# How did you choose your child's name?



## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

So, is there any really cool history behind the choice you made or was it just a whim?  How about YOUR name anything UNIQUE about it? Just wondering since the thread about KB names and also another thread about names out of tv & movies.


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## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

We had a few names picked out for our son, but when it came time to actually name him, we went with the combination that sounded best when shouted out the back door with great annoyance, trying to get the little monster to come inside 

I was named after Mousketeers. I still haven't forgiven my parents for that...


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

Thumper said:


> We had a few names picked out for our son, but when it came time to actually name him, we went with the combination that sounded best when shouted out the back door with great annoyance, trying to get the little monster to come inside
> I was named after Mousketeers. I still haven't forgiven my parents for that...


And & did/do you have to shout it out the back door a lot?


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

We spent more time with our kids middle names than we did with their first names as far as naming them after family members/friends.  The only exception was our oldest son, he got named after my mom's dad who died when she was 12.

Not to many Arthur's around now days.

We also wanted to avoid the top names of the time like the plague and yet not have anything really exotic.  Kind of failed with my daughters name.  We swear we didn't know of any Megan's when we named her, get to kindergarten and there were at least 2 or 3.  But at least as she says, we spelled it right. 

Kid number 3 was way more difficult, we pored over the baby name books for months trying to figure out what the heck to name the kid.  I don't think the decision was final till the nurse asked what name to put on the birth certificate, 16 years later still trying to figure out if we got it right, Hayden.


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## Vicki (Nov 9, 2008)

I was named after my Dad's beloved 1951 Ford Victoria that he called his Vicki. Told my mom he was going to name one of kids Vicki and she pointed out that to date there were no girls. One year later Dad had his Vicki. I guess it is appropriate. I was raised by motorheads and tend to be one myself.


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## Tip10 (Apr 16, 2009)

DD's name "spoke" to us -- 

In the middle of ex's pregnancy and unbeknownst to each other and untalked about between us we both arrived at the same name at the same time.  It was almost as if perhaps DD had instilled in us what she wished to be called.  

We never did reach any kind of a conclusion on a boy name -- (this was back before it was popular or even commonplace to find out the sex of the child before birth).  DD was born C-Section and we went in with a girl name all picked out and a fight brewing over a boy name.  

Funny thing is when DD was born Doc announced "Its a little Boy" and I had time to lean down and tell ex that it had outdoor plumbing before Doc pipped up and said "WAIT Its a little Girl!" to which I responded "Umm, do you know the difference?" which drew a round of applause form all the nurses present.

DD's always been a Daddy's girl.  We divorced when she was 4 and I had total custody since (I remarried when she was 11) -- she's 22 now (and still Daddy's girl!).


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Since my family is spread around in multiple countries and speaking multiple languages, I wanted DD to have a name that would be recognizable and pronounceable in other languages (European ones, at least).

I was also thinking ahead of possible career choices.... I mean if she decides to be an exotic dancer she can take on a stage name, but if she aims higher... I couldn't imagine "Supreme Court Justice Bambi So-and-so", so it had to be something dignified.

Her name is Alexandra, because I've always liked the name, and now that I know her I think it suits her. 

Having worked in several offices where sexist attitudes prevailed (if I signed a letter with my name, they'd call and ask to speak to my boss, assuming that a female signature had to belong to the secretary... when in fact I _was_ the boss), I was also pleased that it would shorten to a "camouflage" Alex in case she ever finds herself in such a setting. (Which I sincerely hope is never the case.) A couple of people call her that now, and she corrects them.

The only unforeseen downside is that we live close to the city of Alexandria, with an "i", and some people call her that. I don't get it at all. Her name's not that uncommon, so why can't they get it straight??

Oh, and the middle name is my grandmother's... DD and my grandmother are the only two people in my extended family to _have_ middle names!


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

Forster said:


> We spent more time with our kids middle names than we did with their first names as far as naming them after family members/friends. The only exception was our oldest son, he got named after my mom's dad who died when she was 12.
> Not to many Arthur's around now days.


Kinda the same here... I knew my baby was a girl from the minute I knew we were expecting her, I bought a book and while my husband got ready for work the next morning I called out the names form the book... every name! He was totally quiet, shaving and gunking-up his hair and when I called out the name "Madison" he spoke for the first time.... waited until I was in the M's... and he said "That's nice" and when I read the next name he said "I said that Madison was nice" so I say "So ya don't want me to read anymore?"  He said "....well, do you like it?" and THAT was it....

Now the middle name That was all ME. My mother died when I was two and my dad re-married when I was four so I had two mothers names to choose from (my Mum was very advanced in age and had Alzheimer's when DD was born) and since my birth mother's family all had two middle names... it made it easy. Besides my middle name and HIS mom's middle name are the same and my middle name is part of my Mother's middle name it was pretty easy... Madison Anna-Pearl and with MAPS as her initials they followed along the geographical theme. My daughter loves taking pictures of signs with her name on them. Have a lot of enlarged black-n-whites with her name in her collection.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Meredith Sinclair said:


> My daughter loves taking pictures of signs with her name on them.


We have those too; her initials are ART.


