What's in a name?

A whole lot of time and over thinking, that's what!

Chris and I talked about names years before we were even ready to have kids. At that point in time we seemed very agreeable, almost too agreeable. Well now that the time has come and the pressure to permanently name another human being is upon us, we are having a little bit of stage fright.

There are many things you learn about marriage once you are married, many things you learn about college once you are there, and as I am learning, many things about being pregnant slash a future parent that become apparent as well. Naming a child is no easy task. I have learned there are some obvious factors to consider when naming your child, most of which I did not entirely think of until now:

1. You must like the name. (Duh! Of course I knew this one). I would never name my child Darth (as in Vader)- just a personal choice, everyone has these names that just don't melt your heart. I made the assumption that readers of this blog would agree with me on the name Darth... I hope I was right.
2. The name must be empty of any negative associations. If your childhood dog was named Sceeter, there is a pretty good chance you won't name your first born child after him. Same goes for the first guy that broke your heart or the name of your best friend growing up (even if she is your best friend still, you probably had a few moments there, am I right? And maybe it isn't negative just a clear association you don't want to have for your child.)
3. The name cannot already be taken by a close friend or family member's new baby. This one is the toughest in my opinion, especially now that all of our friends are having babies.
4. And last but certainly not least, it must go with our last name, Carr. That just means our child probably shouldn't be named Fast, Chevy, or something along those lines, but also just the way the names roll together is pretty important to me. (I like the name Connor, but Connor Carr doesn't sound right).

So what's not to agree on? :)

I compiled a list of roughly 50 names (split evenly between boy and girl names). Of course this list was naturally biased because I had already filtered it for my preferences. The first time Chris looked at it he chose one of each (both of which were almost my least favorites). So I decided to amend this list, add a few, subtract a few, and regroup (leaving the ones he chose on the list of course- who knows maybe they will grow on me). This time I approached with an audible plan, reading the list to him with our last name tacked on the end of each. This time we made a little more progress and have a few more names in the "maybe" category.

I guess the name game is a process that we have to take one day or week at a time. I am fine with that. Besides, it looks like we won't know the gender of our lil' bit for a good 6 more weeks (or so I've heard). We go back to the doctor in 2 weeks at our 16 week mark, but I am pretty sure our doctor normally doesn't reveal the sex until week 20. Stay tuned.

So what about you guys? For those with kids in your future have you thought about names? For those with kids already am I going about this all wrong? How did you pick a name and when did you find out the sex of your baby?