It’s All In A Name

Naming your children is one of the first really BIG decisions we make as parents. It’s an almost scary decision to make as well. You think that the name you choose will “form” your child’s life! In some ways you believe that whatever you choose is going to “make or break” there life, and popularity! (At least I thought that!) By that I mean, will the child who's name is "James" be or do the same things as a child who's name happends to be "Billy Bob."

When I got pregnant with my daughter, her name was not even a question in my mind. Amazing, you might think, since that's an area that many parents struggle over…however there’s a story there!

When I was 12 my grandfather on my mother’s side passed away. He was a wonderful man, owned his own building business (in fact there are still several of the buildings he built still standing in this area, as well as the house he built that he and my grandma lived in till they both passed away), he was kind and hard all at the same time, a sort of weird mix that everyone loved!

My granddaddy made a huge impression on me, he also had a hand that was "frozen in time" he was unable to use it at all, but still was able to do anything and EVERYTHING he put his mind to, it inspired me, and still does, when my life seems impossible I think of him, visit him and just KNOW that because he did it, I can to!

So anyway, at 12, when he passed away, I knew as sure as I am sitting here writing this, that my first child would be named after him! Luckily, Chris (my x-husband) did not have a problem with this, as he saw my passion for the name, and he actually liked it too!

While I was pregnant though, we struggled with a middle name, since the first name would be a “family” name, we also decided we wanted to have the middle follow that theme!

So, for a boy we decided Aubrey Lee, Aubrey being my granddaddy’s last name, and Lee, being my father’s middle name. Though, we also decided that should we have a girl, that Aubrey could be used for both, so for a girl we decided on Aubrey Lynn. Again, Aubrey being part of my granddaddy, and Lynn being my own middle name!

Happily, we got our Aubrey Lynn! To me it sounds like a country music singer's name. (You never know!)

My next baby was not quite so easy! With all the complications I had with him, and being that his daddy was not in the picture, it was left up to me. However, again there’s a very sentimental reason for the choice I made!

A very dear friend of mine for 14 years, Jasmine, is unable to give birth herself, due to some medical issues. However, she was my rock though out my pregnancy, she went to Lamaze classes with me; she was basically with me at every turn though out my pregnancy!

So, when she asked me if she could name my son, I of course said a resounding yes! (Though as I told her, I had to at least like the name she choose as well!) Jasmine came up with Zachary first.

I asked her, "Why Zachary," and she told me that Zach Wild is her favorite guitarist (she plays too), though basically she just “liked the name.” I then asked about a middle name, and she blurted out “David.” “Where did that come from,” I asked? She said that David was her father’s name (which I knew if I had thought about it). Her father had passed away years back, and it was a “tribute” to him, as well as a name she (or should I say we) liked!

So, Zachary David he turned out to be!

How did you decide what to name your children?

posted at 10:11 PM