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## Tippy (Dec 8, 2008)

My DD is Laura Leigh.  Laura because her father and I liked it.  It is a simple name and not tied to any generation.  I also liked it because it is derived from Laurel.  The leaves of the laurel trees were used to make victors' garlands in ancient Rome.  Laura was also the first name of my favorite childhood author, Laura Ingalls Wilder.  

Her middle name, Leigh is my middle name.  It is from a surname in my family, and has been used often.  I had an Uncle Leigh, my brother's name is Leigh and it is the middle name of two of my cousins.  I thought Laura Leigh sounded and looked pretty.


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

Susan in VA said:


> We have those too; her initials are ART.


COOL!!! We thought about Alexandra for our girl too! Alexander is hubby's dad & brother's (Madison's Godfather) middle name.


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

Tippy said:


> My DD is Laura Leigh. Laura because her father and I liked it. It is a simple name and not tied to any generation. I also liked it because it is derived from Laurel. The leaves of the laurel trees were used to make victors' garlands in ancient Rome. Laura was also the first name of my favorite childhood author, Laura Ingalls Wilder.


Exactly who I thought of... I loved her books, and now my DD is really loving them too!


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

We did not want any boys names that could have a diminutive.
Like Robert becomes Bobby, James becomes Jimmie, Joseph becomes Joey, William becomes Billy.
So we chose Matthew for a boys name.
And we were in love with Michelle for a girls name.
We had a boy first so he became Matthew Charles.
Second time we had twins.  But even in the labor room they kept saying she was going to have one large child.  So we were hoping for Michelle.
When she delivered twin boys, we had to scramble.
So Michelle became Michael and and and and Mark for the second one.

and NO we did not at that moment realize that we had 3 Ms.
and NO we did not at that moment realize that we had Matt, Mark and needed Luke and John.
and NO we did not at that moment realize that all three names were kinda Biblical.

All those circumstances were accidental.

My father on the other hand named me after Geoffrey Chaucer and Lord Byron.
eeeech.

But I lived through it.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

I did not want names for my children that were popular at the time. When I was in school Kathy was a popular name and there were always 3 or 4 others in the class. 

With my daughter we agreed on the first name sort of, I wanted Marcy and her Dad wanted Marsha. I did not like the spelling, so we compromised with Marcia. She has never been called anything but Marcy and hates that it isn't her first name.

With my son, it was a family fight all the way around. My ex-husband was a Jr. and he did not want to pass down the name. We had decided on Nathan for a first name and we were going to use my Father's name (Keith) as the middle name. It started a feud, so to save feelings we went with my ex's first name (Henry) as a middle name. His family wanted us to name him Henry Woodrow Wilson III and call him Trey and both of us were totally against that. We do call him Nate at times, but usually it is Nathan. My biggest regret to this day is not using my Keith as the middle name. My ex remarried and they have a son with the middle name of Henry, so now both boys have his middle name.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

geoffthomas said:


> We did not want any boys names that could have a diminutive.


That's how I feel too; some diminutive names are sort of too "cutesy". If I'd had a boy he would probably have been Cedric (or maybe Anthony or James or Nicholas or Matthew... or Alexander... probably one of those as a first and one as a middle).



geoffthomas said:


> My father on the other hand named me after Geoffrey Chaucer and Lord Byron.
> eeeech.


Oh, I like that. I think the Geoffrey spelling is cool.  So are you Geoffrey George?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Clearly he's Geoffrey Lord.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

No. Geoffrey Biron.


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

geoffthomas said:


> and NO we did not at that moment realize that we had 3 Ms.


My dad's family all had the same 1st letter. D....eight of them. We were not going to do that.


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## Cowgirl (Nov 1, 2008)

I had a very unpopular name growing up.  I was the only Robin in my High School of about 2,000.  At the time I wished my name were Kathy or Debbie.  When I had my daughter I picked a popular name ...Jennifer.  She hated it because there were 6 Jennifer's in her kindergarten class and countless Jennifer's in her High School.  She had a daughter and named her Eleanor because it's not popular...I'm guessing my granddaughter will name a daughter after a popular name ..and so on!


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

My older child is Nicholas which shortened to Nicky and then, after he told me Nicky was a baby name, was shortened to Nick which is what it is right now. I chose Nicholas because it is a name I have always liked. He got John as his second name because it goes well with Nicholas.

The second child is Jake. No, not Jacob. This is directly attributable to Nick who told me to give the second one a name that couldn't be shortened! It seems that every second child is Jake or Jacob these days but since Jake is now in his thirties, he was WAY ahead of the present wave!  Also, Jake is an old-fashioned name, which I liked, and another form of James, which was his father's name. Jake's middle name is my maiden name in honor of my father whose first name was Cyril and which he hated!

My names are Patricia Margaret. Patricia is for Patrick {Irish Catholic aunt} and Margaret was after that aunt who was really a Margaret Mary but was called Babs. My sister was Roberta Anne. Roberta was after our uncle Robert Mary -- the Irish Catholic thing again--all the girls and the one boy were Something Mary-- and Anne was for St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.

We were called Paddy and Bobby which are boys names which is what my father really wanted. When we got to choose our own names, I became Patricia and my sister was Robbie. 

patrisha


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## Cowgirl (Nov 1, 2008)

I should add I named my son Kevin after Vicky's Buchanan's son from the soap opera One Life to Live.  They were both "Born" 32 years ago.  Children age pretty quickly on soap opera's so that Kevin is probably 60 by now...


