What's in a Name?

Let me just say, I am celebrating because I finally found the dress that I wore to both The Oldest's and Middle's baby showers! Now we're all set to go!

When I printed my pregnancy announcements I was extremely mindful of several things. First, everyone would be surprised, to say the least. Second, they would all be finding out almost halfway through my pregnancy. Third, the bigger shock would be that the baby would have Down syndrome. I tried to be encouraging. I tried to be upbeat. And I asked people for support rather than condolences. I included a line along the bottom to send name suggestions to my email account, and many did!

After months of deliberations, The Littles were still pulling for Jack. Secretly, so was I. Then not so secretly. The Beloved vetoed it. Among the slain were such noble names as Logan, Trent, Trevor, Holland, Cooper, Conrad, Colton, Zach, Max, Ashton, Liam, Addison, Christian, Benjamin, Joseph, Timothy, Jacob, Adam, Blake, Chase, Gray, Luke, Nicholas, Lucas, Theodore, Zachary, Jace, Jarrett, Caden, Erik. And all of my favorites, Mayhew Eggbert Wyborn Ethelwulf.

We've never been a family to choose names that could be shortened to other names. Especially with Our Littles. The Beloved specifically vetoed Elizabeth for The Girlie because it could be changed to Liz or Beth or changed entirely to Betty. Nope...no names here that can be shortened. If you know our family, you already know that our children's nicknames are those of our own design - well - The Beloved's own design. We've also chosen classic spellings. Why saddle a kid with a lifetime of having to spell their first names when they're already doomed to spelling both of their last names? Although, in today's twist-your-kids-name society, even the classic spellings are going to be oddities.

So this particular evening, The Beloved and I were once again engaging in The Great Name Debate. Having been through this process a few times already, I was prepared for a long verbal siege. He is too, too skilled at taking any name I suggest and before the name is even off my lips, he's already listing a stream, a veritable river, of the mean names school kids can change it to. Or add to it. Or shorten it to. In example I offer the name Richard. Every one knows what Richard gets changed to. And Peter? I won't go there. Anyway, I'd prepared for battle, girded my proverbial loins and taken up my proverbial armor. Kinda funny to use war words in relation to what we chose! Especially since the battle fizzled before it began.

The Beloved and I had discussed William Wallace before. You know, The Great Protector of Scotland, although the movie Braveheart took great artistic license portraying the facts. We also were great fans of King Leonidas of Sparta. Both names have great potential. Will, never Bill, (never!) Willie, Leo...so I brought both of those up again and suddenly we had a name. William Leonidas. No fighting, no negotiating, no building of fortresses and no taking up arms. We'd chosen a name without bloodshed. Another irony.

We sat back proud of ourselves. We'd done it. Without screaming or crying or gnashing of teeth. The Beloved had a secretive lopsided half smile on his face. And then he said something that made my heart swell even more than when he'd worried that William might never know the love of a companion. We'd already agreed that he'd need a namesake of strength. The Beloved said, "There's another way to look at this. He's going to have challenges from the first moment he's born. Neither of these two men backed down from their challenges."

The Middle was named for a strong character in a John Wayne flick. The Girlie was named for, well, she has a name I really liked. Noble, huh? And Little William is being named for honorable men who rose to meet the needs of their country. And unlike either of The Littles names, I can call William Will, or Willie, or Leo. Or Jack. We are breaking our own rules by using names that can be shortened, but Jack started it with his extra chromosomes!

If you don't know the history behind either William Wallace or King Leonidas, I invite you to read all about it. These were two tough dudes!