The Name Game

It's official. I've become one of "those people". We bought a baby name book - 500 (yes, FIVE HUNDRED) pages of every name you could possibly ever think of. I'm working through it a letter at a time, highlighting names that could be a possible first or middle name for GB. Keep in mind, we have no idea what we are having (March 8 - it better get here soon!!), so I'm picking boy, girl and boy-girl names - each name has a male or female symbol, but some have both. Instead of spending my nights reading my textbooks and doing my homework, I'm armed with a green highlighter trying to discover the perfect name that is just original and just classical enough to not get GB's ass kicked on the playground. Please note that we are NOT considering names that are one word, two capital letters, nor nicknames that stem from a middle name ( for those not aware, although born AnnaMarie Rebecca, I've been Becky since birth...not bitter - just experienced).

Other things I have to keep in mind when we choose a name: it can't be the name of a close friend or family member, it can't be the name of any student that I have that drove me crazy, it WILL NOT be Aloysius, the initials can't be KKK or ASK, and it has to be spelled "normally". Not to offend anyone out there that has a "uniquely-spelled name", but on what planet does one spell Jessica, Jessikuh or Jacob, Jaykub. Although I know you can't see it, the spell check feature tagged the second version of both of those names, meaning they are not normal. Oh crap...it tagged AnnaMarie and Rebecca, too (time to shut up about spelling now, Becky).

The weird thing is, we get to make up a name for this person. I can't imagine being anything else than Becky. Nothing else fits. Nor can I imagine calling Thomas anything but Thomas. It's kind of an interesting responsibility in the long list of ones that I'm about to require. One of the most personally identifying features is your name, and you don't even get a vote in the process. Weird.

One question I've been getting is if we are going to "share" our name with everyone. Of course we are. I have to know in advance what horrible things it rhymes with or nicknames that can be made from it. In a rare display for me, I'll be giving the public carte blanche to give me their opinion on the name...just know that I'm probably not listening :)