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

geoffthomas said:


> No. Geoffrey Biron.


So why did your dad change the spelling?


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## egh34 (Jan 11, 2009)

My daughter Katelin was named because my husband and I both like the name Kate, and I had an aunt Katherine and have a sister Kathy. My son Alexander wasn't named until he came out. I wanted Harrison, by husband wanted him named after him (Gordon Brian), and neither one of us would budge, so he was un-named until he came out. We both like Alexander, and it worked!


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## kim (Nov 20, 2008)

Brittany Louise - Brittany was the ONLY name her father would agree to (yea, he's an EX now).  Louise was my grandmothers middle name.  There are always a few Brittanys in every group.

Me... Kim Marie - I was the fifth child, it doesn't mean anything, it was just a name they hadn't used yet.


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

I was away from home when my son was born.  I wanted to honor my father by naming him after Dad, so I chose my father's name for his first name, which is Kenneth.  His mother chose the middle name after herself, which was Dale as in Dale Evans.  So his name was chosen before he was born.  In the meantime, my DS was also expecting.  She had her son six months prior to my Kenneth Dale being born.  She and I had never discussed what she was planning to name her baby if it was a boy.  Lo and behold!  Voila, she named her son after our father... Kenneth.  Her hubby (God rest his soul) chose the middle after himself, which was Dale as in Dale Evans.  Hence, my parents two first grandchildren, both boys, were named Kenneth Dale.  Good Scottish names, of course, but geeeshhhh.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Susan in VA said:


> So why did your dad change the spelling?


Not too bright?
Haven't heard from him for over 30 years, so hard to go ask.
Mom has been gone for a few years, so I will probably never know.

Just whinin.......


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## Tippy (Dec 8, 2008)

I was named for my mother's brother, Gene.  Mom wanted to name me Regina.  My father put his foot down and said absolutely not, but he would compromise with Jeanne.  Mom threw out Gena, Dad said no, Mom came up with Jeana.  My middle name, Leigh, is again a paternal family surname.  Those two never could agree on anything. . .


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

geoffthomas said:


> Not too bright?
> Haven't heard from him for over 30 years, so hard to go ask.
> Mom has been gone for a few years, so I will probably never know.
> 
> Just whinin.......


Well.... sometimes asking doesn't help either. I asked my mom when I was around 20 why they had chosen my name, and she shrugged and said she didn't remember.


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## Reyn (Feb 10, 2009)

My oldest boys (12 year olds) were from my 1st marriage.  He had a tradition that some part of his name had to be in their name.  His name is Danny Marcus.  So the only 2 names we could agree on were Hunter and Tyler (neither name was common in our area then).  So they became Daniel Hunter and Marcus Tyler.  Fast forward 7 years, new hubby.  Kind of the same tradition except it had to be John.  John is also in several of my family member's names so it was a logical choice.  So our 4 year old is John "Lawson".  I just really liked last names for first names.  Every one thinks that since Hubby is a police officer we took Law from the police stuff and son is obvious.  We didn't, it just worked out that way.  Our 3 year old is Landon Sawyer.  I looked through our family history for a family name but just couldn't find one I loved.  So we just picked his name out of the blue.  Come to find out later on, my grandmother's brother (who was killed in the 60s before I was born) had Sawyer as a nickname.  So it worked out.  He was born right around the time the tv show LOST started and Sawyer is the main character's name, most people think we named him after the show.  We didn't.  We thought we were being alittle different without going over the top.  Oh and all 4 of our boys go by their middle name.  Didn't mean to, just happened.


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## ladyknight33 (Feb 2, 2009)

I wanted a name that could not be shortened. I also want her name to start with an A same as mine. It got a little hairy as both my grandmothers started with an A (Amanda and Annie).  I didnt know I was having a girl, bit had a feeling fromt eh beginning. I heard the name Adrienne and loved it.


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

I wanted unique 
xochitl luna  and sol asuncion
sylvia


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## libros_lego (Mar 24, 2009)

My name was going to be Jennifer, but my mom changed her mind. She kept the Jenni part and added a part of her name.


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## koolmnbv (Mar 25, 2009)

We are a HUGE irish catholic family. Also my husbands family is a huge irish catholic family and both his family and mine go back irish catholic as far as either of us can figure. 

Everyone is named after someone and everyone has middle names. My name is Barbara Ann (but alot/most call me BaBs) I am named after my grandmother. I am the oldest and then My younger sisters are Katherine Mary (after my other grandmother and the Blessed Virgin Mother),Ann-Margaret (after our great grandmother and our aunt margaret),Nora Theresa (after our aunt Nonie and St.Theresa the little flower), and my brother (the baby) is Donald Thomas (after my grandfather and my uncle).  


My little boy is not born yet but his name will be Patrick Joseph (same exact name as his dad and St.Joseph)
we are calling him Pat from the get-go so that it doesn't get shortened later on and then change his name on him. 
The only other name that was even considered for my son was Harry Patrick (after my husbands father) but that was shot down pretty quickly by me. I agreed to the traditional family name route but I did not want Harry.


