Ok... I'm about to give a BIG confession here... brace yourself...
I'm not crazy about my son's name.
Whew... It feels good to have that off my chest! ;)
I know... This is absurd, because - duh - I gave him the name... But, here's the deal... I like Samuel. It is OK in my book. I think it is a strong and classic name with a good meaning behind it. But, our guy? He is such a Sam. I never call him Samuel. In fact, when someone else does, I wonder who are they are talking about for a few minutes... But, let's just be honest, really, Sam by itself is a hard name to make work with a middle name. Samuel was much easier.
On that note, I'm a classic kind-of girl. I'm not trendy, and I like to keep things simple. I even have kind-of convinced myself that giving your child a unique name is becoming so popular that basic names are actually unique. (Does that make any sense at all?)
BUT... I must admit... sometimes when a friend names their baby something more "creative," I get a little case of... Name Envy.
On that note, I'm a classic kind-of girl. I'm not trendy, and I like to keep things simple. I even have kind-of convinced myself that giving your child a unique name is becoming so popular that basic names are actually unique. (Does that make any sense at all?)
BUT... I must admit... sometimes when a friend names their baby something more "creative," I get a little case of... Name Envy.
Here are some recent examples... Meet
Keller
Shepherd
and Raleigh
Ok, Raleigh is a girl... But, I think it could go either way. Right?
Maybe Baby #2? (One day... don't get any ideas.)
Tell me I'm not alone here! Do you have any name envy? What are the names? Maybe we can copy each other... ;)
*All photos stolen from Facebook without permission. At least two are my friends. The other is kind-of a stranger, and I'm kind-of a stalker - hope she doesn't read this blog!
More on baby names and STEALING/COPYING later this week. Big topic folks.
Tell me I'm not alone here! Do you have any name envy? What are the names? Maybe we can copy each other... ;)
*All photos stolen from Facebook without permission. At least two are my friends. The other is kind-of a stranger, and I'm kind-of a stalker - hope she doesn't read this blog!
More on baby names and STEALING/COPYING later this week. Big topic folks.
I like that name Keller! Very cute. I love my kids' names but there are others I love too that I won't ever get to use. I love Addison for a girl or Avery.
ReplyDeletellooollll your comments about stealing off facebook cracked me up!
ReplyDeletebut i am completely with you on the name envy--my husband banned anything that sounded remotely trendy (even names that are not trendy like luke or connor was too bold) so we named our baby Kevin after someone in the family....i love him, i can't picture him being anything other than kevin...but...name envy is a real thing!~ i also convinced myself that normal was the new trend--one time i was introducing him and the woman goes "thank goodness, finally, a NORMAL name!" so maybe we are on to something here? ahead of the curve?
When people call my daughter Josephine, I just kind of shake my hand because it sounds so ridiculous... yet I named her that! We have always (and originally planned to) call her Josie... I do like those more unique names that aren't hard to spell or pronounce so I have name envy like that as well... my hubby banned them too. You aren't alone!
ReplyDeleteI like the old fashioned, less trendy names. I have an Abigail, Austin, and Jackson.
ReplyDeleteOk, Austin is not old fashioned, but it's not super creative.
If we would have had another girl, she would have been Amelia. I never see that name anymore.
Lillian is another that I always liked. However, we are finished so no more name picking for me.
I don't think it sounds silly. I don't have kids yet, but my husband and I have our baby names picked out for years. Each one (first and middle for a boy and a girl) has significant meaning, but I find myself holding my breath whenever someone I know gets pregnant. "They better not use our names!" always goes through my mind, because we haven't told many people what they are. If you were set on a name before the baby came, and someone else unknowingly used it, would you still give the name to your baby?
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I never shared our names with anyone before the babies were born. I remember my husband's sister saying "if you have a girl, whatever you do DON'T name her ______." I cried for a week because it was the name that we had picked if it was a girl (and it was). Still love the name.
ReplyDeleteI agree, classic names are definitely making a BIG comeback - they're totally "trending" and I'm sorta digging the familiarity. If born with girl parts, Gabriel would have been Eden so when a friend of a friend named her baby Eden I felt a pang of envy I couldn't quite explain. I don't know about you, but I get super possessive over my baby names - like no one in a 50 mile radius is allowed to use Saige or Gabe... crazy mom alert.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about Sam not working with a middle name. I had that issue when we were choosing names too! Lately I've just been wondering what the world my friends are thinking with their name choices. The ones you have above are adorablely unique. I love a good, different name, but there it's certainly a line to cross lol :)
ReplyDeleteSee, I love classic strong names as well. The thing about my naming situation is that I have to find a happy medium for everyone. I have to be in love with the name, my husband does too, yet our parents have to be able to pronounce it without butchering it (they don't speak English.) A lot of the names we fell in love with but sound awkward or can't be pronounced by them....Michael fit all of the above.
ReplyDeleteI cracked up when I read this because this is totally me! I love my kids names, but I also have name envy when I hear of what other people name their kids! I wanted my kids to have names that had only one spelling and names that couldn't be shortened into nicknames. Although......they still ended up with some sort of nickname. My son's name is Adam and my daughter's name is Courtney. Courtney can be spelled several ways, but for the most part I've only seen is spelled one way. Maybe I'll do a post on this on my blog!!
ReplyDeleteI love the name Sam by the way!
Recently I have fallen in love with the writing of Anne Lamott, and she's mom to a Sam, too.
ReplyDeletesometimes I wish my kids names had a significant meaning, other than we just liked them. But thats the truth...we just really liked them.
ReplyDeleteYou are so funny! P.S. I think Samuel is a strong, beautiful, classic name. P.P.S. I LOVE the name Sam. It is so cute for a boy!
ReplyDeleteMy huge Irish family has an agreement that between all the cousins and second cousins, we will not repeat first names. We are at 27 first cousins, and 19 second cousins. Talk about hard to name. My hubby and I don't have any names but we talk about them all of the time. Once thing we can't find is a boy’s name that we both LOVE. Well leave it to my cousin to find the name Holden. We BOTH fell in LOVE. It was different, but not weird, and a very strong boys name. Too bad my cousin named her son that.
ReplyDeleteomg I need help in the name front! We're are due to have our baby in 6 weeks and we cannot come up with a girl name! The tough part, people are coming up with such amazing names lately I feel like we have to compete! We didn't find out the gender, if we have a boy then we are set on a name but our poor possible daughter will be nameless! :(
ReplyDeleteMy baby's name is Thomas, and I completely agree with the fact that older/classic names are much more unusual. We call our son Thomas, not Tom or Tommy... and I love it! I think Samuel is a great name, and so is Sam. When trends change, you'll probably be glad to have a classic name.
ReplyDeleteOne positive thing is he will always be able to find personalized things (pencils, little toy license plates etc) Some of the more creative names and/or creative spellings, those kids will never find things. I know, when I was young I could only find boy things, and I HATED it!
ReplyDeleteHaha! I love this post! When Louis was born, I was too tired in the hospital to figure out if it was the "right" name for my new baby. I don't have name envy, yet, but I see how it can happen!
ReplyDeleteI too have a Samuel. I LOVE Sam and really don't have name envy. Our poor little guy rarely gets called Sam but usually Sammer or McSamerson. The only problem is that I think there are many of us going back to traditional names. I hear Sam all over the place. I have a uniquely spelled name and I hate it. I could never find anything with my name on it.
ReplyDeleteWe're traditional, classic, too. But, my kids have nicknames off their cute, classic, traditional names. It's the kiss of death for school though.
ReplyDelete