Friday, June 13, 2008

What's in a Name?

My friend Stevie did a cute post about names. Where and how did we get the name we have and the same for our children? I think this is a great thing to have written down forever. So I am playing along and writing the origins of the names in my little family.

Jarom- His dad insisted on naming him Jarom. It is the name of a prophet in the Book of Mormon. His middle name is G (just the initial) which I believe stands for Gregg (his father) and George (his grandfather).

Elena- I am named after my great grandmother Daisy Eleana. My mom had me named from the time she was a tiny girl playing house. I don't think my dad had much say in the matter, but he seems to be just fine with my name.

Alyssa- I knew 100% that Alyssa was going to be a girl before the ultrasound told me. We played the name game with her thinking of Molly Kathryn, but as soon as I said Alyssa Sharee (my middle name also) I knew it was meant to be. She was named well before she was born.

Halle- She was actually named Clara Elizabeth for the first few days of her life. We have video of Alyssa meeting her in the hospital saying, "Hi baby Clara." Suddenly the video changes to us being home and me saying "Hi Halle." We had named her Clara, but for some reason Jarom just couldn't get it to roll off his tongue. He just kept calling her "baby". So I told him that I was willing to think of a new name that he felt better about. We wrote a list of names we both liked and took turns crossing off a name until the last name left was Halle Elena. And it's just perfect for her.

Carter- Jarom wanted to name him Joseph, but I wanted Carter BAD. (I really wanted Harrison, but Jarom said "No way. His name will be a sentence that kids will tease him about. Harry Man Wearing ......fill in the blank." ) When we went to the ultrasound the doc asked us if we knew what we were going to name the baby. We each said our name of choice and then the doc asked if we wanted to know the sex. Of course we said yes. And then he said, "If I can tell you 100% it's a boy, will you (Jarom) name him Carter?" Jarom said he'd agree if the doc was 100%, so the doc grabbed his chart and in PEN wrote "baby name: Carter" and proceeded to show us the boy parts. That was it, he was Carter from that day forward. He also shares Jarom's middle initial G. We like to call him Little G.

Kate- Jarom and I both have always loved the name Kate. There are a lot of Kathyrn's on Jarom's Mom's side of the family. Nicknames range from Kathyn to Katie and Jarom's great grandmother was called Kate. We decided to name her what we planned on calling her, so rather than Kathryn, we went with just Kate. In my mind a Kate is a spirited little beauty and I think our Kate fits that description rather well. Her middle name is Isabella just becuase I love the name and thought is sounded pretty with Kate.

So that's it...where we all came from. I would love to hear where you came from. So if you feel so inclined to share, please do so.

16 comments:

becky ward said...

that will be fun to have written down forever. come to think of it, i don't really know why my parents picked my name. guess i should find out.

Jennifer P. said...

i remember Halle being "Clara" for a while. Glad you changed it---Clara just sounds too much like a milk cow's name to me ;)!

I also remember the "Harry Man Wearing" debate---hoo! hoo! that was funny! And I can so see Dr. Lowder doing that with Carter's name!

Everyone's names DO fit them just perfectly!

Natalie and Quin said...

It is so funny to think of Alyssa, Halle, and Carter being called anything but what they are now! Their names fit them sooooo perfectly! But I guess we would love them the same, no matter what you called them.

Anonymous said...

Becky- I hope you do find out (and post it;) ).

Jennifer- That's what my mom said too, but I thought it sounded more like the beautiful ballerina from the Nutcracker.

Natalie- Yep, we'd still love 'em, but their names do fit them rather well.

Miki said...

Are you going to be annoyed if I just start copying you for a while? I'm so blog stumped at the moment. This was such a great idea. It was good reading. It would be fun to have it all recorded for our families.

Deidra Smith said...

Fun post. Oh and by the way. Speaking of names I think we've got one for this Baby. I just don't know how we'll spell it yet. And it's not 100% so don't get mad if I change it last minute:) Anyways, it is Branceyn or Brancyn (sounds like Branson. So at least for the moment there is a name you can use for this baby like you were requesting:)

Anonymous said...

Miki- of course you can copy. THat's the whole idea with the "please share" bit at the end of the post.

Deidra- Yay, something to call him! I like it. Do you have a middle name? And you're so funny...I'm not going to get mad. LOL!

Debbie said...

What a fun post. I loved hearing this...and laughed out loud that you changed Halle's name after the fact....so so funny!

Debbie said...

One more thing, your husband was so right about the Harrison thing turning into Harry....not good with your last name....too much good stuff for goofy little boys to play with. Now if your last name were Ford...well, that might just work;)

Lee Ann said...

That was fun! I'm not sure my family would be as interesting. I LOVE Clara. A milk cow Jennifer P.? Aaaahhhh, I think it's beautiful :-)

Deanna said...

So much fun! Thanks for sharing!

Emily said...

What a funny post! I loved it!

I was named after the character "Emily" on the Bob Newhart Show. I'm serious.

Anonymous said...

My mom was set on the name Justin for me "because it was a popular name at the time," she says.

In the hospital after I was born, my grandpa Wessel (my mom's dad) insisted on naming me after his brother Orrin, who went by his middle name, Dayne. And I got Wessel for a middle name.

So you've known me for almost 20 years now...am I a Justin or a Dayne?

Jennifer P. said...

Alrighty--so I have a question for you. My blog is linked off of some pretty heavily read blogs like the Nester and Chatting at the Sky---but for the amount of hits I get off of those places, I still get probably more hits off of THIS blog than any other. WHO is reading? (besides Angels who "outed herself :).....and why don't they ever say anything?

o.k.--now I'll leave you alone :).

Hope you're having a good Monday!

Natalie♥ said...

That is so fun! It is neat to see where all your names came from. I love reading your blog, you always have such fun posts.

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

My oldest is Katie...actually Katharine. It's odd with the "a" instead of an "e." But...she is named after my mom who is Kathryn...and after my grandmother who is Catherine. So, her name is similar to theirs...and yet, uniquely hers. And with Madalyn...we just liked the name. We spelled is strangely because my middle name is Lynn...so it kinda goes with that.