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

koolmnbv said:


> We are a HUGE irish catholic family. Also my husbands family is a huge irish catholic family and both his family and mine go back irish catholic as far as either of us can figure.
> Everyone is named after someone and everyone has middle names. My name is Barbara Ann (but alot/most call me BaBs) I am named after my grandmother. I am the oldest and then My younger sisters are Katherine Mary (after my other grandmother and the Blessed Virgin Mother),Ann-Margaret (after our great grandmother and our aunt margaret),Nora Theresa (after our aunt Nonie and St.Theresa the little flower), and my brother (the baby) is Donald Thomas (after my grandfather and my uncle).
> My little boy is not born yet but his name will be Patrick Joseph (same exact name as his dad and St.Joseph)
> we are calling him Pat from the get-go so that it doesn't get shortened later on and then change his name on him.
> The only other name that was even considered for my son was Harry Patrick (after my husbands father) but that was shot down pretty quickly by me. I agreed to the traditional family name route but I did not want Harry.


See, I thought it strange that my mother died only three years before my sisters each had a baby girl, yet neither named their daughters after her, then one had a second girl four years later, NOPE, then my brother had a girl two years later, Not a chance, then eight years later same brother another girl... uh, uh, Fast forward 13 years... yep I named my daughter after her and my step-mother who reared me from the time I was four... I think children should carry on their families names. Weird thing is first grandson born, named after both grandfathers John Benjamin (my dad's first and middle names were Benjamin Franklin) Next grandson well, they were twins William (after my brother) Scott Benjamin (three names like my Mama's family) and then the next grandson Cody Franklin... weird how the boys, the last two were named after Daddy even though they got his last name too! But no one chose my mama's name....


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## cheeki (Nov 29, 2008)

My daughter is named after my paternal great aunt 
and my maternal great grandmother.


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## kevin63 (Feb 10, 2009)

I don't have children but I have (had) 3 dogs that are like my children.  We live in an Italian area in Saint Louis called the "Hill".  We gave all 3 dogs Italian names, Dario, Michelangelo, and Luciano.


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## harfner (Jul 5, 2009)

When we were talking about boy names, my wife and I discovered that we'd both always wanted the same name for a son, but we didn't like the spelling "Aaron," so we chose the Irish spelling: "Aran."

We adopted our other two sons from Ukraine when they were three and eleven, so we elected not to change their names.  They stayed Maksim and Aleksandr.  We thought they'd become Max and Alex, the youngest somehow ended up as Mackie instead, and the oldest had been going by Sasha for his entire life, and he kept that nickname.


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

ak rain said:



> I wanted unique
> xochitl luna and sol asuncion
> sylvia


I could give you our translation
Xochitl luna = moon flower
Sol Asuncion = sun rise


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## RavenclawPrefect (May 4, 2009)

Names! Somehow when I was a teen, it never occurred to me that the names *I* picked for my future children would not be acceptable to my husband or that we would wrangle so on names.

Our first two children came to us named since they were adopted.


Child #1 - *Kristen* we think she was named for Kristen on Dallas but no way to confirm this
Child #2 - *Alex Jeffery* - he was named for his Aunt Alice and Uncle Jeffery 
Child #3 - he was named for his two grandfathers (*Nicholas Charles*)
Child #4 - *Ryan Patrick* was the name we had chosen for child #3 but went with a family name instead
Child #5 -* Devin Connor* - DH came up with the name Devin, which he swears was not because of Devon on Earth2 but since we watched it at the time...draw your own conclusions  Connor was chosen from the movie Highlander
Child #6 - *Kaitlyn* At the time we chose this, Caitlin was popular so we went with a different spelling, never realizing that 12 years later, you can find pencils with her name on it. Kaitlyn is also a form of Kathleen, my mother
Child #7 - *Iain Niall *- By this point, we realized that most of our children had their name end with the letter "n" and had 2 syllables. DH suggested Ian, I asked for the Scottish spelling and his middle name (it is pronounced kneel)
Child #8 - *Kierynn * We continued the pattern of: ending in N, two syllables but since she was a girl...she also got starts with K and has 7 letters. Yes, we did it on purpose. Kieran was our boy name and we were tossing around Erin as a girl name. I really liked Kieran so we just feminized it. 
Child #9 - This was a hard one, we knew we wanted it to end in N, 2 syllables, Celtic in origin and we found out early on he was a boy. We tossed around many names before DH suggested Aidan. I never suggested it since we have nephew named Aiden. *Aidan Rhys* was his final name and we call him Rhys. We are constantly asked why we named him Aidan Rhys if we planned to call him Rhys...because Aidan fits the pattern of first names, Rhys does not 

It is not any easier naming our pets either....


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## Jessi (Jun 19, 2009)

I chose my first daughter's name through luck:
Leila Desiree

And my second daughter is:
Mylie Brooke

My fiancee's name is Lee. So it's kind of like My-Lee. He likes it, she is totally a daddy's girl, too.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

ravenclawprefect said:


> Names! Somehow when I was a teen, it never occurred to me that the names *I* picked for my future children would not be acceptable to my husband or that we would wrangle so on names.
> 
> Our first two children came to us named since they were adopted.
> 
> ...


I don't think i would have been able to think of 9 names. All are beautiful.


