The Name Game

Time is flying by. In just a few short months, BGB will join us and life will never be the same again. She's going to need a name and picking one is no easy feat. Some get crossed off this list before they're even written down, and others we bounce around to see how they feel. Our rules for first names are simple:

1. We automatically eliminate names of women in our families and daily lives who are still alive. (We are going to make an exception to this rule if BGB turns out to be BBB, but you'll have to wait to see if that happens to find out what we've decided.)
2. Jonas has to be able to say it.
3. It has to be something that works for a little girl and also a grown-up woman.
4. It can't be too off the wall.
5. It can't be something that makes any of us cringe.
6. We have to like the predictable nicknames.

The boys were pretty easy to name. About a month before he was born, I had a dream that we had a boy and named him Jonah. Steve thought it was too bibical and as we were discussing it, the song "My name is Jonas" came on the radio. Problem solved and name chosen. Owen was a character name a movie we watched just before he was born and it came to us both immediately in the delivery room.

This time around, we toss in a few wacky ones to make it a little more fun, but Esmerelda, Alphaba, Gertie, Xena, Sue the Second and Filomena are all officially out of contention. We've also eliminated Kahlan, Daphne, Emma, Olivia, Lillianne, Ruth, Amy, Hannah, Robyn, Isabell, Allison, Faith and Cassandra.

This week's nominees are:

• Sam (one of Jonas's favourite TV characters)
• Gabrielle (Steve's suggestion after we took Xena off the list)

Choosing middle names is a challenge as well but not quite as pressurized. Here's where family names come in. We like the idea of making our kid's middle names tributes, as long as the person had real meaning to us. (i.e. No empty gestures). Jonas's middle name is Robert, after Steve's dad and my Grandpa Lillie, and Owen's was Michael, after my dad and brother. This little girl has her middle names all picked out so now we just need to settle on her first name.

We do have three current forerunners that we're deliberating on. They aren't listed above, and we're not going to share them. We need to save some surprises!  :)

Cheers!