Wednesday, August 22, 2012

What's in a name?

“What's your name,' Coraline asked the cat. 'Look, I'm Coraline. Okay?'
'Cats don't have names,' it said.
'No?' said Coraline.
'No,' said the cat. 'Now you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names.”  ―
Neil Gaiman, Coraline


“I’m not my name. My name is something I wear, like a shirt. It gets worn. I outgrow it, I change it.”


“A name can't begin to encompass the sum of all her parts. But that's the magic of names, isn't it? That the complex, contradictory individuals we are can be called up complete and whole in another mind through the simple sorcery of a name.”  ― Charles de Lint


Operation: Name for P-Nut is in full swing!  I don't know about you, but I feel that picking out the name for your child comes with a great deal of pressure.  You don't want to scar the kid for life by giving them a crazy name or worse yet, a name they will hate.  Plus I feel that we give the child a name but they are the ones that truly give their name character and individuality.  

There is so much to consider when naming a child.  How does it sound with the last name?  Will you name them after a relative?  Will you go traditional or branch out a bit?  What about the middle name?  Will they have one?  Will they have two?  Does the name go nicely with Little C's?  "These are my kids 'C' and ___."  It has to have a nice ring to it!

For baby girl P-Nut I want to find something that is feminine but not to wimpy, cute and spunky, isn't too popular but isn't ridiculous either.  All of my grandmothers, including the great's, have a family member named after them so that leaves my mom, mother-in-law and Hubby's grandmother.  All with equally lovely names.  We have our work cut out for us!   

Yesterday I compiled a pretty descent list of names and gave one copy to Hubs and I kept one.  I told him to highlight the names he for sure liked and to cross out the names he for sure didn't.  I said, "now you might want to take your time and really think about each name..."  Before I had even finished that sentence he had completed his "task"!!!  Apparently he is pretty decisive when it comes to this stuff. 

We've narrowed our long list down a bit and have a few front runners but nothing that has made us scream "that's the one!"  We're still searching...  she's out there.

How important do you feel the name of your child is?  Did you go the family route?  Any heated back and forth with your spouse?   Any brilliant ideas you want to add to P-Nut's list?

4 comments:

  1. I love this post! (I call my Hubs Hubs on my blog too :). Hubs and I had a rather long list throughout my pregnancy. We read lists of names on websites and I still remember the day, around Christmas, when we added what ended up being "The Name" to the list.

    We combined our grandfather's names for our son's middle name--it's a weird and unique word, but we like it, and we wanted to honor them somehow, as both of their last names ended--my grandpa's with my sisters and me, Hub's grandpa's with his daughters.

    Are you telling people your choices? We didn't tell anyone the short list, and it drove our families crazy.

    Right after my son was born, Hubs and I said, don't tell me what name you want, and luckily we both wanted the same one in the end. I totally get your worry that the name defines the kid, but also that the kid defines the name--my son "looks like" his name, but I think his name also makes him spunky. I sometimes think his personality would be totally different if we had gone with a different name.

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    1. I love how you combined your grandpa's names! What a fun idea! No, we won't be sharing the short list. We didn't with Little C and we won't this time either. Since we know the sex I think it gives the family something to get excited for. I like your idea though about sharing what we've scratched off. Maybe we'll inspire someone else!

      Great comment! Thanks!

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  2. Such a hard task that our little T didn't have his name until he was 4 days old. Not something we planned! We had it narrowed down to our top 3, but without meeting him we just couldn't decide. It was so hard on our family not knowing our top 3 until D-day and and then having to wait until day 4 just about killed them (and us), but we couldn't force it, it just didn't feel right. Funny how things play out. Good Luck! Whatever you choose and 'when' will be perfect!

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    1. Wow! 4 days doesn't sound like a long time but when you are in the middle of it, I bet it was forever! I'm glad you picked the perfect name and I bet it felt even more special getting to know your little guy first. Thanks for the comment!

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