings. How important are they? Some people pay them no heed and others choose solely based on meanings. In the Bible, name meanings were important. God even changed people's names when they went through life-altering circumstances. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. I don't choose names based solely on meaning, but I attempt to stay away from names like Tristan, even though I like it. Starting a life that means "dark and full of sorrows" is just a bit depressing. Both of my kids' ended up with cool meanings. Reagan Lee = Little King, Loving. Anna Grace = Grace, Grace (grace upon grace).

And then there are the social factors to consider. We chose the name Reagan simply because we liked it. That's all. It went well with "Lee" which we wanted to use because it's Brian's middle name. Everyone and their mother asked us if we named him after the president. Some of our relatives went so far as to get us a Ronald Reagan calendar every year for the first 3 years of his life. No joke. While I think Reagan was a great president, no, we did not name our son in his honor. I've also liked the name Carter, but am pretty sure people will think we're going for a presidential theme. Not to mention, he was a democrat...so...yeah.

And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, there's the last name to consider. With Miller, I'm a little concerned about the potential of sounding too Amishy. Anna had that potential, but I liked her name enough to look past it. (Not to mention it'll change someday when she gets married). I know of 3 recently born Samuel's, but they are all paired with super-cool and very non-Lancaster county last names. Samuel Miller. Um, no. The child would be destined to have a dutchy accent. It's just not an option.

Alas, there are too many factors. Perhaps I should go the route of Ruth, Boaz and Naomi and allow the neighborhood women to choose a name for me. It would definitely take the pressure off of things.

And with that, I shall leave you with the following list of names that are true and actual names of real living people. I am not lying.These names are the source of my stress, lest I accidentally do something similar without realizing it and therefore doom my child to a life of miserable teasing and behind the back snickering.

Harry Pitts
Justin Case
Candy Kahne
Brock Lee
Cole Deggs
Chris P. Bacon
Dusty Rhodes
Anne Greeman
Anita Little
Cam Payne
Crystal Ball
Gene Poole
Warren Peace