Pages

November 13, 2008

Naming the Baby...

I have been scouring baby name websites, letter by letter, trying to find names for Nugget.

What's the deal with these websites? Why do they even bother listing some of the names they've got on there? Take the name "Kenadie", for example. My apologies to all the Kenadies out there, but apparently your name is Irish in origin and means "ugly head". What parent is going to name their kid "Ugly Head"?

"Hey! Ugly Head! Go get your brother, "Big Bum!"

Baby name websites should come with phonetic pronunciation keys. Some of the names look like there were invented by spilling the letters out of a Boggle box. I found an interesting name early on in my search: Espn.

"How do you pronounce that?" I asked myself. I clicked on the name to learn more.

The meaning of the name is "television sports network". It should be pronounced E-S-P-N.

I'd be better off calling her DM2DM2FD.


Naming a child is a huge responsibility. Whatever name we choose will help to shape our child's identity and place in this world. Names are important. Naming a child is one of those things that sounds like fun but, when you get right down to it, isn't. It's hard!

Even before we find a name that Fawn and I can both agree on, we must do our due diligence. We can't choose a name with a nasty hidden meaning or one that's easy to make fun of. It has to sound good with Nugget's last name, and it has to sound good with Nugget's middle name (and we still need to pick one of those, too).

I thought it might be easier to name Nugget after she was born. I couldn't have been more wrong! Whenever I come across a name that I think might work, I look at her and ask myself, "Are you a ___________?"

Obviously, I haven't gotten the answer I've been looking for.

I am waiting for that moment of epiphany where everything just works. Where I say a name and I know that's who Nugget was meant to be.

In the meantime, I'll keep searching.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree with you more. There are people who have their names picked out before there is even a child to name *cough, cough, your sister*, those who say the moment they see the baby, it all becomes clear, and then there are the rest of us.

It took us 2 or 3 days after the birth to name Emma, and about 10 days for Jeremie! And by then, we got so used to calling him "the boy" (in an affectionate manner of course), that we kept calling him that for the longest time after (even still to this day sometimes and he's 7).

You couldn't be more right when you say that naming a baby is something that sounds fun, but when it comes down to it, its really hard!
Good luck! I'm sure you'll pick the perfect name :)

Karyn said...

I say name Nugget "Aurora Fireball".

Asheya said...

If it weren't for all that dark hair, I'd suggest Golda (you know, Nugget, gold...) How about the word Nugget in a different language? Could be kind of cool!

Spanish: Pepita
French:Pepite (there's an accent there, I don't know how it put it in)
German: Klumpen (maybe not such a great one)

Maybe there's a cool word in Chinese that means nugget.

Anonymous said...

stick with something short, you're going to have to teach this child to spell it at some point!
Espn is pronounce S-Pen, a few kids are named that here in U.S.A. also I've seen Neveah, Heaven spelled backward's. Just call her Fritzi or Fifi (kidding) Or stick with Nugget but say it Nu-zet like it's french.

Matt, Kara, Hunter and Cavan said...

Just do Nugget backwards!

Teggun (tae-gun)

But Kara is also a wonderful name too you know....

Melissa said...

Being born on Rememberance Day you could go with Halia, it's Hawaiian and means rememberance of a loved one.

Whatever you choose I'm sure it'll be beautiful and fit her to a T!

Anonymous said...

I was going to suggest Aurora too because of Aurora borealis.

- Kathleen

Jenn said...

The only baby naming website that didn't give me a headache was nymbler.com. If you haven't checked it out yet, you enter the names that you particularly like but may have discarded and it finds names that are similar in style.
If Gavin was a girl he would have been either Evelyn or Justine. I love the power and the grace that both those names hold.
Good luck with the decision. Can't wait to hear the name that fits your newest daughter.

Anonymous said...

I also like Aurora - but I know we aren't voting on names. I'm sure whatever you pick will be perfect for her.