What’s In a Name?

There are so many names out there today. There are last names that are popular for first names, first names that are short for traditional names, and names that really aren’t names at all but have been made to be! So, how important is a name? In my opinion and I would guess many others as well, what you name your baby is the single most important decision you will make for them as a parent. 

I am currently 30 weeks pregnant with my third baby – even more, my third baby GIRL!  Each time my husband and I have fought discussed what to name the baby at length. When Rachel, my first born, was tucked snuggly away in my womb, I wanted to start talking about baby names as soon as I found out I was pregnant and then even more when I found out she was a girl.  My husband…he wanted to wait. It frustrated me to no end that he would not even talk about baby names until I was at least seven months pregnant! I looked at websites and baby books and took Myspace polls (Facebook wasn’t around yet) regarding what I should name my baby. The end result is that we had two names picked out when she was born and we named her when we saw her – Rachel Mackenzie. The other name we had chosen was Lauren Elizabeth.

When my second child was “to be” I was a little more laid back about the idea of waiting to name her. I got used to my husband’s insanity way of thinking and just sucked it up! We again, waited for a good length of time and picked two names and named her when she was born. That nearly ten pound bundle of joy was the Lauren Elizabeth that we had chosen the first time around. Our alternate was Anna Grace.

This time around I have been not so cooperative!  I have wanted this baby to have a name since the day I found out I was pregnant!! I have been less than patient to say the least. I just KNEW it was a boy and I had a boy name picked out – Wyatt Samuel, but after three sonograms I am now convinced that she really is a girl! The girl that makes my children’s custom monogram clothes makes the cutest gowns with names on them and I wanted some for our baby girl. Problem is, you can’t monogram something without a name! I wanted one of the gowns to be the “coming home” outfit for this baby but my husband was ADAMANT about not naming her yet. After weeks and months of deliberation we have now come up with two names to choose from at birth but he is not budging on choosing one of them yet…believe me, I have tried! Our two names for this little one are Hannah Grace and Lydia Kathryn. 

In my frustration a couple of months ago, I asked my husband why it is so important to him to wait to name the baby. His response was: “A name is something that lasts forever. It is what defines you as a person and it is the first thing that you receive as a person. A name is one of the most important things about you and I believe that we as parents have the responsibility of giving the perfect name to our children. The perfect name does not come easy or quick. We should take the most amount of time possible to determine that little one’s name. The most time possible is over once they are here.” My husband is the smartest and, I believe, the wisest person I know. Although I am not thrilled with waiting to give our kiddos names I can appreciate the thinking behind his reason.

 I guess I will wait.

Rikki Hester is a social worker at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital and Mom of two (soon to be three!) girls.