The Great Baby Name Debate: My 2 Cents

I know, I know… I know what you’re all thinking. 

Here she goes again with the baby name posts!!

Yes.  For a girl who has absolutely no children to speak of, I do seem to spend an awful lot of time talking about naming babies.  I actually did have another post in mind for today, but we’ll blame Lena at Mom2MemphisAndRuby for this… She started it! ;)

Ah, who the hell am I kidding.  Any opportunity to talk about naming babies.  I’ll take it.

So, I share Lena’s sentiment in her post today… It’s no secret.  I love baby names.  And I guess I’m sort of a baby name snob, too.  I’ve been known to curl up my nose when I hear baby names that don’t float my boat.  I would never tell someone that I didn’t like their baby’s name, and most often I come around on the name eventually – I do truly believe a baby becomes their name – but I have my preferences, for sure.

I’ve been naming pretend babies in my head for as long as I can remember.  I recall, even as a young child, often telling my mom, “Some day I’m going to name my baby [fill in the blank with whatever name I loved at the time].”  For a while there, I was convinced I needed twin girls so I could call them Bobbi & Billie.  I remember my mom laughing and saying, “I used to want twin boys named Ronald & Donald.  You’ll change your mind about that one, I promise!”

Well, she was right.  Long gone are the days of Bobbi & Billie.  But since then, I have put a lot of thought into the names I’ve chosen over the years, and there are a few keys that are important to me when it comes to naming a child.

1) Meaningfulness – For me, it’s important that my child have a name that really means something to me.  Not just a name that I like “in the moment”.  I like the idea of using family names, and I have a rich history of beautiful names to choose from on both sides of my family tree.  I think it would be such a shame not to draw from that, especially for middle names.  My Aunt Linda once told me she named her daughter Paula Kristine, and while her first name was a combination of the parents’ names, her middle name was just a name she liked at the time, and she regretted that choice.  If she could go back, she’d have picked a family name for her.

2) Easy/Standard Spelling – I’m all for coming up with unique names, but I’m really not a fan of changing spellings of names “just to be different”.  For years, your kid will be correcting teachers and classmates and friends and co-workers.  I mean, I’ve had to deal with it myself, to a certain degree – everyone wants to spell Jillian with a “G” (and I loathe seeing my name spelled with a “G”!!) – and it’s a total pain in the ass.  So if you want to name your daughter “Lindsay”, go for it.  Just don’t go with “Lyndsea”.  (Yes, Linds.  I’m using you as an example. lol!)

3) Forget about who else has used your name – It’s one of my biggest fears… That someday, someone close to me will use one of the names I have coveted for so long before I get to use it.  But honestly, unless it’s a really close relative, or your very-best-long-time friend, I wouldn’t refrain from using the name.  I heard my co-worker once say she wanted to name her son Derek years ago, but because their neighbour’s son was named Derek, she didn’t.  Now, that neighbour Derek is long gone, and it wouldn’t matter one bit if her son had that name.  See what I mean?

4) Go with your gut – If there’s anything I’ve learned watching my friends and family go through the baby naming process, it’s that everybody’s got an opinion. Including me!!  At the end of the day?  Don’t let your mother-in-law or your best friend or your second-cousin-twice-removed deter you from a name you really love.  (Unless, like my sister, you are thinking of Lincoln or Blaise.  Then listen to your family when they tell you those are terrible names!!!)  (Thank God she didn’t have a boy that time.)

5) Think of the nicknames/shortened names, but don’t worry too much about it – This will always be a serious concern for me.  A – I live in Quyon, and pretty much everyone in Quyon has a nickname.  B – I am a Young, and the Young family are notorious for coming up with nicknames.  HORRIBLE nicknames.  Several of my cousins call me Gilly (my dad did, too) and it makes me cringe.  (Don’t even ask me about the terrible nickname they’ve stuck on my beautiful little niece.  It is awful.)  I remember warning Kara about it when she was talking about Lincoln and Blaise.  “Lincoln?  He’ll be Linky.  Little Linky.  Slinky Linky.”  “Blaise?”  Like, ‘Shot down in Blaze of glory’?  Oh, and it reminds me of the word ‘blouse’.”  …Now, all that being said, if you really love a name, forget about what people might shorten it to or use as a nickname.  I admire my sister-in-law’s ability to laugh off the terrible name they’ve given Neve.  She doesn’t care, because she loves her name so much.

So… If I was to have a baby tomorrow, what would I name it?

If it was a boy, I’d have a real struggle on my hands.  I’ve always said I wanted to have a boy named Charlie.  It was my Grandpa Schock’s name, and though I never met him, I always told my grandma I’d name my boy after him someday.  She loved that name so much, and wished one of her own kids had used it.

Just recently, though, I’ve discovered that James is a very important name on my dad’s side of the family, and I’ve fallen in love with the idea of one day having my own little James.  My dad’s father was James Bay Turner Young, his oldest brother was James Claude Young, and my favourite cousin (who shares my birthday) is James (Jim) Bay Young.

My only issue with either name is that I don’t want them to be Chuck or Chucky or Jimmy or Jamie.  I like Charlie.  And I like James.  No nicknames necessary, thanks.

And since I can’t pick…I guess I’d better hope for twins!!

Names I like for middle names: Brent, Cowan, Bay, Turner, David, Jeffrey, Troy

Names I like but can’t use: Blair (because of a guy I liked in high school), Joel (because of a guy I liked in college), and Wade (because of Wade Redden, I’d be teased for the rest of my life.)

As for a girl…I really only have one right now that I really love.  I had this wonderful brainwave several years ago.  I remember my Grandma once telling me that if she could go back, she wouldn’t have named my aunt (her youngest child) Marion – she would have called her Mary-Anne.  She often called her that, anyway.  It got me thinking of how much I like just the name “Mary”, but that it’s just a teensy bit too plain for my taste.  Then I got thinking of female names in my family that I liked, and I got the idea to combine my aunt’s name and my mom’s.  Marion + Elizabeth = Maribeth.  That would be my girl’s name.  Not a doubt in my mind.

I also like the idea of using my Grandpa Young’s name for a girl, and it works well – Baylie.

Names I like for middle names:  Elizabeth, Hazel, Brenda, Marie, Anne, Grace, Pearl

Names I like but can’t use:  Sadie.  For obvious reasons.

I’d also like to mention that I love love LOVE  the names of my nieces and nephew.  Caden arrived kind of before the “ADEN”-hyped names, and if it had been me he would have just been Cade, but I love his name anyways.  And I think Danica and Neve are two of the most lovely little girl names ever. :)

OK.  So.  Thank you, Lena, for rekindling my BABY FEVER!!  Now.  To just find a husband so we can get this show on the road… ;) 

Oh, and for those of you wondering how I’d feel if my future husband and baby daddy doesn’t like the names I’ve picked?  Um, I’m sorry?  Are you telling me the man has a say in this???? ;)

So?  Are you a baby name snob?  Do you go for traditional or trendy?  What are you drawn to?  Do you have rules?  If you’d like to join in the discussion, you can link up on the Great Baby Name Debate over at Lena’s today!