On Naming Greta

This post has been swimming around in my brain for a month and it is time I finally get it recorded. (this is really long and exposes my weirdness but I'm writing for my own records so don't feel obligated to give your time to reading the whole thing!) Also sorry for no pictures. . .I'm a big fan of long posts with pictures (and short ones too, but most especially long ones), but I haven't had the time to photograph lots and lots to get some good ones. Gotta somehow fit that in to my busy life. . .

After the ultrasound determined we were having a girl, name lists were started with possible names for this baby. Tom and I were both to scour baby name websites and put any name we even sort of liked on the list. Simple enough. However, I had to complicate the matter with some rules:
1. The name had to have 2 syllables or less (tripped over too many long names as a teacher and didn't want to as a mother).
2. It couldn't be or sound similar or remind me of or be associated with any naughty kid I ever taught or knew. (there in eliminates a whole sea of names)
3. It couldn't be too popular because I didn't want her to have to go by "Greta W." (or whatever) in school. So that meant it couldn't be on the top 100 or so of the Social Security name list.
4. It couldn't start with J or P or a few other select letters (see Consideration #2 below)
5. It couldn't be similar to any existing cousin names.
6. And you had to be able to read it, say it and spell it without too much difficulty (translation: not too weird).

Consideration #2: The middle name. For the longest time, even before we knew we were having a girl, we felt that we should name this baby after Tom's Grandma Gibb (who has an amazing history). Her name was Estella. There in created a problem because if the middle name starts with a vowel, you have to be careful that the initials don't spell an unwanted word. During the whole thing we were open to different options for the middle name, but none struck as right so we had to work with that kink.

And thus were the considerations as we started making name lists. After a few months of scouring, Tom had a good, long (and respectable in his opinion :) list, only to have me read it and diminish it to zero in less than 2 minutes. Poor guy. And on my list after all that time, there wasn't a single name. No kidding. (I promise I tried!)

We decided we needed a new approach. We sat down together in the evenings staying up WAY past our bed time going over name after name. Eventually we added about 10 or so names to the list. (Yes, that number, for me, is quite shocking.) But as we gave thought to those names and slept on them, many were slowly were eliminated because we realized the shorts were too similar to a cousin's name or they rhymed with something unpleasant, the popularity was too high or too low or some other random reason.

Near the end we had 3 names in consideration. However, we had issues with each name. During the days before Greta was born we sat down each evening and tried to hammer something out. We looked for more names, revisited the names on our list and reconsidered some we had eliminated. Nothing changed. And thus it was when we went to the hospital.

(just a note here, I don't like to tell people the names that are in consideration before the birth because seeing or hearing people's reactions effect the way I view a name. . . and as it is most difficult for me to settle on a name anyway, I don't need other people's opinions to complicate the matter. . . however, this time around we have told a few people the other names in consideration after Greta was born and I have regretted it because of their reactions, so for this post you get generic labels for the other names.)

Name A: This name sounded best with the middle name and for that reason was the one I was leaning towards the most. My issues: I didn't like the short for it and it was too popular for my tastes.

Name B: I love, love, loved this name for quite a few weeks during the pregnancy, but it didn't sound good at all with the middle name. Tom didn't like it that much. The short is quite popular even though the given name was not common at all.

Name C (Greta): This name was probably on the 'think about' list for the longest. I didn't really like it that much. . . just didn't hate it so it stayed on the list. My issues with it: It has the same vowel pattern as Tessa and would cause me to mix up the names (and unfortunately this has happened), it didn't sound super flowy with the middle name and I didn't really love it.

What to do???

The first time I held Greta I just stared at her feeling so so confused because I didn't know her name. Immediately I knew it wasn't Name A and Tom agreed 100%. (At least we both eliminated the same name on our own!) I liked Name B better, but it didn't seem to fit very well. After holding her for about a half hour I knew it wasn't Name B either. That left us with Name C. I really didn't want that name. Really. Kind of a hard moment because I knew how hard it had been to arrive at the 3 names we had and I knew finding yet another name would next to impossible. So I accepted it as the name and went forward.

Funny thing. . . more than any of my other children it settled on me as the right name in such a strong way. . . . I have to say even in a very spiritual kind of way on multiple occasions. I guess I have needed that since I didn't feel strongly about it before. Now, a month later, I love her name and there has only been 2 smallish moments of doubts (which I understand are common even for a normal person who doesn't have such difficulty naming children).

And that I mix her name up with Tessa's. . . well, with my muddled brain, I probably would do that anyway without any similarities at all. And what can you do when it is the right name? You do it anyway and love it!