Baby Names: How we chose our little ones’ names

I love hearing about how parents chose their child’s name. Picking a baby name and the process is always a fun topic. Especially since there’s definitely not one way to pick or name a baby. For instance, my mom loved the name Ebony and for 9 months she was sure that would be my sister’s name. But, when she held my sister for the first time she said she wasn’t Ebony at all. In case you are wondering, my sister’s name is Melinda. My name on the other hand is more traditional. I was named after my dad’s grandma and my mom’s mom. So although, Catherine Ann seems very simple and common I always felt honored to be named after two powerhouses.

Our Naming Process

For me choosing a baby’s name always felt like a big responsibility. It meant that another human would live the rest of their lives with my decision. That’s a really long time to live with someone else’s decision. But it has a to be done and nothing shines a brighter light on the issues you have with people in your life than the naming process. Often times people suggested a baby name and it triggered a negative memory I buried deep in the back of my mind. I never realized that Louisa stealing my colored pens in elementary scarred me so deep that I wouldn’t even consider it for my baby’s name, lol. Aside from the unknown issues with people sharing the name there’s traditional vs. unique and the nick name test.

Traditional vs. Unique

There are several options when naming a baby. The first is whether or not you want the baby’s name to be traditional or unique. The next is how you would like to spell your baby’s name. You can get very creative with this path even with traditional names like Catherine, Catheryn, Catharine, or Cathrynn. There is also the option to spell it with a K. As you can see there are so many variations.

Growing up with my sister, I watched her spend most her childhood correcting mispronunciations and spellings of her name. For that reason, I stayed clear of overly unique names. I didn’t want my children to spend their lives correcting mispronunciations and spellings of their name. The name Melinda always morphed into Melissa or Belinda. Eventually she changed her name (not legally).

Nick Name Test

Me and my husband always passed the names we were considering through the nick name test. For instance, Richard becomes Dick. The name Richard was like opening the door for disgruntled coworkers/peers to make snide remarks and we weren’t opening any doors for that. No one wants to be call [a] Dick. No one!

The Names We Chose

Olivia

A name that I had very little to do with. When we found out that we were having a girl, my husband excitedly told me he already had a name picked out and blurted out Olivia. I loved his excitement and accepted the name on the one condition that I could choose her middle name since 2 of her names are from him. Olivia means Peace and when I first held her that is exactly what I felt. When my mom held her she said she looked like an Olivia. 

Grayson

This wasn’t our first choice. Our first choice was Micah but one day we were asked by a family extended family member what we would name a son if we were pregnant and expecting a boy. Not aware that they were actually asking because they were expecting we gave them the name of our future son. When we got the news that they named their son Micah we were less than flattered but it’s all water under the bridge now. 

As you can imagine Micah just didn’t feel right anymore and we were in a name rut for quite some time. At the same time we were addicted to a show based around a wealthy family with the last name Grayson. We were hearing it a lot throughout the show when we decided Grayson would make a cool first name. 

Teigan

After what happened with the name Micah we decided not to tell anyone our baby’s name. Teigan was actually picked by Olivia. One day as we were all going through names and taking turns saying variations of no, Olivia mentioned the name Teigan. We all went quiet for a moment and it was unamimous – we all loved the name. I kept it a secret till after I put it on her birth certificate. My mom called and asked what we decided (she was on speaker) and when I told her Teigan Antoinette she responded in such distaste to the middle name, just as the records lady was coming back with the documents. That poor lady looked like a deer in headlights wondering what I was going to do. I assured her it was fine. My mom later came to think Teigan Antoinnette was a perfect name. 

How About You Mama

How did you come up with your little one(s) name…Feel free to share in the comments or email me.