Dr. B and I had decided on a name for our little girl. Of course, when he asked "what was it again?", he wasn't sure about the middle name we had chosen. "It just doesn't have the right rhythm," he said. "It should have either two syllables, or four. Three just doesn't flow right. Besides, I'd like to have a name that honors your mom and my mom."
"Yeah, honey, I would, too, but my mom didn't like her name, so that's out. Your mom's name doesn't fit right, and I just can't really think of any 'J' names that I really, really like and go with the first name we've chosen."
We pulled out the trusty Mac laptop, hitting baby name websites, and got to work. We'd read off names to each other, and wait for the response--usually either a vehement "no way!" or an "eh..."
"Well, maybe there are some 'G' names that have the same sound," he said. I clicked over to 'G', and went down the list, passing all the ones with the hard G sound, searching for the gentle soft G that would be like my mom and his mom's names.
"Giada!!!" he exclaimed, reading over my shoulder. "That's a beautiful name!"
"No."
"Why not?" he said, a glow in his eyes and a grin on his face. "Agnes* Giada Skarphol Brownson. I think it's beautiful!"
"Absolutely not. Never. Uh-uh. No WAY!" I said, beginning to get a little angry.
"But honey, it's really a lovely name," he continued, "and..."
"And nothing. We are not naming our child after the Food Network TV Chef you have a crush on. Forget it."
"But she's really hot!"
"No. Not on your life."
"Well, how about Gia, then?"
"NO!!!"
(Sheesh. Anyway, if we were going to name our little girl after a famous chef, everyone knows it would be Jamie Oliver.)
Every name I read, he nixed (I think he was holding out for Giada), and I began to get frustrated. He grabbed the computer out of my hands, and I picked up my book off the coffee table and began to read. He was determined to find it, the perfect compliment to Agnes*, and he dove into the task with abandon.
We read quietly for nearly an hour, when he finally slammed the lid down on the Mac, and said, "I give up."
"Brunhilda* is fine. This is too hard. I can't do it."
I smiled, and clicked off the lamp, as we headed up to bed.
Phew. This was much easier than choosing our china pattern.
*Agnes is not the name. Neither is Brunhilda. Keep guessing!
10 comments:
We're there, too (again). Poor Christine ended up with enough letters in her middle names that we had to officially shorten it for her American papers (that made me VERY happy, letmetellya! never was happy about being forced into using my MIL's name). Now that we've got the 'official' family crap done with the first two, we can play a little--only Papa is being a bear and needs a swift kick to the head. What's wrong with 'Vianne' anyway? Hopefully we'll end up with a boy and it won't be an issue any more...until the ugly bear raises his head again.
Good luck with the name hunt. (and we're due at the same time!!!!!)
Brunhilda! LOL!
How about Aimee as a middle name? With an accent so it's prounounced a la francaise. It's a pretty name, I think! And it could work well with your crazy long last names. Just food for thought...
How about Jennifer! That is a wonderful "J" name! Congrats....keep trudging along...We never really decided till they both were born...but then again we didn't find out what sex they were! Boys names are harder so you are very lucky. Hope you find that right combination soon.
I love Aimee, that's what I wanted to name my youngest, but Tessa won out. Despite my husband's french ancestory, he still thought Aimee was too exotic. Your Cuz in ND
Never mind the French names....whatever happened to using a Norweigian(sp?) names you've always talked about....must be a couple good norweigian names! B
Genevieve is pretty... meaning is actually Celtic not french, but pretty nonetheless.
Could do Jeannette ....
you could be an equal opportunity name picker. start looking in the "j" or "g" boys' names - (although i like brunhilda)
Luckily, I had most of the say in Gab and Louise's names, if not, we would have gotten stuck with Raoul and Theophrane. Naming, like picking out the china pattern, is definitely one area that we must be cautious about when we put the ball in the hubby's court.
For the middle names, since in France you can have up to two and we have a boy and girl, we did the grandfathers and grandmothers. But, we're running out of names if we have a third!
Can't wait to hear what you'll name her!
Jacqueline? Josie? Jillian? Julep, Jambalaya, Jamaica, Japonnais, Jardin, Jewel, January, Juniper, Jemima, Jade -- I'm sure you've seen them all!
p.s. Just a note, Clotilde over at Chocolate & Zucchini doesn't have an "h" in her name, I noticed you included an "h" in the comment you left today.
That's hilarious! I won't give you name suggestions, but I can't stop laughing over the battle of Food Network hotties! (to "fit in", I didn't suggest names for our labradoodle, but "Fredo" was the only name of about 200 names Josh suggested that I was okay with :) ).
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