Conference oass::babynames

    When I found out I was pregnant with my first one, I had had a name
    picked out for a girl for a long time.... but no boys names.  My
    husband (now my ex) was in the service, and one of his best friends
    names was Thomas Eric, well Tom is very common so we decided on
    Erik (with the K not the C).  But that was to be the middle name,
    now what to do about the first name????????  I finally dragged out
    my high school year book, the one with 3600 students in it, there
    has to be a name that went with Erik.  I didn't even look at the
    names at first, I looked at the faces, and came across a picture
    of the most beautiful guy, and I don't remember ever seeing him
    at school (with 3600 students, I don't understand that), but that
    was the guy we named our son for...... it was a boy, his name is
    Brent Erik.

    My first name came from two of my great-grandmothers, Josephine and 
    Anna.  I've always liked having a name that was unique to me, and yet 
    was a "family" name.  (Both great-grandmothers lived long enough for 
    me to know and admire them!)
    
    Joanne

    I was named after a song from the late 40's, early 50's called "Linda"/
    
    My sister was named after Loretta Young, the movie star.
    
    My brother was "named" even before my father was married.  He was
    told that if he ever had a son, he would be named Thomas Joseph.
     He was.
    
    My neice is named after my maternal grandmother and great aunt,
    Julia Evelyn Murren, JEM for short.
    
    Linda
    

    We came up with the name Kira in a somewhat odd way.  My husband,
    Daryl, wanted the name Kari (which for some reason I detest).  I
    told him that no child of mine would be named Kari... he suggested
    that we switch the placing of the vowels... and it became Kira.
     I have only seen Kira in one baby name book - it is a Persian name
    and I can't remember what it means... (memory lapse... argggh!)
    
    						*** Kristy ***

    My book says it is Persian and means "sun".  What a nice meaning.
    
    Robin
    

    There's quite a romantic story behind how my mother got her name:
    
    My Grandparents eloped in 1924 - at that time (in England) the age
    of consent was 21.  Grandma (Maud) was 20, and her parents refused 
    to let her marry her sweetheart, Joe (my Grandad) - she was working 
    in a factory and her parents didn't want to lose her wage!  So one 
    dark night my grandparents eloped from Liverpool to Scotland, where 
    they did not need parental consent to marry.  Grandma's parents were 
    furious and refused to have anything to do with her or Grandad, or 
    my Auntie Dora who was born a year later.  However when, three years 
    later, my mother was born, Grandma's parents decided to let bygones 
    be bygones and they were reconciled.  As a result my mum was named 
    Irene, which means "peace".
    
    Isn't that lovely!!  I expect all you people with baby name books
    are now going to tell me that Irene doen't mean peace but means
    something like "redheaded woman with a long nose who lives in a
    clearing"! - however Grandma and Grandad (who, after that romantic 
    start, have now been married for nearly 64 years!) swear this story 
    is true, it is certainly true that my grandparents eloped, anyway!
                                                       
    -Janet

    Our son's name consists of both his granfathers' names.  My husband
    and I had (unbeknownst to each other), always wanted to use our
    respective father's name as the middle name.  So, we tried them
    together and thought it sounded pretty nice.  Baby boy uses Dad's
    last name instead of Mom's, so we have:
    
                    James Allan Bassett
    
    The only problem with this, is that if the next one (!) is a girl,
    does that mean we should use the grandmothers' names - 
    
               Gladys Betty Bassett or Betty Gladys Bassett
               
    Maybe we'll pass on that!
                            

    I am blessed with having 2 middle names (?!) and have decreed with
    my wife that our children will also.  So with that condition chosing
    names was very difficult.
    
    For our first daughter we had the first two names tentatively and
    desparately seekin a 3rd that would fit with the first two, or
    something new.  Family names were out and for girls, ALL the popular
    "...y / ...ie" were ***OUT***.
    
    This was in 1981 and we, like so many Royalists and non-Royalists
    alike got up  in the middle of the night to watch the wedding of
    Prince Charles and Diana.  So here's my wife (8.5 mos. pregnant)
    and I up in the middle of the night to watch this spectacle.  While
    perched in front of the tube at 5 am and half asleep our daughter's
    nmae finally was obvious.
    
    No, we didn't chose Diana ... there were going to be a lot of those
    but Frances filled the bill, so we ended up and were very satisfied
    with
    
    Jennifer Teresa Frances

    Strange thing was we chose Jennifer for a girl 8 months earlier
    when in England where it was not a particularly common name, but
    here it is amazingly popular and generally we preferred less common
    names, but Jennifer stuck all the same.

    My girlfriend comes from a family of no boys.  So to keep the family
    name she decided to name her first child, a girl, after her maiden
    name.  Marlowe Ashley.
    
    I too am very fond of my last name, even though I have 4 brothers
    and 4 nephews to carry on the family name I have decided to name
    my first girl after my maiden name.  Morgan.

