As we are thinking of our 4th and last baby's name, I thought I would share how I/we came up with our other children's names. (thanks Kaylene:))
All my life I wanted to name my first girl Michael, but Daniel didn't like agree. So I had to come up with something else. I was laying in bed one night about 3 months pregnant and thought Liv was a cute nickname. No I am not a groupee of Liv Tyler. So Olivia came to me. I really loved it. Daniel thought is was alright. Most people I told did not like it, until I actually named my baby Olivia. Then they loved the name! It turns out, nation wide it was the 5th most popular name for 2003. Oddly, we have not met any other Olivia her age. Of course, her middle name would be Michael.
Boy names were really hard for us. They need to be strong and stable sounding. . .you know something that would look good on the side of a building. 'Samuel Ledemsa & Associates'. Daniel really liked the name Ammon. I want my child to be known for who he is, not that he was named after a Book of Mormon hero. It is the same idea as Jonah, a name I like, but one would think of being eaten by a big fish. So Ammon and Jonah were out. I can't exactly remember, but I guess we liked names like William, Charles and Thomas, but Samuel was what we chose. His middle name is Lloyd, my mom's dad's name and Daniel's mom's mom's brother.
Chloë was the hardest to name. I did not really love anything like I loved Olivia's name, so I told Daniel to decide. I guess he did not believe me b/c we left the hospital naming her Elouise Edelman. I did not want to name my boy Louis after Daniel's dad b/c most of Daniel's siblings with a boy had done that. I wanted to name my girl some form of Louis and call her Loula. (That is what Lou called himself sometimes-and I liked that.) Edelman was my dad's mom's maiden name. My dad always spoke so highly of his mother. I think she must have been an angel and a saint to guide and love my dad through his crazy childhood. Elouise Edelman did not stick. At her one week check up the nurses could not even pronounce her name "E-low-iz???" Plus her initials would have been EEL. I couldn't call her Elouise, it just wasn't her. So then Daniel rushed to the hospital to change her name to Amelia Zoe. My dad's side of the family has a Parmelia, then a Pamelia, so we thought Amelia would fit the trend. Zoe was a take on the mom's mom's mom, Azola. But instead of calling her Zoe I started calling her Chloë. I told Daniel this after a few weeks. He had always liked the name Chloë so we decided to do all the paperwork and go to court to change her name to Chloë Elizabeth Michael. Elizabeth is Daniel's only sister's name and I would like all my girls to carry my middle name (and dad's name) Michael. It was a big headache and a few too many pennies to change her name, but I am glad we did it. She is such a Chloë!
If this last baby would have been a boy here are some names I like. Xander (Alexander), Graydon, Nolan or Jackson, not so traditional, but hey not too made up, right??
But this is a girl, so we are back to the drawing board. We are pretty set on the name Charlotte, which is what I tell people her name is, but I am always thinking of something better. Olivia likes the name Phoebe, but I finally broke it to her we would not be using that name. I still am drawn to the idea of some form of Louis, but have not found the right name. This week some names I like: Michael Jayden (MJ), Ruby, Savannah, Naomi, Gwyneth, Joise-but not Josephine. Daniel really likes the name Audrey, but I like Aubrey. So the list goes on and on!
