What are your thoughts on names? Baby names are the sorts of things eight-year-olds (and twenty-eight-year-olds) agonize about. ‘Liv’ was a name I have loved forever, ‘Olivia’ the only name that Kevin truly adored when I was pregnant with number one. He said he would call her ‘Love’.
Amazingly, the name ‘Taylor’ has been on my list for a solid decade. That feels like a long time in baby naming years. Taylor was perhaps second or third on my list with baby number two (the above is not necessarily the chosen order), but even growing in my belly I always felt that that would be her name. Kevin, too.
I remember calling my very favorite baby doll ‘Sydney’ as a little girl. I was sure that that’s what I would name my own children when I grew up and out of my five-year-old boots. Not surprisingly ‘Sadie or Saidey’ (rather close?) is a very favorite of mine today and was at the top of the Taylor-naming-game list.
The one other name (besides Taylor & Liv) that we both really enjoyed was Meredon. It was sort of a play on sailing and the sea… (mer meaning sea and meridian a line of longitude or a common directional reference for sailors). We have a sailboat from Kevin’s bachelor days and it was a favorite pre-child San Diego Bay hobby. I also liked that it was one-of-a-kind. But then that movie Brave came out.
A funny story behind Liv’s name is that we were really unsure of what to name her even as I was in labor and at the hospital. I had a natural birth and after agonizing pain and she finally arriving, I remember Kev leaning over and saying ‘so I’m going to text everyone that Olivia is here’. I was so exhausted that I just nodded and then fell asleep.
An odd thing happens after you finally give your child their name though. They become that name. They are that name. You can’t imagine them being named anything else.
During our name-agonizing pregnancy days (actually, just mine. Kev had always had just one or two names that he stuck by), I had a close friend make that statement to me and it brought me much peace. I think that I was always nervously worried that I would regret the name I eventually chose. It’s such a huge responsibility! This child will apply for their first job with that name, introduce themselves to new friends with that name, sign love letters with that name, hear that name called out at their college graduation and on their wedding day.
And nick names? Where do I begin.
Maybe I was overthinking it.
You know what’s kind of odd? My lists of names changed drastically between the two girls. I’m not sure more than two or three baby number one names crossed over to the baby number two list.
Just for fun, a few of the other names I loved for Liv included ‘Madelene’ (that how a friend spells it and I love it), ‘Emma’, and I think ‘Clare’. There were many others but they must have not made a strong enough impression for me to remember as I type this.
Middle names are a whole other beast. Anne is my middle name and my mom’s middle name (it’s a common middle name but it’s peppered throughout our families). I felt strongly about giving my daughter, and I didn’t know how many I’d have, that middle name.
Because we went with tradition for the first, Kev and I just came up with the prettiest name we could think of for the second. I was incredibly close to giving Taylor my very special (and recently passed) Grandma’s name (Vivian) or my own first name (Morgan), too. I also love when mom’s pass on their maiden name as a middle name. In the end we went with our gut and brought a ‘Taylor Rose’ home from the hospital.
If we have a third (and we’d like to) I have no idea what we would name him/her. Somehow we ended up on the top 100 for baby names with the first two, maybe next time something really unique? Or something really traditional? We actually didn’t know if we were having a girl or boy with Liv, so we have a decent list of untapped boys names :), too. Here’s how we found out Taylor was a baby girl.
Do you still admire any of the baby names your six-year-old self chose? How did you (or how will you) choose your children’s names? Are yours traditional, unique, sentimental?
Loved this post! my husband and I have a boy name we agreed upon almost immediately (wesley ryan, after his grandfather & my brother), but girl names stump us. I guess when/if the day comes we’ll have to come up with something! lol. its a fun game to play though, picking out names & futures
I love, love the name Wesley! I think that girl names are especially tough, too…
Our kids have classic first names and middle names from all my favorite tv shows: Mary Cordelia (Buffy), Louisa Felicity (Avonlea), Katherine Veronica (Veronica Mars), and Rose Lorelai (Gilmore Girls). My husband really wanted Katherine Hermione, but I just couldn’t do it! I didn’t want their names to be too popular so they’d be Mary #5 in school, nor did I want them to be embarrassed when interviewing for the Supreme Court. They’ll have plenty of other reasons to hate me growing up!
