Okay this is likely not what you might be thinking…. I have been mulling this post over for a few weeks and I’m just finally now getting around to doing it. A. and I have been having lots of conversations recently about names… not baby names… just names.
Our Last Name
For quite some time we were convinced we would hypenate our last names for the baby. It is really important to us that if we are confronted with a stupid person that our last name and the baby’s last name have something in common. It just felt safer. Now I have to tell you we have boring last names. They are the equivalent of Smith and Jones. We toyed around with the idea of changing our last names to a hybrid name. Somehow combining the two. In fact when we adopted our second dog our friend gave her a hybrid last name and since then it has kinda stuck. A few friends refer to us like that. Well a few weeks ago, I approached A. to again consider the hybrid name. Low and behold she said Yes…. without hesitation. So folks – we are getting new last names!! Our families are going to FREAK OUT. As wonderfully supportive as they are this is probably just too new age for them. We are meeting with our friend who is filling out the paperwork for us and we are doing it. We aren’t going to tell our families until it is done. Likely we will both opt to keep our names the same professionally. I’m so excited to have the same last name as A!
El Nino
A. named the poppy-seed sized item in my uterus el nino, to signify the havoc it is and will reek! She actually names the potential poppy-seed before we even knew we were pregnant. So, wanted to fill you all in so you know who I am talking about.
What will the baby call us?
We’ve talked about this forever. We’ve read books and debated and talked and read more books. But we’ve decided. Since I am carrying this child and A. doesn’t get to have that experience, then I have decided to gift her the name Mom. I say it like that because honestly in my heart I do feel like I am giving her this gift. The name we picked out for me, Ama. It means mother in many different languages.
So thats my name post…. now for a question… when do i get to put up a pregnancy ticker?
6 Comments
January 31, 2008 at 10:38 am
That’s so exciting about the last name! My wife doesn’t think it’s necessary to do anything with our names now, but I think (hope?) that will change when a baby comes around. I would love to share a name!
January 31, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Congratulations on the name change!
We changed our names, and our daughter’s, a couple of years ago. As neither of us was particularly attached to our birth names (or families but that’s another story!), the three of us sat down together and brainstormed values we wanted our family to represent and came up with our name from there… As there is no form of relationship recognition available where we live, we see this move as symbolic of our commitment to each other. We love sharing a name – and it makes life easier in so many ways. And yes, our families did freak out about it. I found this really hypocritical as they didn’t blink an eyelid when my sister took her husband’s name…. I don’t see it as any different.
And I really love Ama, and the gift of Mom! We’ve been discussing this too (somewhat preemptively I know!) as our Princess calls me Mum and LB by her first name most of the time, Mum others because LB only came into our lives when Princess was 4. With our new baby (assuming there will be one…) we’d like to have parent names for both of us.
February 2, 2008 at 9:59 am
Congrats on the great decision. We have a hybrid name for our animals and my sister sends mail as a joke some times.. but seriously, there is no way to join our names respectably. We sound like cartoon characters.
And I say ticker now. You are pregnant. Period.
February 2, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I think it’s way cool that you are creating your joint last name for your family. If my wife and I were younger and doing the baby thing, it’s something we would consider, too.
Congrats on everything!
GG
February 2, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Congrats! I love your story.
You might be interested in knowing that I’m working professionally to help couples come to a naming decision like you & your partner did. It’s a ton of fun! See my site at http://www.NameCounsel.us– FYI, FYI.
Best of luck to you!
April 15, 2008 at 1:34 am
we are having the last name problem also. looks like hyphen thing is just not going to work. i’m trying to think of a way we can run them both together or something, but with two 4 letter last names with only 3 vowels, it’s a little much…. ah, wish us luck!