WHAT'S IN A NAME

In the beginning of the pregnancy, Rich and I made a short list of baby names sorted by gender and 'middle' or 'first' name. After only a couple of weeks Rich gave up on the obscurity of this task because he wanted to wait until we knew the baby's sex before really racking our brains over names. I was not terribly thrilled about this strategy (and whined here and there when I heard a new name I liked) but for the most part we stuck with it up until today. Now the joke is on my husband, as we still have to choose names without knowing the gender.

I'm writing this somewhat unusual post to ask any of our close friends and family who read it to submit their own name suggestions. We are by no means short of ideas, and we're certainly not going to take votes on the best name (sorry to disappoint)... but it's fairly important to Rich and I to come up with a name that is meaningful. It could have religious meaning, meaning or history within our family, etc. What better way to more thoroughly search for meaningful names than to ask the people who mean the most in our lives (and who will play a big role in our baby's life)? So if anyone thinks of a striking or meaningful name, feel free to suggest it over email (aislinnu@gmail.com) or to post a comment on the blog.

And for the record... the name 'Marlo' has already been submitted by Rich's 9-year-old brother. You will all have to really amp up the creativity to beat his growing list! Also, for a thoughtful story about naming children, read this post from one of my favorite bloggers (I should mention that the saint spoken of is the same patron I took my name from when I was confirmed as a member of the Catholic Church. She is known as a visionary and a political zealot. She often advised the pope).