The name game


(she dresses herself but we picked the crazy name)
A recent conversation between Tuesday and a new friend.
friend: “Is your name really Tuesday?”
Tuesday: “Yes.”
friend: “But your name is really Tuesday, like Tuesday?”
Tuesday: “Yes, it is.”
friend has a puzzled look and kind of laughs
Tuesday: “What is your name?”
friend “Alex.”
Tuesday, “well, why?”
 
I was so glad I got to hear this conversation. Certainly the new friend was not being mean, more curious and they were chatting amicably, but I thought it a pretty good retort. I wonder what Tuesday will think of her name. I always liked my name. I do think it’s annoying that the younger generation of Ambers seem to be stereotyped to be trashy/uneducated (well, I guess it’s not such a stereotype, as I read in this article and a book by Malcolm Gladwell – can’t remember which one). And having the exact same name as my college freshman roommate was a weird.
We don’t have any names picked out for new baby, I just don’t get that “this is it!” feeling and I want to see what little baby will be like (and if it’s a boy or girl, I’m so excited to find out!). Plus I think I must be extra picky or paranoid or something. I suppose I have a while, but I’m betting we go without naming for a while, like with Tuesday. It was just easier that way.
Have you named anyone? How did you pick it?

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15 Comments

  1. That was a very cute conversation ๐Ÿ™‚
    Jacob we picked out ahead of time. Clara we had a list of 4 or 5 girl names, but still didn’t pick until day 3? Annalise we had a few names we tossed around, but it took 3 days to finally decide. Honestly I still don’t know if she’s an Annalise or not, but I do know she’s not a Lauren (the 2 names were deciding between ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. It’s funny…I’m so used to hearing Tuesday’s name, that it never occurs to me that is maybe a bit of unusual name! Mirielle was totally a random internet discovery after my sister named her daughter something similar to my original girl name. Henry has been my boy name since…forever. ๐Ÿ™‚ And I know a ton of Ambers. I don’t recall any of them being the stereotype you speak of…I CAN think of some other names that fit that stereotype…but I won’t say them here. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  3. Before we even started trying to get pregnant we always knew that if we had a girl her name would be Charlotte. It’s a name that we both loved and totally agreed on. I think Charlotte’s name fits her well. Her middle name is Anne, after my grandmother.

  4. Julia,
    Oh I didn’t mention Tuesday’s middle name. But the Lee is a family name. It’s my middle name, and my dad’s. I like have some family thing like that.
    Amber

  5. Erin,
    LOL. I have a some definite no’s for this reason… though I won’t mention them. ๐Ÿ™‚ Also it’s really uncool when someone (my brother) takes a name and uses it for an animal.
    Amber

  6. Ive only ever named dogs and I picked names that I thought were fun to say.
    Rose bud
    Stella
    I have a cat named Lilly Belle (song)
    I always like the name “petal” I like all those flower themed names
    rose, blossom, violet, petal, columbine, etc… I also always thought that had I had a child
    a it would have been a girl
    b Maxine Dorcie Francis grant all family names would have been on the table..

  7. For two of my three children, I had very specific dreams of what their names should be…but didn’t choose them! They were Avery (girl) and Abraham. All of my kids’ names are very traditional family names, and their middle names are Biblical. Though I cringe when somebody thinks we chose them because they went together. But I’ll admit they do. Mostly I went with names that I didn’t associate with bratty kids or mean people.

  8. We wanted to name or first child after my father…but Dad’s name is Rex Eugene. So we got creative. A friend of mine told me to make a list of qualities I see in my father. The first word I wrote down became my son’s name : Christian.

  9. I love Tuesday’s name & am totally looking forward to hearing the new arrival’s name when the time is right!
    My first born was a surprise girl, after the ultrasound told us to expect a boy. I hadn’t put much thought into girls name, so we came up with it on the spot. My grandma had a friend named Emalee and I had always loved the name. Her dad wanted to break it out to Emma Lee.. I changed it to Leigh to be more girly & after my best friend, Kristina Leigh. The girls in my family are all middle names of Marie, but Emma Leigh Marie didn’t sound right, so we used Kathryn as a middle. My grandma and Emma Leigh’s aunt are both Kathryn, both spelled in that form….. Emma Leigh Kathryn, who sadly we usually just call Emma. (I feel I cursed her with such a long name, yet we don’t even use it.)
    8 years later, I gave birth to Oslee Devlin. Daddy wanted a name that no one else would have, that no one else has heard. He combined two people he is a fan of, Ozzie Osbourne & Bruce Lee. (Don’t judge! LOL) It took me a couple days of saying it randomly to confirm I was on board, and I now love it. Devlin was a pick from a baby name book, I liked the meaning; fierce warrior. We went through a lot as a couple during my pregnancy, and I felt that I really fought to bring into this world, so Devlin was perfect for him. To top it off, he ended sharing a birthday with Ozzie Osbourne!

  10. i’ve never named anyone. not even newton… that was his temporary name at the humane society and i just seemed to fit him. tuesday’s name fits her so perfectly, i can’t imagine her named anything else – looking forward to a new name in your house soon! xo

  11. I went back and forth about changing Nolan’s name from Brandon, since he had been Brandon for a year. It was such an agonizing decision, but once I knew that I would get to be his mom forever, I had to give him the name I wanted him to have. (And Brandon is on that low list!) So, after getting my list down to a couple names, the day of the termination judgement, I started calling him Nolan. I wanted something that wasn’t too common, but not so unique that he would be tortured. He has grown into his name and it suits him so much better!

  12. Grant and I could never agree on a girl’s name and I can’t tell you how many hours I sat in Barnes & Noble looking at name books. Thank goodness we ended up having a boy–no matter what names came along, they just didn’t compare to Donovan, which was always a front runner for us! Having picked it out before hand didn’t make a huge difference for us…it was like, “this little person’s name is Donovan” and it really grew to fit him perfectly.

  13. When I got pregnant, we decided my husband would pick out a boys name and I would pick out a girls name, and we would stick with whatever the other chose. This worked well because I had tons of girls names in mind – Paloma, Amelie, Aurelia, Oona…and on and on…but only a couple of boys names – Duncan, Tristan… It was a boy for us and husband chose Thorfaen – a Welsh name that goes way back in his family tree. I loved it, but it was met with some incredulity (pretty much everyone) and some resistance (my mother), but now that he is 7 almost 8, I don’t think anyone can imagine him anything but “Thor.”

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