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## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

My name, Stacey, was a last-minute decision by my mom. She was SURE that I was going to be a boy, so sure that she didn't even have a girl's name picked out. When I turned out to be a girl, she was at a loss. She saw my name on a list of baby names printed on a gift bag from the hospital gift shop (she still has the bag somewhere). My dad wanted to call me Jamie, but Mom didn't like it because she thought that it sounded too masculine. The funny part about that, of course, is that there are lots of male Staceys out there, including one of Mom's cousins that she forgot about.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

My name (LaRita) was just because my mom had met someone with the name and she liked it.  I hated it growing up, but kind of like it now.  I can't tell you how many job interviews I've gotten because HR people think I'm black or Latino.  (I'm of Norwegian heritage.)

We named my son Nathan because it means "gift of God."  I was 17 and a senior in high school when he was conceived and his father and I wanted him to have a positive name.


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## cheshirenc (Dec 27, 2008)

My daughter's name means "star of the sea" in Latin.  We live on the coast and it was because of the ocean that my husband and I met.  

We changed the spelling because she was born close to Christmas:  Maris changed to Meris.

Mer also means sea in French

edited to add:  we also wanted at least a two syllable name.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Our oldest son is named after Garion from David Eddings' Belgariad series.. though we did change the spelling to Garran. Our second son is named for DH's fav uncle and his dad, Lee Merle.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

DH's family had a tradition of using the initials REB for all names (hence the rebel in my on-line name) and son was easy as he was named after his father and grandfather.  When I was pregnant with DD my husband was in law school and he got hooked on the soap opera Ryan's Hope at lunchtime and loved it when the new girl-baby was named Ryan Fenelli on the show (we changed the spelling to Ryanne so it "looked" like a girl's name).  Almost 29 years later she says she loves having a unique name/spelling (thank goodness).


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## libros_lego (Mar 24, 2009)

BTackitt said:


> Our oldest son is named after Garion from David Eddings' Belgariad series.. though we did change the spelling to Garran. Our second son is named for DH's fav uncle and his dad, Lee Merle.


Wow, that's so cool! I love that series.


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## harfner (Jul 5, 2009)

I was so sad to hear a few weeks ago that David Eddings had died, too. 



Jenni said:


> Wow, that's so cool! I love that series.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

My daughters youngest son is named Dean Gehrig after my Mother and Lou Gehrig. My Mother's middle name was Dean and my son-in-law is a big baseball fan. She has three boys named Dillon, Devin and Dean. Try calling them in for something. They all just answer to whatever you call them. To make is even more confusing she has 2 Shih Tzus called Dixie and Duncan.


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## sandypeach (Oct 28, 2008)

I am named for my paternal grandfather so I am Samuel Paul Stone II (forever "Little Paul" to my grandparents).  Our daughters are Meredith Leigh and Lindsay Noelle.  We chose the spelling as Leigh instead of Lee because it just looks better.  Lindsay was not born anywhere near Christmas, we just thought Noelle went well will Lindsay.  It was also fitting when she was little as she got to hear the first syllable of her middle name often (Lindsay, NO!)


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

sandypeach said:


> I am named for my paternal grandfather so I am Samuel Paul Stone II


Just curious -- when a boy is named after his father he's usually "Jr.", right? Not "the second"? Or are both correct? And in your case, are you "the second" because there's a generation in between? Or could you also use "Jr."?

(No Juniors or Seconds anywhere in my family, so I'm a bit unclear on the rules.)


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Susan, I think you are correct on the technicality of the rules.  A son named after his father (first generation) is supposed to be a junior and then additional generations (whether there is a skip or not) are III, IV, etc.  If the name is being given to a nephew (paternal family line) whether there is a skip in generations or not it is the II rather than Jr.  My husband's parents wanted to name him after his father, but did not want him to be called Junior so they used II anyway.  Our son, REB III, does not want to continue the name if he has a son, but our daughter who kept her maiden name will name a son (if she has one) REB IV.  Is that clear as mud   ?


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## Googlegirl (Mar 4, 2009)

My name, Lysandra, is the feminine form of Lysander. A character from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". My dad chose it. 

Kid #1- Rachel Ashley- randomly chosen because her father and I liked it. My mother HATED the name Rachel when I first told her what we had picked. Now, it's suits her personality.  

Kid#2- Nicholas Alexander- Nicholas after his paternal grandfather, Alexander- his father's middle name. We call him Cole though, a nickname for Nicholas. 

Kid #3- Mia Louise- Her dad and I split before she was born so I chose the name. Mia means MINE in Italian and Louise is my mom's name. Can you tell I was not too happy with him??

Kid #4- Ian Flynn- My DH is Irish, so we went with an Irish name. Ian is the Irish form of John, my dad's name. Flynn means son of red haired man. DH has red hair. Viola. I found that name at the beginning of my pregnancy and intended to use it as a middle name for either a girl or boy.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

crebel said:


> Susan, I think you are correct on the technicality of the rules. A son named after his father (first generation) is supposed to be a junior and then additional generations (whether there is a skip or not) are III, IV, etc. If the name is being given to a nephew (paternal family line) whether there is a skip in generations or not it is the II rather than Jr. My husband's parents wanted to name him after his father, but did not want him to be called Junior so they used II anyway. Our son, REB III, does not want to continue the name if he has a son, but our daughter who kept her maiden name will name a son (if she has one) REB IV. Is that clear as mud  ?


