As a writer (by schooling, only), I’ve always been obsessed with names. Writing a short story or a novel is really just a glorified reason to come up with names, and characters to go with names, and stories to go with characters. Right? I can spend weeks, or months, trying to think up a name for a minor character. So, of course, when it came to coming up with a name for our baby, I was super excited for the task.
We went through thousands of names, suggesting even the most ridiculous names we could think of, just to get used to the waters. Lampshade Spatula was one of the more unique name options. After a while of suggesting names it became necessary to come up with a series of Rules that any chosen name must adhere to (no ex-boy- or ex-girlfriends, nothing that rhymes with Aiden, nothing in the top 100 names for the previous year, nothing that is too weird). Then, we started to feel like you do when you’re tasting your 56 wine at a tasting… confused about what’s actually good anymore, also maybe a little drunk. And we (or at least I) got a little burned out on names and then start wondering if maybe we were going about it all wrong. I’m pretty certain every collaborative creative process goes through these same stages.
In the end, it comes down to a gut feeling, and probably timing. The names suggested at the right point in the name-choosing process probably have a much better chance of being chosen than the early ones that sounded good but seemed untested. Coming up with a super-meaningful name that satisfies all 18 Rules becomes less important than just feeling good about the name. In the end, it’s the baby that’s meaningful, not his or her name (yes, we had to remind ourselves of this).
This all happened really early in the pregnancy for us. Starting pretty much as soon as we found out Esther was pregnant, and going through ups and downs all through weeks 8-20 or so. After what seemed like forever, we had some names chosen. In reality, our little baby was still only have baked. Before the 20-week ultrasound, we had a couple top names for both genders. When we found out that our baby was a boy, it was settled. The first name, at least. And we started referring to him by this name. It felt right.
The middle name followed soon thereafter, after a crazy middle name brainstorming session one Saturday-like morning (it could’ve been any day of the week but it feels like a Saturday in my memory).
We wanted to make sure we liked the name a lot, so we kept it a secret for a while. That also helped avoid the awkwardness of having to hear about how the name doesn’t work for other peoples’ aesthetics… it’s intentional in a way, because if the name met everyone’s aesthetics (like, say, Oliver, does) then that’s a sign that the name is about to become quite popular, and who wants that? Not us.
To help make it OFFICIAL, we thought of a little art project. This is the end result:
It’s the name encased in a semi-secret code. Since it’s probably not that easy to crack, we’re telling people in person as we can. And, I expect, by this time next week, after the baby shower etc, it’ll be public knowledge.
We haven’t decided if he’s going to need a pseudonym for this blog as well, one that matches his parents’ pseudonyms. Hmm… probably.
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