Thursday, October 11, 2007

Name List

Shannon and I have been talking about potential baby names for years, narrowing down to a short list of first and middle names we both love, so when baby pops out naming her should be no harder than a multiple choice question. I like our long incubation period, because a name is kind of like a tattoo--do you really want a mermaid on your butt cheek when you're 83?

Maybe.

But we're not discussing tattoo's here. Or my butt cheek, left or right.

Anyways, Shannon and I keep telling ourselves we're not settling on a single name before the birth because we know several people that have had to change their mind when they saw their baby. My brother just did it last spring and Shannon, bless her little bisyllabic self, was supposed to be a Jessica. Despite our best efforts though, one name is leading the nominations.

It's perfect. It sounds beautiful but shortens well. It's not too common and not too weird. It looks pretty on paper and feels good to write. It's versatile. It has a suitable manifestation for whatever life pursuit little *BEEP* pursues. Etc. Etc.

And we're not going to tell you, or anyone, what it is. It's too easy to criticize a name before it's a person. And we'd rather not spend the next four months defending, persuading, or second guessing.

But--to appease you ravenous vultures--I present you with a shortlist...

...of names we will NOT be naming our child:

1) Brianrietta
- although a personal favorite, this one didn't pass Shannon's rigorous screening process.

2) Kwanesha - NB. that does NOT exclude its variant: Qwanesha.

3) Hairb - even though a new surname may be in her future, there were a few tangles to work out with this one.

4) ???

Feel free to make your own suggestions in the comments. The list is short but it's not closed.

10 comments:

emily said...

i can't wait to find out!! february is seeming farther and farther away...i'm sure even more so for you guys.

anyhow, hold out on the name, but beware of the family hassle. we were given lots of grief for not sharing and/or having a name for keely until after she was born (i.e. can't you even give us a list?)...but it's so great to meet her first!

ilse said...

Good job on holding out - I'm a big fan of that as well.

USMom said...

Thank you for sharing the beautiful way you have described your current #1 choice. I'm sure it's a perfect name and you will know for sure soon after she's born if it's the name she was born to carry. Whatever name you decide to give her, it will not be given on a whim and I deeply respect such strong commitment to your baby daughter. You are already such wise parents!

USMom said...

I would like to suggest adding to your short "will not name" list the perfect combo name, Briannon (long i) as well as Little Teresa which would make me Mother Teresa and Nana Teresa.

I would also like to suggest that you remove that disgusting picture of a gross creature coming out of the guys stomach. Our baby will not look anything like that and it's just plain creepy! :)

Brian said...

Mom, how 'bout another good combo name to honor you both: Louresa?

I will add Briannon to the list, but not the simpler Shrian :)

USMom said...

Yes, I do believe we should add Louresa but include Shrian as well. Maybe Kwanesa could be the middle name. I especially like the flow of Louresa Kwanesa.

If you would like to honor both grandmothers you could name her Caresa or Terol! What do you think of those?

USMom said...

Actually I was looking at baby names on line today and thought I would share these ideas with you.
Kaitlin
Hannah
Anna
Kassidy
Michaela

All from an Irish name site that I used to choose Murphy's name :)

USMom said...

I've already told Shannon that I also like Alexis (Lexie) and Madison (Maddy) and MacKenzie and Abigail (Abby) but I thought I would add them to the list since you posted this invitation for suggestions. Have a great day! I love all three of you!

USMom said...

l would like to suggest that we begin a contest to guess the name that Brian and Shannon have chosen for their baby girl. Of course they can let us know who won on the day that they name the baby.
To get things rolling I have been thinking that it must be a name from Harry Potter so my first guesses include the following:
Hermoine
Hetty
Belvina (probably too close to the old car)
Bellatrix
Callidora
Cedrella
Catriona
Rowena
Celestina
Gubhilda
Cassandra
Sacharissa
Kendra
Bathhilda
Arabella
Eleanor
Dorea
Lucretia
Beatrix
Walburga
Charity
Alecto
Musidora
Amelia
Gabriella
Narcissa
Lavender
Ariana (my favorite)

Anyone have any other guesses?

Josh D said...

I'm on too you Rush's!

There is no other reason why you chose to reference a mermaid as the tatoo in the first part of your blog.

Your baby's name will be ARIEL.

Sneaky, sneaky you are, but it didn't get past this detective.

"It's perfect. It sounds beautiful but shortens well. It's not too common and not too weird. It looks pretty on paper and feels good to write. It's versatile. It has a suitable manifestation for whatever life pursuit little *BEEP* pursues. Etc. Etc."

Perhaps its Ariella and shortened to Ariel. Its pretty on paper and the 'iel' at the end of the name feels great to write, especially in cursive.

Sorry to let the cat out of the bag.

By the way. Here are some names I DON'T vote for.

Hsur Rush - palendromes; cool for first names, but not cool for first AND last names

Canttalkimina Rush- Cause that's not even a real name. (i guess Hsur isn't one either.)

That's all I got, really. Just make sure your baby girl's name goes with Durias also.

Ariel Durias.