I think so. So a boy named after his grandfather would be a II, not a Junior, because of the generation in between.

Now, what would happen if your son changed his mind, and your daughter didn't, and they had kids within the same year or so? One could be IV and the other V, even though they'd be the same generation (and cousins)?


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Susan,
The naming system that we are talking about has been in place for a long time.
Before women had a choice about what their name was after they married.
Back when women (even in this country) were property (why father "gives away" his daughter to the husband - new owner).

So....
In the "system" there could be no siblings using the same genertion designator - Sr. Jr. II III IV etc.  And in fact to my knowledge when a generation is skipped the correctnesss of the usage has been broken.  So a son named (exactly) after his grandfather would start the naming game over again as the eventual SR.

If my father's father was Geoffrey Byron Thomas then when my father was born and he named him Geoffrey Byron Thomas also, my grandfather would then become Geoffrey Byron Thomas Sr. (also kinda the I)  and my father would become Geoffrey Byron Thomas Jr. (also kinda the II).  When my father names me Geoffrey Byron Thomas, then I become Geoffrey Byron Thomas III (usually not called Jr. because my father had been that) and my father becomes the II.
His brother Robert Joseph Thomas can name his son Geoffrey Byron Thomas but that son would never be the III even if I had not been named after my father.
It MUST be from someone named that.  So a daughter (under the "system") can of course name her son after her father, but he does not become the II or III or whatever.  
That is the system.
Now we as free citizens can name our children anything we want to and give them any preface or suffix that we want to and it becomes their legal name if it is on their birth certificate as part of their name.  And we can "just use it" and that is ok too.  Freedom is great.
But don't expect THEM to ever approve.

Just sayin.......


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

My son is Zachary, because my husband and I couldn't find a name we agreed on until we got to the "Z's."


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Susan in VA said:


> I think so. So a boy named after his grandfather would be a II, not a Junior, because of the generation in between.
> 
> Now, what would happen if your son changed his mind, and your daughter didn't, and they had kids within the same year or so? One could be IV and the other V, even though they'd be the same generation (and cousins)?


Perish the thought - that would be confusing, wouldn't it? I suppose "technically" it could work that way. I think if our DS and DIL changed their minds, DD would choose something else (I think DD wants to use the name because we are slightly disappointed that DS didn't want to continue the tradition). However, my main concern is I WANT GRANDCHILDREN , healthy and happy, whatever their names may be!


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## cytorath (Jun 27, 2009)

we wrote a bunch of names down and then picked it out of a hat.


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

cytorath said:


> we wrote a bunch of names down and then picked it out of a hat.


WOW!


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Geoff, thanks for the detailed explanation!


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

I have a friend that is a III out of Philadelphia.
Set me straight, he did.


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## cytorath (Jun 27, 2009)

Meredith Sinclair said:


> WOW!


I'm sorry, we didn't actually do that. My wife picked out a bunch and wrote up a list and then I marked off the ones I didn't like. Then we looked up the meaning of the names that were left and picked the one we liked best.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

My oldest (^^) was named after his father.  The only choices he gave me were his name Jr. or It.  I tried spelling It many different ways but couldn't come up with anything creative.   
deb


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## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

I don't have kids, but my family has a way to pick out names. They have a tendency of making a list and waiting for the baby to be born. Usually once the baby is born and usually then find the perfect name for the baby. Once my bro was born mom and dad knew the perfect name for him the moment they saw him after his birth.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I already have a list going for my future kids' names


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2009)

Meredith Sinclair said:


> So, is there any really cool history behind the choice you made or was it just a whim? How about YOUR name anything UNIQUE about it? Just wondering since the thread about KB names and also another thread about names out of tv & movies.


I named him as a Jr. I liked "Cash" so much.


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

Cash Pawley said:


> I named him as a Jr. I liked "Cash" so much.


It is a cool name... where did it come from?


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## webhill (Feb 12, 2009)

Well, let's see. My firstborn: we wanted a name that was actually a name in both English and Hebrew, because my husband's family is Israeli, and because for me the whole idea of having an English name and a Hebrew name, as is the custom for Jews (at least non-Israel-based Jews!) seems silly. I have always been annoyed that my own English and Hebrew names are so disparate. So anyway, we chose Jacob Samuel, because it sounds good with our last name, and because it met that criterion. Then the next baby, we had the same criterion, and of course it had to be something we could agree on, which was next to impossible. We came up with Naomi Rebecca. Then with our third, we decided on the additional criterion of having five letters in the first name, because our first two kids' names had five letters. So we came up with Lilah Deborah. That's it so far and hopefully for good 

My own personal name - well, I was named after someone named Hermine. My name, thankfully, is not Hermine (that's pronounced her-MEE-nuh, btw) 

My cats, btw, all get Norwegian names. We have had Rufus, Kanga, Oskar, and the latest one is Kaspar. 
My last dog's name was Wally, because as a new puppy he ate a piece of the drywall in the kitchen.


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2009)

Meredith Sinclair said:


> It is a cool name... where did it come from?


