Naming a baby is almost as hard a raising a baby. Okay, well maybe not that hard but it is at least as hard as opening a jar of pickles. I have always found the experience to be overwhelming, confusing, and frustrating. It is hard enough to come up with your own list but having to agree upon a name with a spouse is like swallowing a sword sideways. Either you hate the names your spouse picks or your spouse hates the names you pick or a name reminds one of you of the germ filled kid in school who was always picking his nose. When you finally settle on a name you make the mistake of telling someone about it. Your excitement is soon dashed by that person’s experience with a snot nosed kid in school or the school bully or an annoying aunt. You get back to the drawing board and decide on Bertha Adele Dickerson, only to discover the initials are not too flattering.
How did I decide?
With baby number one, I had a list of names my husband quickly rejected. He had a list of names I quickly rejected. Finally I chose a name that oddly he mentioned previously yet I had forgotten. Since that was as close to an agreement as it was going to get my child was finally named.
Baby number two was just as difficult until a friend mentioned a name I had not considered. It was not a surprising name yet not terribly common. Plain yet it had strength to it and a nice meaning. My husband agreed so we made a pact to not revisit the issue again.
Baby number three was the hardest so I gave the decision to my husband. We were going to use a name we both liked in the past but there was one problem. The problem being that I was no longer in love with the name. So, out of exhaustion I decided to allow him to have complete control over the name.
Finally baby number four came along and the favor was returned. I had full reign over the name. I mistakenly thought it would make the job easier but it did not. Instead of having no names on the list I had a list overflowing with names. Finally, I heard a lady tell another lady what she was going to name her baby. I loved it so I stole it. Shhh…no need to make an issue out of that.
In the end, my children have names that I love and that suit their personality. I just know that I can never have another child or the name will be a lottery pick with submissions from all over the world.