    When I had my son  6 years ago,  I didn't want to name him anything
    too common, but not something real strange either.  I also don't
    like names that can be shortened to a nickname.  My name is Rebecca,
    which I like, but I 've always gone by Becky, whick is ok too. 
    But every time I have to sign my name to anything, I never know
    which one to sign.  Consequently, I have MANY different signatures
    that I've used over the years.  And it's kind of a hassle.  So,
    when my son was born, I decided to find a name that could not and
    would not get shortened to anything.  He became  Keith Thomas, his
    middle name after a grandfather.  I really like Keith, its not very
    common, and not strange (I don't think) and can't be shortened.
     Although, we do sometimes call him "Keeper".  But I don't think
    that will stick with him to adult hood.
    
    

    From the time I was a little kid, in the '50's, my favorite name
    for a girl was Melissa.  At that time, it wasn't popular and I didn't
    know any real people with the name.  I think I first came across
    it as the name of a fictional character in a book.  I liked it even
    more when I discovered that Missy is often a nickname for Melissa
    because my favorite cat was named Miss Kitty, shortened to Missy.
     So, in a way, the name would also commemorate my favorite childhood
    pet, who dissapeared when she was 5 yrs. old.
    
    Years later, in 1973, when I was pregnant for the first and only
    time, I went through baby name books and made lists of names that
    I liked.  I kept returning to Melissa, the name that had always
    been my favorite.  I had no idea at this time that Melissa was going
    to enjoy a surge of popularity, and still didn't know anybody else
    with the name.
    
    I was determined not to pick Ann for a middle name, since I've noticed
    that most girls named Melissa, are Melissa Ann.  So, I went through
    the name books looking for middle names that sounded good.  Something
    made me notice the name Renee.  Melissa Renee St.Hilaire.  I thought
    Renee St.Hilaire sounded very good, French, and almost decided to
    just name her Renee.  But, at the last minute I couldn't have a
    daughter and not name her Melissa, after loving the name for all
    those years.
    
    Even though Melissa has now become somewhat popular, I still think
    it is the prettiest, most feminine sounding name, and I think it
    looks beautiful written.
    
    My parents were looking for a Scottish name when they were expecting
    me.  My mother liked Bonnie, but my father thought Bonnie Burns
    sounded ridiculous.  He had seen the movie, "Lorna Doone", taken
    from the book of the same name, about a Scottish girl, and chose
    Lorna.  Unfortunately, for me, Nabisco did the same thing when looking
    for a name for their shortbread.  Now, most people (in their ignorance
    :-) ), are only aware of the cookies, and have no idea that the
    cookies got their name from a book.
    
    Lorna
    

    When I found out I was pregnant, I remembered reading a scripture once
    that said "I called you by name in your mother's womb" in psalms.  So I 
    prayed for a name that would be suitable for the child.  One day I
    walked into the bathroom and the name Caleb came to mind, so I thought
    oh well but still wasn't positive.  The next night I went to a prayer
    meeting and as people were praying I opened my Bible on my lap and the
    Bible fell open to a verse in Numbers that said "But my servant Caleb
    had a different spirit about him" Well I almost jumped off my seat and
    have decided that if I have a boy, I am due in January that I will name
    him Caleb.
    
    
    Gina
    

    It beats Polly Anna!!! my mother and mother-in-law's names
    
    My mother was Florence Gertrude- She was almost Gladys Lillian- at age
    5 she went to dancing school and danced with a boy named Paul, who also
    hated dancing school, and she has been called Polly ever since.
    
     I didn't name my daughter Polly Anna, I used it as an excuse not to
    name my daughter anything but what my husband and I wanted to name her.
    my husband and his brother were named after the granfathers- Joseph
    Vincent and Vincent Joseph, his sisters were named after the
    grandmothers- Mary and Celeste.  I found out this was the tradition
    after we named our daughter Nicole Celeste.  Nicole was a very uncommon
    name until I named my daughter, then every time I turned around back in
    1971 there was another Nicole. I taught school a few years before and a
    few years after and still didn't run into a Nicole. My husband and I
    both loved the name Celeste even though it was a family name.  When my
    son came along in 72, I didn't care what his name was so long as he was
    called Jay.  We named him Joseph Vincent after his father and have
    called him Jay ever since birth.  His great grandfather Vincenzo died
    three weeks before Jay was born and my father is James Joseph- so the
    name has alot of meaning.  The Jay was a nick name for a James I had in
    school that I liked a lot.  His parents did a great job of raising him
    and anyone would like him and hope their child turned out just like
    him.  I was lucky my Jay is a great kid.

    When I was pregnant with my daughter (7+ years ago), I went through
    about 100 names before she was born.  I always liked Wendy Leigh,
    Kaitlyn, Jacqueline, Diana, etc.  But I would get sick of the name a
    few days later.  Well, the monday before I delivered (I delivered on a
    Thursday), I was watching the "Newhart Show", and when they were
    showing the credits, I found my daughters name -- "Stephanie" played by
    Julia Duffy.  
    
    I liked Julia, but Stephanie just held onto me -- I really liked the
    name, so I named my daughter Stephanie Maie -- and it fits her
    perfectly --- I am lucky that I did not have a boy, because I never
    even thought of any boys names, as I was determined to have a girl
    --next time I want a boy though.
    
    Debby