It's an old family name. We're related to the "Johnny Cash" family (a woman in his family married into ours). She didn't want to lose the family name, so she named one of her children "Bogan Cash Pawley" (My great, great, great uncle). So my folks were looking back through the family tree and found these:

1.) Percival
2.) Wolfgang
3.) Cash

I'm glad they chose "Cash".. LOL.


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

I always wanted a boy, and I just knew that's what I was having. As unoriginal as it might be, Michael was the only name we both liked. A few hours before I went into labor I heard the song 'Michael Row the Boat Ashore' and figured it was a sign.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

4Katie said:


> A few hours before I went into labor I heard the song 'Michael Row the Boat Ashore' and figured it was a sign.


  On my way to the hospital the radio was playing Sting's "Roxanne". Since I like the song, and DD's dad hates it, I kidded him that I was going to use that name...


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

Susan in VA said:


> On my way to the hospital the radio was playing Sting's "Roxanne". Since I like the song, and DD's dad hates it, I kidded him that I was going to use that name...


He doesn't like Sting  Your DD's name is very pretty and I am with him Roxanne is not that popular in this day and age.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Meredith Sinclair said:


> He doesn't like Sting  Your DD's name is very pretty and I am with him Roxanne is not that popular in this day and age.


I think he likes Sting, just not that song! 

And no, I wasn't seriously considering the name.... I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but it's just not one of my favorite names.


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

Susan in VA said:


> I think he likes Sting, just not that song!
> 
> And no, I wasn't seriously considering the name.... I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but it's just not one of my favorite names.


ROOOOOOOOCCCCCKKKKKSSSSS and, you don't have to stop at that red light.
ROOOOOOOOCCCCCKKKKKSSSSS and, you don't have to sell your potty to the Knight!!!!!
An interesting song. I really, really like Sting, but that is not his real name, you know. His real name is...


Spoiler



Secret


 and he named all of his children


Spoiler



Secret


.
I ran across two fellows at work once who were best friends and roommates. Names: Mr. Rice and Mr. Bean. Wierd? No, wait there's more! Their next door neighbor's name was Soupy Potts. True story... or just co-incident?


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

Brendan Carroll said:


> ROOOOOOOOCCCCCKKKKKSSSSS and, you don't have to stop at that red light.
> ROOOOOOOOCCCCCKKKKKSSSSS and, you don't have to sell your potty to the Knight!!!!!
> An interesting song. I really, really like Sting, but that is not his real name, you know. His real name is...
> 
> ...


Brendan? What did you have to drink with that vienna sausage sammich I think ya must be makin' this up!


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Meredith Sinclair said:


> Brendan? What did you have to drink with that vienna sausage sammich I think ya must be makin' this up!


I was wondering the same thing... he does sound kinda "happy".... and I'll bet he was belting out those lyrics as he was typing them!


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

Susan in VA said:


> I was wondering the same thing... he does sound kinda "happy".... and I'll bet he was belting out those lyrics as he was typing them!


Real lemon fruit slush from Sonic with what in it? Whatever... mmmmmm. Good. I'll be right back.


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

Heeeeey... I got there ten minutes after "Happy Hour" and hadda pay FULL price for my fresh lime slush today... there went another Kindle book down the drain  ...err... the hatch  ... it was GOOO-OOOD!   


Edited to add... I may name my child Sonic in my next life...


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Mmm, lemon.  Fix me one too, please.


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

OK there you go, Miss Susan, hope that's not too strong for you.  And you'll like this Vienna sausage dipping sauce... yes, right there.  Dip in and enjoy. LOL


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

<turning green>


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

That sure is a loverly shade o' green!


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

Speaking o' green.  My favorite name OT is Paddy Puffingtowne and I'm hoping to convince one of my darling children to name one of the grandchildren to use this for my next grandson.


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## Solarraven (Dec 25, 2008)

The Only Name My first Husband and I  could agree on was Jana  Katherine
My Second Husband Agreed instantly To Mara  after a favorite character  in a book I loved as a kid and Elizabeth as a middle name as  it was  a Queens name.  My Third  is Nicole Alexandra The Grand kids are Gabriel Annais,  Robert Daniel, Robert is the middle name of both grandfathers and Daniel is after my girls best friend who was killed in Iraq .


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Solarraven said:


> My Second Husband Agreed instantly To Mara after a favorite character in a book I loved as a kid


Which book was that? One of my favorite characters as a kid (maybe11ish or so) was the Egyptian Mara.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Cash Pawley said:


> It's an old family name. We're related to the "Johnny Cash" family (a woman in his family married into ours). She didn't want to lose the family name, so she named one of her children "Bogan Cash Pawley" (My great, great, great uncle). So my folks were looking back through the family tree and found these:
> 
> 1.) Percival
> 2.) Wolfgang
> ...


Are you any relation to Edward Pawley, the stage, film and radio actor?

Betsy


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

My daughter's name is Kittrianna.  I've savored that name for 21 years.  I made it up when I first started dreaming of having a child at sixteen.  I held onto it through 3 miscarriages and two marriages.  And I finally got to give it to my daughter three years ago at the age of 37.  My husband had to agree to the name before I'd marry him. LOL.


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## Cowgirl (Nov 1, 2008)

vwkitten said:


> My daughter's name is Kittrianna. I've savored that name for 21 years. I made it up when I first started dreaming of having a child at sixteen. I held onto it through 3 miscarriages and two marriages. And I finally got to give it to my daughter three years ago at the age of 37. My husband had to agree to the name before I'd marry him. LOL.


