Baby Names

We're struggling a bit in the baby name department. Oh sure, we have a list. But nothing really settled on. Which is fine...I'm good with waiting until we know if it's a boy or girl and see the little one's face to settle on something for sure. But one of my big struggles is that my personal top girl and boy name, are just about everyone else's favorites too. Aiden. And Isabelle. Sigh. LOVE those names. I've loved them for years actually - I'm a weird one about names, and have been "collecting" names and thinking about them for a long time. I used to (as in, when I was about 12 I think) like the idea of twin girls named Alizabeth and Aeryn. (I was 12!) But I mean...I've thought about names since then or before. And in recent years, had kind of settled in my heart on Aiden for a boy and Isabelle for a girl. And I could call the girl Bella, which means beautiful, and it's so perfect. And if we have a girl, she was basically implanting when we were in Rome at Christmastime, so it's even MORE perfect! (because they actually say Bella there)

But then...Twilight had to happen. Damn those books! I read them. I enjoyed them at first pass. And then I thought about the relationship being presented, how unhealthy it was, and started to not like them as much. For a trashy guilty pleasure for ADULTS who realize that it's trashy and not healthy, fine. Enjoy yourselves! For the preteens just starting to define their ideas of love that the books are marketed too....not so much. You're giving these young women serious issues by letting them see these screwed up relationships and thinking they're "ideal" or "perfect" or something. But I digress.

The problem is, now everyone and their sister is naming their little girl Isabella. Or Bella. Or Isabelle. That was MY name people! BEFORE the damn books!

I don't even know what triggered the Aiden phenomenon. But it seems like every little boy I know is either named Aiden, has a brother named Aiden, or their names rhyme with Aiden. Sigh.

So, who cares? Just name my kid what I want? I guess.....it's just. My name isn't common. And I always liked that. So I thought I would like to give my kid a nice, but somewhat uncommon name. Which, believe me, at the time I settled on these names, they WERE. But then I think...I was never very socially popular. In fact, I often tried (like I needed to try) to stand out from the crowd and be different. Was that nature? Nurture from my oddball parents? Or did it have something to do with my uncommon first name? I mean, the Matts, Tiffanies, Jennifers, and Sarahs I knew were pretty much always popular. Was that because their names were popular? So, is it possible, that by giving my kid a popular name...they'll overcome their mother's social awkwardness and be popular themselves? Would I want them to be? What if being popular means they no longer relate to me? Have I gone way too far off course yet in this baby name maze? I think so.

But it's what I'm pondering currently. Baby brain much?