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Emmett was on our short list for a while, too -- though we had no idea (until now) that it was the name of a Twilight character... Wanted to give you all an update from last month's post. After months of lurking on the site, I finally posted seeking advice for our unnamed baby (of unknown sex) to go with our last name... We were looking for an unusual, classic name, ideally not in the U.S. top 400. And definitely something that didn't end, or couldn't be shortened to end, in an "ee" sound - as it would sound silly with our surname. For a boy, we remained especially stuck -- right up until my due date. I lost hours of sleep, laying in the dark, turning over names in my head. But never deciding. So I made about 30 (yes 30!) different index cards, all with first names we had considered for a boy... Solomon, Duncan, Abram, Booker... as well as our middle name options. We resolved that if we had a boy, we'd wait and see what he looked like -- even if it took a few days. Ah, but things don't always go as planned! Our baby boy was born a couple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful labor, but he suffered some distress at the final stage, and was born not breathing. It was a huge shock as he had been doing fine throughout the rest of the labor. He was immediately put on oxygen, and rushed to the intensive care room at the birthing center. My husband was with him the whole time, and I joined them as soon as I could. It was very scary. We were in such shock... When our excellent pediatrician arrived, she made sure he was getting everything he needed. "Hello, baby," she said. And then she turned to us and said: "What's his name?" Our eyes widened. "Um, he doesn't have a name. We hadn't decided..." "No, he has to have a name. I can't work on a baby without a name," she said. Silence. (Remember, we had just given birth and were still processing everything.) "Um..." I said. "Call him William after his grandfather," my husband said. (William is my dad's name. He's such a wonderful, kind and generous man. And it was a top choice for a middle name. But I had considered it far too popular to choose as a first name.) But in those scary moments after his birth, naming him after my dad seemed the only real option. Suddenly, all the other names seemed... silly! So I said: "William is likely going to be one of his names." Soon after, our son was rushed off to another neonatal intensive care unit -- my husband in tow... When I was able to see our boy again a few hours later, all the computers and his wristband now read: "William". He was doing great, and he continued to thrive throughout the day. And even though William is the 8th (!) most popular name for boys in the U.S., my husband and I decided there was truly no better name for our gorgeous boy. And no one more deserving of a namesake than my father. Due to the circumstances of his birth, we then chose another name I hadn't really considered -- Lesedi, another Sesotho name, meaning "light." Pronounced luh-SEH-dee. Another thing I had sworn we wouldn't do -- a name with an "ee" ending! So in the end, after all my NE worrying -- fretting about whether a name is too popular (or too trendy or too pretentious or too wacky) -- it all came down to the meanings behind the names. And that's how we came to name our baby boy. Our son is now doing absolutely brilliantly. Thanks to everyone for all your feedback earlier. This site is a enormous resource for so many of us!
Fascinating post, Laura. I agree that the "cold numbers" really don't prove a thing. My brother's wife is from Mexico. They're due at the end of this month, and like many baby-namers today they are trying to find something fresh. They are not considering Juan or Gillermo -- the two names cited by the Times reporter -- but that doesn't mean they aren't looking at Hispanic names. Just want to thank all the people who responded to my post in the last thread (re: names for our Baby Pr@nglee, due in two weeks). Your ideas were really helpful and opened up a bunch of new name ideas for us. I'll probably ask you again for advice once we narrow down some of our new ideas. Thanks again!
Hi everybody, I’ve been following this amazing blog for months as my husband await the birth of our first child. Even though I’ve been very shy and have never posted before, I’ve loved the personalities and insights you all bring. I'm a little afriad this is coming too late in this thread, but... Our baby is due in just two weeks, so I’m now in dire need of your help! We’re struggling to find names that work with our last name, which is Pr@nglee. (Using symbols here ‘cause it’s our real last name.) It’s kind of a mouthful, and with the ee on the end, I’d like to avoid any names or nns ending in -y, -ie, -ee, etc. If we have a girl, we have narrowed it down to two options. Both incorporate my mom’s name, Jud!th: Ion@ Jud!th Jud!th N@ledi (nn Jun@) But for a boy, we’re really stuck! We love: Abr@ham, Abr@m, or Br@m (pron. BRAHM) Yet… with the first two, I’m afraid that the (inevitable?) shorter “@be” doesn’t work: (“@be Pr@anglee” – say it 5 times fast). Ditto with Br@m. We like it for someone it honors. But “Br@m Pr@nglee” is awkward to me. What do you think? So other options include: So1omon Dunc@n Hugh Rodr!c Lew!s Munr0 or …? (Neither fast-rising nor in top 300?) I’d prefer the middle name to be Willi@m (to honor my dad). But we could go with another family member: J@mes, Lee, Er!k, Rich@rd, R0dney, Edw@rd, R0bert, Wils0n, Lew!s, @ndrew. Can you think of combinations… or other names that would work with our last name? Your thoughts are really appreciated!