That’s great! Beautiful traditional names and what a neat idea that when they’re older, they’ll get to reminisce about their ‘tv character’. :) So creative.
I still think you should have called Olivia, Eden ;)
Hello middle name twin-right down to the “e” on the end. Your girls names are both beautiful. And Kevin’s comment about calling Liv “love”…so precious! Our last name is hard for most people to pronounce, so we wanted to stay pretty traditional with first names, while respecting the family members who have a hard time pronouncing some English names (Spanish being their first language). We also looked to family names for inspiration. T’s middle name is a family name that was my Grandmother’s, and L’s first name is inspired by the Husband’s grandmother. And if we have another, we have absolutely no idea what we’ll do.
I know what you mean about a tough last name. My maiden name was ‘Logan’ and leaves itself open to all sorts of creative first names. ‘Spenla’ is much more challenging and I’ve always felt that we had to stick with easier first names as well. Love Anne with an E ;).
Thanks for this post Morgan! :) I’m 7mos along with my first right now, and this baby naming subject has been at the forefront of my thoughts during sleepless nights! Btw! We are doing a gender reveal party next week as I was SO inspired by yours! Since I don’t know the gender now I’ve been considering boy AND girl names. A few names that are faves so far are; boy- Bryce, Noah, Isaiah. Bryce is special bc it was our first family trip with the both set of our parents to Bryce Nat’l park. :) For a girl we are considering- Savannah. I guess I’ve given more thought to boy names. :)
Beautiful names! We have a friend who named her little boy Noah – I love that. And that fact that Bryce comes from Bryce National Park is so very cool! Can’t wait to hear about your gender reveal party :).
I was just having this discussion with a friend the other day, as she’s picking baby names.
Gabriella was never on my radar at all, right up until close to the end of my pregnancy. Growing up it was always traditional Scottish/Irish names and when I was pregnant I thought I had settled on Charlotte Grace (so much so that its what’s on all of my baby shower cards); I liked the nickname options, I thought it sounded beautiful, etc.. but one day I thought of Gabriella and for some reason it created a big struggle for me. I think she is SUCH a Gabriella (Gigi/Gabby) though, so definitely a case of divine inspiration — I still love “Charlotte Grace” but this girl is not a Charlotte/Charlie/Lottie ;) Her middle names are my grandmother’s names and the initials spell out “GEM”.
I love that her initials are GEM – that is something very sweet to think of! We almost named Liv ‘Taylor’ and I’m so glad that we now have one of each – and each one is their own name! Funny how it works out that way just like it did with your Gabriella. Charlotte is a very pretty name, too!
I have a Vivian and she is SUCH a Vivian. That probably only makes sense to me, but it was my great grandmother’s name. From what I know about her, she was tough broad who lived on her farm in Texas long after her husband “Chief” died. My V’s middle name is my mother’s maiden name, and it’s quite a mouthful for a little almost three year old, but she can rattle it off with no problem!
I love the name Vivian! So beautiful, our Grandma’s and their namesakes sound similar;). I love that you used your mother’s maiden name for your daughter’s middle name <3. Liv has her last name down at 3 and it still amazes me.
Ohhh this is FUN!
When I was little my dolls names were always Emily and Emma. I still like those name but I haven’t thought much about names in awhile. Since having my own son, now 2, Jack. And I love boys now so I hope I never have to choose a girl name :) I picked Jack because I thought it was classic and strong leader man name. I also really like quick, short names. My dream would be to have 3 boys , though I really haven’t had a strong feeling for any other names. I like Eli, as in Elijah, but that’s about it.
I love Jack! Jack has always been one of my favorites but reserved for my brother (and his future kids :)) – it’s my Grandpa’s name and he adores it. Very great boy’s name. I admire your desire for 3 boys! I feel the same about 3 girls, though I wouldn’t mind a boy thrown in there if that’s the larger plan.