Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Name Game Part III

If you name a boy Alexander, and call him Zander as a nickname, would you have to spell it Xander?  For some reason, the X would bug me.

Is Zander a weird name anyway?  Would you take a Zander seriously?  Haven't even thrown this one out to the family yet, so we'll see.....

Alexander means "defender of men", which I think is cool.

Simon means "one who hears".  This is Bruder's favorite, Lyle's least favorite.

Owen means "well born".  Cholita and Rose and Lucy frequently refer to their soon-to-be brother by this name, so for them, there's no debate.  He's Owen.  The extended family who've offered opinions were not too fond of this name (to say the least).  "Are you SERIOUS?" was the general feeling.

Peter is a name I've always liked.  It means rock or stone.  Lyle likes it, but the kids don't.  Who gave them a vote anyway?

Samuel is a name I love, but I think the nick-name Sam is inevitable.  I like Sam, but our short, sharp last name requires a first name with at least two syllables.  I also like several names that end in the "k" sound (Eric, Jack, etc.), but since our last name ends in k, I don't think it flows well.

What you really need is to see his picture....beyond the arm.  Our papers should be done and off to China very very soon, and the minute that happens, his happy, smiling face will grace our blog.   But what I'm really looking forward to his happy, smiling face gracing our dinner table.

"Owen, can you pass the peas?"  
"Chew with your mouth closed, Simon."
"Zander, it looks like you need a napkin."

What oh what will we call him?

12 comments:

Shirley said...

I am with the girls, I love the name Owen!

Stefanie said...

What about Piers? It's a form of Peter... but less common :)
I love Z's but I'm not crazy about Zander.
Owen, I do love. It's uber common, depends on how you feel about that.
Simon, could grow on me, sorta reminds me of chipmunks, but could be a very cool name :)

Eileen said...

See, this is good for me because I've personally never met an Owen. I really didn't know it was uber common. Maybe it hasn't hit Washington yet.

CSIowa said...

I wouldn't worry about what anyone thinks who doesn't live in your house. My daughter's name was a shock to my grandparents when we revealed it just prior to her birth. It turns out it was the first name of my great-uncle's nutty wife. I'd never even heard of her. They developed new associations with the name and it was just fine. The more I think about it, the more I like Owen (but I don't get to vote).

Julie said...

I still vote for Owen. I don't know any Owens and I just like it! That being said...I love Peter, too. But I'm a sucker for bible names as you can see with my boys names!! Of course, when L-boy first arrived in the oven I googled "cowboy names". 13 years in Texas must have gotten to me! I love cowboy names. Darren...not so much. He axed "Blaise" but I would have spelled it Blaze. He hated "Chance".... and openly laughed at "Bronc", "Cord" and "Trace"!! Of course, I'm not sure I would have chosen Bronc...it just made me smile! I think Owen is sort of cowboyish!!

When we named L-boy it was between his name and Levi. I think if we ever had another boy we would name him Levi.

I'm not big on Simon because it reminds me of Simon Cowell on American Idol. Also...did you know that Simon is pronounced "semen" in Germany. True story..my parents just had 2 German boys with them for a few weeks..one's name just so happened to be Simon. Thankfully he allowed us to call him SIMON..but that is not how he pronounced it!! We just couldn't bring ourselves to call him "semen"!! How mature are we!!??

And now...for my final suggestions...
Wyatt
Colton
Carson
or just make it easy and call him

"Buck"!! If you ask me...that one is perfect with your last name!! Oh wait...that was the name of our Duck. On second thought, scratch that one!!

Oh wait...I just can't stop myself.
What about Jackson? You could call him Jack but when he said his full name he would still have the 2 syllables to go with the one syllable last name?! Aren't I helpful!!

Eileen said...

Julie,

I love that you googled cowboy names. I'll admit that I googled Chinese-American boy names. Guess what, there weren't any.

Two times now Cholita has told people her brother's name is Yun Xi and they've said, "Oh, Eugene" Yet another reason to have an easy-to-understand American name.

And yes, you've totally ruined Simon for me.

Eileen said...

CSIOWA,

I agree it's those associations that can kill a name. The family's problem with the name Owen is that a family that lived near them growing up were apparently not not good ambassadors for the name Owen.

I'm sure in time they'd love whatever name we chose....or at least tolerate it and love the child.

akwebb3 said...

I thought I was being really original when I named aidan. Now I find out maybe not so much. Some of his friends are braden, kayden, jayden, and hayden. Some of the boy names I like now are cade, colton, garrett, and Everett. Of course people would call him rhett. But I like that too.

Vicki said...

How about Simeon?
Vicki
http://www.pomafamily.blogspot.com

Vicki said...

Eileen, I hope to be DTC on Monday, September 27. We have until November 10 to hit that 3 month mark. I think Vicki will travel before us since she is already LID. Our agency uses the same guides so i would have loved to travel with her.

Eileen said...

Simeon makes me think of a monkey. I can't help it.

Tammy said...

I agree-"Simon" reminds me of American Idol.

I like Peter-but maybe that's because when Hugh was in Law School we met a Peter from China who was studying at BYU joined the church.

I'm confident that you will choose a great name and I'm SURE that we will all love him--whatever his name may be.

We have an Owen in our ward. And a Gavin, and a Noah. How about Knox? He's in our ward too. :) Nevermind, that doesn't work with Beck. I've found Beck to be a tricky name to work with.