The Name Game...

For the past 33 weeks or so, I have been trying to come up with a name for Baby #2, affectionately referred to as La-a (pronounced La dash a). I had absolutely no problem coming up with little boy names, and even had a list of 3 or 4 that were really battling it out in my brain. Then, we found out for certain, that we are having a girl, and my brain exploded.

No, in all seriousness, we (Tom and I) have been having an extremely difficult time coming up with a name for Baby #2, and I honestly thought that we would be one of those people that were held hostage at the hospital until we wrote down something on the birth certificate that in hind sight would cause others (as well as ourselves) to say WTF?

I think the problem in my brain is how do I come up with a name that I like as much as Ellie's name? I can't use the rejects from her naming, because that would already cause her to be ranked #2, just as her name was 3 years ago. So we have to start from scratch. We have to come up with something new and creative. Something we loved. And we were blocked. Names were getting tossed around like wrestlers, and nothing was sticking. We had a few options that "weren't too bad" but nothing just screamed, YES! Like Meg Ryan in Harry Met Sally.....

That was all until the other day. I was successfully procrastinating my day away at work by catching up on my blog reading... oh I mean dutifully preparing my projects for others to take over in less than a week while I am on maternity leave, when I read a name. A nickname really. And liked it. The best part? The nickname was from one of the names that Tom and I had already considered, but tossed out, because we didn't like what we thought was the only nickname.

So then I started thinking more and more about this name. What middle name would go with it? Does it sound good with Ellie? How about Elizabeth? How does the whole name sound? What are the cons? Do people like being named this? Is this a mature enough name that it doesn't lead our second child into a life of pole dancing and porno films as a career path? Surprisingly, all of the answers were leaning in the right direction.

Now the big sell. How do I present this name to Tom without him immediately shooting it down because he doesn't like what we thought was the only nickname for it? So I wrote the full name and the nickname down on a piece of paper, and gave it to him. The other downfall for Tom? If he didn't like it - he might risk being killed, mutalated, or worse, because I had already explained to him that I really liked it. I think he was scared of dealing with the pregnant lady. However, I did preface, that I wanted to know his real opinion, and I wouldn't kill him or anything if he didn't like it, but I would be really upset, and probably would cry. (No pressure).

So the name was presented on the paper. He asked several questions. Does the name have any meanings that would associate it with Elf Councils, or Elf villages, like another name we were considering? Nope. Meaning? Nicknames? Teasing possibilities? Spelling? All of these answers also leaned the right way for Tom....

So the result? We have a name. That we both like. That doesn't mean Elf Council, or is associated with Elves in anyway. That has a good nickname. That doesn't lend our daughter into a life of pole dancing. That others like being named. That is easy to pronounce. That goes well with a family name as a middle name.

And the answer is.....

I can't say yet, I have to check with Tom. It wouldn't be fair to blirt it out with his approval. But it is the first name that I have been excited about in 33 weeks for a little girl.

So in 8 days, we may have a little addition to our family with the initials MKT.

More later on this.