Ah, baby names. They are one of the BIGGEST deals during the whole pregnancy/having a baby process. Seriously (next to the gender) THIS is what everyone wants to know. And why not? It's something tangible to attach to an intangible object. It makes the baby REAL. But for me, more fun than knowing the name of a baby is learning the story behind the name. So today, I thought I'd share the story behind our baby boy's name.
Ah, baby names. They are one of the BIGGEST deals during the whole pregnancy/having a baby process. Seriously (next to the gender) THIS is what everyone wants to know. And why not? It's something tangible to attach to an intangible object. It makes the baby REAL. But for me, more fun than knowing the name of a baby is learning the story behind the name. So today, I thought I'd share the story behind our baby boy's name.
The story of his name began long before her was even born – even before his sister's. While we were dating, The Boy and I had a whole discussion about how, if we ever had kids, they would have NORMAL names, SPELLED normal. I have a weird first name (for most people, it's the nickname of a longer name) and it's spelled weird. He has, literally, a letter for a middle name. Yes, just a letter of the alphabet. Both are a serious pain in the ass. So, while we were pretty flexible on what names we wanted, we did make the decision to have the names be full names that were pretty common and spelled traditionally.
Fast forward to my first pregnancy and how I was completely convinced that I was having a boy. Each of my sisters had boys first, The Boy is one of five boys, and each of his brothers had boys first. I really, truly thought I was having a baby boy. So, I had already picked out a name to pitch to The Boy for after the 20 week ultrasound. Then, we found out we were having a girl and I quietly tabled my baby boy name.
Fast forward to this pregnancy and, within weeks of finding out I was pregnant (and staying pregnant [we'd had a few miscarriages]), I told The Boy that if it was boy, I wanted him to be named "James Finnegan". It was the name I had already picked out and still really, really loved. He looked at me funny and then said that, "It would be privilege to name our son after those men.".
Yes, our baby boy is named after two very special men in our lives. James was my Dad's first name. Since he is the reason that The Boy and I are together (he tricked us into going on our first date) and he also officiated our civil wedding ceremony, I definitely wanted our son to have his name. After all, our kids literally would not exist if it was't for their Papa. Finnegan was my husband's best friend for many years and much loved by my in-laws. He passed away in a car accident long before I ever met The Boy but everyone still talks about him fondly. I think it means a lot to The Boy that his son has Finnegan's name.
For the record, we're calling him "Finn" because it's cute as hell and easy. Also, the newest "Star Wars" movie came out while I was pregnant and we loved that one of the character's was named "Finn" – it was just too cool. Also, my kids's first initials spell "MF"… and if you don't think that makes me giggle like a 10 year-old boy then YOU DON'T KNOW ME.
On a personal note, once again, we elected to keep his name a secret from everyone during the pregnancy. For one, since everyone already knew his gender, it was a nice little surprise on his Birth Day. But mostly, it was to make sure that the name we loved and thought was wonderful STAYED wonderful. See, while you're pregnant, people tend to make comments about a chosen name but don't really do it after the baby is born and legally named. And some of those comments can turn you off a name. Like, "Oh, Michelle? Hey, remember that girl Michelle in high school? She was the BIGGEST whore!". See what I'm saying? And no, we didn't wait to name him until we saw his face – as you know, his name was set in stone LONG before he was born and seeing his face didn't change it at all.
How did you come up with your baby's name?
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