naming the baby - advice

Dear Evolved Moms: We are expecting a baby any day now. And just cannot decide on a name for her, or him... We don't want boring and don't want crazy. My wife wants to use a family name and I am unsure. The birth mom is having some beginning contractions - so time is of the essence. Any advice? sami


Dear Sami:

Congratz. When our son was born
we had no time at all
We signed up with an agency
and 4 months later we were
on a plane
flying to
louisianna
without a name
We had talked about family names
(Isaac Israel - my grandfather's - a bit of a burden we thought)

we decided on Zion
because
zion national park
is our most favorite place to be
on earth
beautful powerful and serene
it just
felt right
We also felt the name was nice and short
easy to write with a big fat crayon
hard to make rhyming teases out of
and
also
had meaning
"holy place"
perfect

As for his last name
we decided to all take my name (harris)
at the prompting of my mother
(which was sweet and sort if shocking for her back then)
Middle name
Sun for our son
because we are still hippies at heart.
Our daughters name
Torin
meaning tender and chief
found it in a magical names book
a perfect fit
she now has more nick names than we can count
torin sage
became
sagey
TT
baby sage
Tor
tiny
and her favorite
T Bone (really)



My advice
go with your gut
feel no pressure from others
and just try to make sure
it's a name that's hard to tease with
spacey stacey was not fun


also - I notice in Torins Pre-K class
that kids with big names
like christopher
madelinne
charolette
simmerin
really struggle to get their names on paper
I think shorter
or at leat a quick nickname is good


I try to think of what life would be like
for a tomboy like me
if my name had been
daisy
or lilly
and I am thankful
for a more neutral name
like stacey

and lastly
as gay as we are
I don't think our kids need to have names like
sappho
labryis
kinsey...
and just how many ellen
melissa's or Amy's can there really be in our community?


your child with make a name for themselves
regardless of the name
you give them
on paper
enjoy the process
and go with what feels right to you


By the way
I have never liked my name
could have been worse
but I have never
felt like it fit
so maybe
regardless of what we do as parents
our kids will want to find their own
that fits who they are as they find our who they are

I am on the lookout for a nickname that works
when I travel
most folks call me Boston
and I kinda like it now


blessings to the new little one!
Send us a picture - with the name!