I love a happy ending and love your daughter's name!


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

vwkitten said:


> My daughter's name is Kittrianna. I've savored that name for 21 years. I made it up when I first started dreaming of having a child at sixteen. I held onto it through 3 miscarriages and two marriages. And I finally got to give it to my daughter three years ago at the age of 37. My husband had to agree to the name before I'd marry him. LOL.


I'm glad that worked out well for you and I'm also glad that my sister did not give her children the names she made up when she was five for her own children: Toosott and Baggieboose! LOL


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Baggieboose. That could be a children's book character. You should copyright that name.


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

rjkeller said:


> Baggieboose. That could be a children's book character. You should copyright that name.


Thanx, Sue... (quickly filling out forms, reams of paper falling on floor, pencil leads breaking...)


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## Neversleepsawink;) (Dec 16, 2008)

Well my life was going in the wrong direction...and my fiance was physically and mentally abusive.  I started to turn to the Bible for help, and a story I always loved was about Elijah.  My son was named after Elijah...which is one of my favorite Bible stories.  As soon as Elijah was in my life I found the courage to stand up to my fiance and leave him.  My son saved my life, along with my mom, and other family members.  I came to God after his birth, and changed my life.  Just a few weeks ago I was baptized for the first time. If I'm carrying a boy right now his name will be Noah, another Biblical name.  If it's a girl...I'm naming her Ella to match Elijah, which also means a bright light.


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## vwkitten (Apr 10, 2009)

Brendan Carroll said:


> I'm glad that worked out well for you and I'm also glad that my sister did not give her children the names she made up when she was five for her own children: Toosott and Baggieboose! LOL


Me too... oooo -- that would have been bad....



Neversleepsawink;) said:


> Well my life was going in the wrong direction...and my fiance was physically and mentally abusive. I started to turn to the Bible for help, and a story I always loved was about Elijah. My son was named after Elijah...which is one of my favorite Bible stories. As soon as Elijah was in my life I found the courage to stand up to my fiance and leave him. My son saved my life, along with my mom, and other family members. I came to God after his birth, and changed my life. Just a few weeks ago I was baptized for the first time. If I'm carrying a boy right now his name will be Noah, another Biblical name. If it's a girl...I'm naming her Ella to match Elijah, which also means a bright light.


That's beautiful. Congrats on your baptism and your pregnancy.


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## koolmnbv (Mar 25, 2009)

Brendan Carroll said:


> Real lemon fruit slush from Sonic with what in it? Whatever... mmmmmm. Good. I'll be right back.


OT but just wanted to say that sounded really good. I will have to hit up my sonic tomorrow and try this.

I did get a frozen lemonade from panera bread yesterday and it was SO good.

Ok sorry ot.


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

koolmnbv said:


> OT but just wanted to say that sounded really good. I will have to hit up my sonic tomorrow and try this.
> 
> I did get a frozen lemonade from panera bread yesterday and it was SO good.
> 
> Ok sorry ot.


It's hard to stay OT here because one only has so many children and soon you find yourself commenting on other people's children. Like I knew a girl in elementary school named Penny Nichols. That's kind of self explanatory, eh?


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

I grew up with a Candy Cane... *shudder*


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## Cowgirl (Nov 1, 2008)

I grew up in a little town in Western New York called Tonawanda.  I knew somebody who actually named their daughter Tonda Wanda.  
They still live in Tonawanda.  I would change my name or move!


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## busy91 (Feb 27, 2009)

My son was named after his father.

My daughter was named Clarissa. I had liked the name from a TV show entitled "Clarissa Explains it All".  I also went to school with a Clarissa. I always liked the name, and it goes well with her last name.


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## ak rain (Nov 15, 2008)

I  have a 2nd or 3rd cousin who was called sunshine until he started school. when school started he choose his own name. I still do not know how they did the paperwork. by the way I don't remember what he picked I seem to remember he put three names starting with justin or jasin all very normal names  
sylvia


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

I don't know if I can top Tonda Wanda, but my friend's grandma when I was growing up was called Puddle Duck.  I don't know if that was her name, but I did have an aunt named Fannie May.... for real.  Sheeshh!  She was sweet, bless her pea-pickin' heart.


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

I know a woman who is actually named Rainey Day.  It's her married name, though.


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

koolmnbv said:


> OT but just wanted to say that sounded really good. I will have to hit up my sonic tomorrow and try this.
> I did get a frozen lemonade from panera bread yesterday and it was SO good.
> Ok sorry ot.


No problem here... and everyone else should expect a thread with my name on it to go OT a bit... well, you know we ramble...  Besides the names Sonic and Panera were in there in case anybody wants to use those!


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Brendan Carroll said:


> my friend's grandma when I was growing up was called Puddle Duck. I don't know if that was her name


I'll bet her name was Jemima.


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## koolmnbv (Mar 25, 2009)

Meredith Sinclair said:


> No problem here... and everyone else should expect a thread with my name on it to go OT a bit... well, you know we ramble...  Besides the names Sonic and Panera were in there in case anybody wants to use those!


Exactly, I could see a hyperactive little guy named Sonic.


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