What's in a Name?

A name has a lot to say about a person. It's something you can't escape from, try as you might. Okay, you can go through a legal name change at some point in life, but it is a big hassle that few people actually go through. I digress...

Thomas and I have put a lot of thought into what we would like as a name for our child. We've come up with names for either gender. It turns out that we both came into our relationship with some strong feelings about specific names that we really liked or disliked. We both have pretty high standards for names, so it was an interesting discussion at times. Being a teacher, my standards were exceptionally high. Our standards were something along these lines...

• It can't be an excessively popular name. Preferably nothing in the top 50 names of the year. We'd be fine with anything that happened to fall between #51 and #100, but only if we really liked the name. We didn't want our child to spend their whole life going by their first name and last initial because there were 3 other kids in their class who shared a name with them.
• It can't have any weird spellings, unless the spelling has sentimental value. (i.e. Gina's youngest, Jakub, has that particular spelling because it is the traditional Czech spelling and also the name of our great-grandfather. That would be an acceptable reason, to us, for a non-standard spelling.) 
• No unnecessary "y"s or excessive respellings. We want the name to have a generally phonetic spelling. No Bryleigh, Braxtynn, or anything of the like. 
• No names of former students who caused me lots of grief. Or names of people who were rude to either of us. I won't even go into name examples, because I don't want to give people any ideas. 
• The name has to have a good meaning. We want a good, strong name. Bonus points if it's the name of a Biblical character, a saint we like, or someone we really like. 
• Their name can't be something that'd make them an easy target for people picking on them. Also, nothing that'd give them embarrassing or obscene initials. 

I think that basically sums up our standards for child naming. It seems like a lot to us, but maybe this is more standard than we realize. 

We've both always liked our names, Amanda Kate and Thomas Patrick. Amanda means "one who must be loved". My parents couldn't think of another girl name, but my dad finally landed on this after watching an episode of the old Western, Gunsmoke. The actress who played Miss Kitty was named Amanda Blake. Dad always liked the show, and noticed it while watching the credits one day. My middle name was started by Grandma Hladik at the hospital when I was born. She suggested that it be Kay. Gina and Emily didn't like that name. Emily countered by suggesting Kate. Everyone fell in love with it, and the rest is history. Yes, people made dumb jokes, like "A Man, duh?" or sang me the old country song by the same name. A few people did the same with the classic rock song. There were a few other nicknames, but it wasn't that bad. 

Thomas is actually Steve's middle name. Diana was fairly adamant that he be named Benjamin Thomas, but Thomas Patrick was another option. When he was born, her nurse was a good old Irish woman who opted for Thomas Patrick. Thomas has always been insistent that he be called that and not some abbreviation, like Tom or Tommy. He said that Tom sounds like an old man name, and he just hates it. He cringes a lot when people, who try to act like they're being clever or familiar, call him that. 

Thus, we have landed on the following name options for our firstborn. For a boy, we'll name him Patrick Willis. For a girl, we'll name her Katherine Michelle. 

Patrick Willis has a lot of meaning to us. It’s literal meaning is nothing to get that excited about, but that’s okay. Some sources say it means “nobleman”, while some sources claim it means “Patrician”. Patrick is, of course, Thomas' middle name. He thought it'd be cool to continue the pattern started by his parents. Patrick was also Thomas' confirmation saint name. Willis was Diana's father's middle name. Thomas originally wanted this grandpa's first name, Floyd, as middle name, but we later decided that that name didn't age so well. Even Diana said that Willis would be better than Floyd, and it was her father! 

Katherine Michelle is just as meaningful to us. The name Katherine means “pure” or “clear”. Katherine was the middle name of Diana's mother who died the day we found out about the baby. We thought about her first name, Jacqueline, but I just didn't like it as well. Steve's mother's middle name was Catherine, so it's pulling double-duty (in a sense) on Thomas' grandmothers. Katherine is the extended version of Kate, my middle name. Not that we intended that when picking the name, but it's a fun happenstance. My confirmation name was also Catherine of Siena, so it cracks me up that both first names meet the same criteria! Michelle is the name of my older sister who died before I was born. It's been an understanding among my sisters and me that if any of us ever had a daughter that we'd give her the middle name of Michelle. 

Either way, our child will have lots of great guardian angels and intercessors in heaven! I think we will give our child a good, strong name that will hopefully suit them well as they move through life.