What’s in a Name?

I have a cousin who (like the infamous Duggar family) has several children, each with a name beginning with the letter J: Jeffrey, Josiah, Jessica, Jasmine, & Jordan.

My dear friend Sister in Oregon has three children, all fondly named after {upstanding, Republican} Presidents: Reagan, Lincoln, and McKinley. (Which explains the moniker of her hilariously honest blog, My Presidents.)

A delightful new friend who (BLESS. HER. HEART.) is mother to four boys, selected trades-names for each of her sons: Mason, Smith, Sawyer & Gunner. My cousin and his precious wife just had their first baby and went a similar route, naming their son Hunter– had he been blessed with a twin, his name would have been Fisher.

Here is a Facebook status of mine from last September, just one month after having moved to Bozeman:

I know several families who only consider Biblical names for their children: Josiah, Titus & Abigail; Sarah, Joshua & Daniel.

Every family has their thing with names. Well, not every family, I suppose. But even families who don’t THINK they have a thing, sometimes have a thing… My little sister’s girl’s names don’t all start with the same letter, but all three are very European, very feminine names: Madeleine, Olivia, & Sophia.

Our daughters’ names all start with the letter A. It wasn’t a master plan from the onset of parenthood, but just kind of happened after #2 was born. And  once you have your thing, you wouldn’t dream of excluding any subsequent siblings. It was a given that New Sister would join her siblings with an “A” name.

Naming a human is a  huge responsibility! (I vividly recall stating that same fact when pregnant with each of our bio-children.) A name is what sets a person apart from the masses, while simultaneously identifies them as a member of a particular family. This is one of the reasons why we have decided to give New Sister an American name. We want our new daughter to truly feel a part of our little family. We also intend to give her a traditional, Chinese name for a middle name, to honor her home country and remind her of her rich heritage. There are about five ‘A’ names that have made the short list, but we won’t be making a decision until we are actually matched with our child. PS- In case you were curious, that should be happening soon! All of our paperwork arrived back to us from Washington, D.C. yesterday, and was promptly sent off to our agency in Colorado. Stay tuned…