Naming Woes Version 2.0
When I was pregnant with Grant, we had a really hard time coming up with his name. You can read about it in my previous posts: Naming my child and Naming my child part 2. Matt of course wouldn't even discuss baby names until we knew the gender of Grant. And the same thing this time around. I had a lot of boy names I liked but of course I had so many girl names that it ran off the page. So when I found out I was having a boy, I thought this is going to be so hard! Surprisingly we came up with Grant's name very quickly after finding out he was a boy. It's especially funny that when anytime it's mentioned who came up with the name Grant, Matt will say it was him that came up with the name. When in fact it really was me. Though, He did come up with Grant's middle name, which is Taylor. But if that is what it took to get Matt to like Grant's name is think that he came up with it, than fine. Hahaha... The truth is one day I read a list of names to Matt, Grant was on that list. He didn't respond to any of the names. And acted as if my list has a bunch of reject names on it. Then a couple days later, at dinner all the sudden Matt said he really liked the name Grant. I ended up looking at my list to realize it was on it. The power of suggestion. He likes to claim to this day it was him that came up with Grant's name but really I was the one that planted the idea in his head.
I really think we did a great job coming up with Grant's name. Though it's slightly annoying when people say "Did you intentionally name your child after civil war generals with it being Grant Taylor Sherman". And when people say "Maybe he'll be a civil war reactor with that name". Despite those annoying comments, I love how strong sounding Grant's name. I think we did a good job naming him, which is why it puts naming this baby on a higher standard. I feel like we need to make sure this baby's name is just as good as Grant's name. Which is why it makes naming thing this time around is becoming so stressful.
When I found out we were having a girl, I thought "Well naming a kid this time around will be so much easier." Boy was I wrong. I have so many girl names that I like, (way more than boys) that I thought we would be able to able to come up with something within a week. The thing is it's easier for me to come up with names I like, but getting Matt to like them is a different story. Which now at this point trying to find a name that he likes, is making me hate every name I look at. Mainly because I start over-analyzing every name. One thing I'm starting to realize is it's actually A LOT harder to name a girl than it is a boy. And maybe it's harder naming the second child because you want to make sure it sounds good with the first kid's name.
So here are my reasons why I find naming a girl and a second child is harder:
1) There are so many more unique girl names than boy names. But the problem is most of these unique girl names sound off the wall, crazy. And it seems everyone wants to name their girl an unique name, so unique names are no longer unique. It's funny because I was reading an article once that people are more likely to name their boy a traditional name verses an unique name. Though they are more apt to name their girl a more unique name.I want to name her an unique name, but at the same time I don't want her to have an off the way wall name that will affect her adulthood.
2) It seems that girl names have more stereotypes to them than boy names do. When I've been going through names, or even suggesting some to friends, I get some negative stereotypes to them. For example some names sound like a stripper, some names sound like the girl may be trailer trash. Some names sound like the girl will be a rich snob. Don't get me wrong, just because a girl is names a certain name doesn't mean she will be doomed to those stereotypes. But everyone seems to have certain girl names that they stereotype. The more I got the thinking there really isn't any boy names where people have certain stereotypes about them. It's sad that as a society we seem to hold female names to a high standard. Which puts more pressure on me making sure I pick the right name. I don't want to set her up for failure or stereotypes before she is born.
3) Because of my job and working with only girls, I've encountered so many different girl names. Some of the experiences I've had with these girls and in my past teaching experience, has tainted my view of certain names. Some girls have ruined a name that I use to like for me.
4) There are so many girl names that I like that are on the top 100 names. I want to name our girl a name where she doesn't have 2-3 girls in her class with the same name. I may not be able to avoid that completely but I want to try to have a name that is semi different than the trending names.
5) Making sure a name flows good with three names is way harder than making sure it flows with just two names.It's important that the kids' names sound good with the parents' name. Right now I love the way Matthew, Megan and Grant flow together. Now I have to continue that nice flow and make sure the fourth name goes great with Matthew, Megan, and Grant.
I'm hoping we can come up with something soon. We still have some time, but I just want to have our name figured out. It doesn't help that Matt is dead set on a name, that I am just not fond of. Hopefully we can agree on something! Naming a child is a lot of stress. Hopefully we can find the perfect name that meets my ridiculous standards.
Regardless of what we come up with, we are keeping the name a secret until the baby is born. Hopefully I can keep my big mouth shut. :)
I really think we did a great job coming up with Grant's name. Though it's slightly annoying when people say "Did you intentionally name your child after civil war generals with it being Grant Taylor Sherman". And when people say "Maybe he'll be a civil war reactor with that name". Despite those annoying comments, I love how strong sounding Grant's name. I think we did a good job naming him, which is why it puts naming this baby on a higher standard. I feel like we need to make sure this baby's name is just as good as Grant's name. Which is why it makes naming thing this time around is becoming so stressful.
When I found out we were having a girl, I thought "Well naming a kid this time around will be so much easier." Boy was I wrong. I have so many girl names that I like, (way more than boys) that I thought we would be able to able to come up with something within a week. The thing is it's easier for me to come up with names I like, but getting Matt to like them is a different story. Which now at this point trying to find a name that he likes, is making me hate every name I look at. Mainly because I start over-analyzing every name. One thing I'm starting to realize is it's actually A LOT harder to name a girl than it is a boy. And maybe it's harder naming the second child because you want to make sure it sounds good with the first kid's name.
So here are my reasons why I find naming a girl and a second child is harder:
1) There are so many more unique girl names than boy names. But the problem is most of these unique girl names sound off the wall, crazy. And it seems everyone wants to name their girl an unique name, so unique names are no longer unique. It's funny because I was reading an article once that people are more likely to name their boy a traditional name verses an unique name. Though they are more apt to name their girl a more unique name.I want to name her an unique name, but at the same time I don't want her to have an off the way wall name that will affect her adulthood.
2) It seems that girl names have more stereotypes to them than boy names do. When I've been going through names, or even suggesting some to friends, I get some negative stereotypes to them. For example some names sound like a stripper, some names sound like the girl may be trailer trash. Some names sound like the girl will be a rich snob. Don't get me wrong, just because a girl is names a certain name doesn't mean she will be doomed to those stereotypes. But everyone seems to have certain girl names that they stereotype. The more I got the thinking there really isn't any boy names where people have certain stereotypes about them. It's sad that as a society we seem to hold female names to a high standard. Which puts more pressure on me making sure I pick the right name. I don't want to set her up for failure or stereotypes before she is born.
3) Because of my job and working with only girls, I've encountered so many different girl names. Some of the experiences I've had with these girls and in my past teaching experience, has tainted my view of certain names. Some girls have ruined a name that I use to like for me.
4) There are so many girl names that I like that are on the top 100 names. I want to name our girl a name where she doesn't have 2-3 girls in her class with the same name. I may not be able to avoid that completely but I want to try to have a name that is semi different than the trending names.
5) Making sure a name flows good with three names is way harder than making sure it flows with just two names.It's important that the kids' names sound good with the parents' name. Right now I love the way Matthew, Megan and Grant flow together. Now I have to continue that nice flow and make sure the fourth name goes great with Matthew, Megan, and Grant.
I'm hoping we can come up with something soon. We still have some time, but I just want to have our name figured out. It doesn't help that Matt is dead set on a name, that I am just not fond of. Hopefully we can agree on something! Naming a child is a lot of stress. Hopefully we can find the perfect name that meets my ridiculous standards.
Regardless of what we come up with, we are keeping the name a secret until the baby is born. Hopefully I can keep my big mouth shut. :)
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