I started a private baby blog just for my husband and me three weeks ago. While it might not be advisable, I can't quite resist cross-posting today's offering here, as I know a few of you (SHANNON) may appreciate it. Enjoy. And if you don't enjoy, I hope we can still be friends!
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Dear Sophie,
You let us know your name of choice many years ago, and so we've referred to you that way ever since; we've anticipated meeting you, and now and then even told others about you, complete with first name. You never to our knowledge expressed any preference about a middle name, so after we learned of your coming, your father and I visited libraries in two different cities(!) and brought home armloads of baby name books. I am making my way through these, one by one, trying out all sorts of lovely and interesting monikers. What goes well with Sophie? Many of the names I like are also similarly French or Greek.
On the way home from a nice Labor Day walk in the canyon and a stop for some yummy Mediterannean wraps from the Good Earth, your dad and I were driving home down State Street and our favorite French bakery caught my eye.
"How about Eliane for a middle name?" I smiled.
"Everyone will know where you came up with that one," replied your practical pop.
"They'll love it! Anyway, who cares? It's a pretty name. And it means [wait, lemme think here}, something like cheerful."
Then we briefly discussed and nixed a variation on that name, Elaine. It would work if you lived in France—there it would be lovely to hear pronounced—but here in the States, it would lose its music. I recounted a chat I had with my Puerto Rican friend, Yasmir, just this morning, about the name Esperanza for her future daughter. Same problem—in Spanish it is charming, but with an unromantic American accent, it comes out more like a sneeze.
Then I couldn't resist introducing the subject of odd names I'd been discovering in our great wobbling mountain of library books. "I absolutely cringe to think of the horrible teasing some of these names would bring down on a child! Really, I can't believe people could hang such names on their own babies!" I railed.
"Like what?" Rob asked innocently.
"Like . . . LABIE!"
[Cue the laugh track.]
We reminisced about a family Rob heard about on his mission who named their baby Syphilis (mispronounced si-PHI-lus, with a long i in that accented syllable) because it just sounded so pretty.
"Labie Syphilis! Ack!"
Then, as if to purposely bring on the sort of hilarity that puts me in awful, tear-streaming, stomach-cramping, oh-no-you-really-did-it-this-time-you-turned-over-my-tickle-box pain, your own stand-up comedian daddy came up with this brilliant suggestion:
"How about Labie Elaine?"
[Go ahead, say it out loud.]
I will not describe to you how fast and how completely the conversation deteriorated from there. I just want to tell you how sorry I am for you, that you have to come and live among such low-brow clowns. I feel sure you got jounced around pretty well in a churning amniotic sea of hysterics. Hopefully you didn't drown in all the commotion. Can you forgive your silly parents for being so badly entertained, possibly at your expense? I mean, if we don't actually put that on your birth certificate? If you get to stay Sophie?
Sophie means wisdom. Maybe you'll be able able to help us out with getting a little more of that, come April.
Love,
your mom-to-be
P.S. By the time you're old enough to understand this, it will be too late to get away from us. Sorry.
P.P.S. To make matters worse, your daddy asked me to look up the meanings of Labie and Elaine. Together they mean: slow-moving dependable girl. Then he pretty much dared me to blog about this.
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33 comments:
You're right: Shannon should get a kick out of this. I got a kick out of it!
Naming is a wonderous, much pondered journey for us. It took us the whole 9 months with Proximo. Can the tag with which you tie your child be anymore important? All the better to show your child how much thought and love went into their moniker.
Once again, you can go with Dracula! Here are my family's suggestions for middle names:
D -- Lyn
R -- Brazil
L -- Mia (or Maya or Mya)
N -- Sarah (or Sarah)
M -- Brittany (she usually says "Hula Hoop")
We're sure that you'll pick out something great. I remember once a long, long time ago (when we were living in "the shack" next door to your 4-plex and Rob mentioned how much he liked the name Grace (or was it Mercy?). He thought the name and the concept were both so beautiful.
azucar: It's Shannon's fault in the first place that I even have a problem with the name. I doubt I'd have ever taken notice of it otherwise.
And yeah, naming is sort of one of my "things" in life. It's very very important to me to hone in on the actual name of a person . . . or a dog . . . or a car. Okay, okay, they're not equally important, but I do love to linger longer in the naming process and I dearly love to hit the mark. It's not something to rush or yield to pressure about.
rachel b.: Sophie Dracula. Wise blood-sucker? I'llh ave to meditate on that one.
When I was a teenager, I was enamored of the name Meija, after a trip to the Washington DC temple. (I proxied for a whole string of Meija Johannsons.) Tell Lu that's tempting. Brittany is not in my repertoire, sorry Goin'-Real-Fast-Hair. Lyn? Doesn't grab me. Sarah? I've had more than a few people call me that recently. Brazil? Excellent!
As for your remembering Rob's preferences, I think you're right on. Mercy is actually another one we "know" about but it shan't be coupled with Sophie, as they are two separate individs. Grace, though, that's still under consideration somewhere. You should see the list I'm amassing. I'm having more fun than when I read the phone book.
P.S. Hula Hoop is a terrific suggestion. But aren't the Cooteys using that one?
I remember trying to think of names the first time and being blown away that I was responsible for something so serious.
When I was pregnant with baby #2 my oldest wanted to name her dragon baby. I pass the suggestion on to you. (How's that for responsible?)
zI love it! And I love Eliane, too. Speaking from experience there is something to be learned growing up having to correct everyone's slaying of one's name. (Namely how to speak up for yourself and how to have a sense of humor. I'm sure I've told you the way I came up with to make sure no one ever called me "Darlene" more than once.)
"It would work if you lived in France—there it would be lovely to hear pronounced—but here in the States, it would lose its music" So beautifully put. Another name I absolutely love but which completely and in the worst way loses it's music in the States is "Agnes." Truly a beautiful name until Anglicized.
c-dub: You are so right! I watched a French film last week, La Moustache, and one of the main characters was an Agnes. I fell in love with that name, finally hearing it spoken properly. But since I'm not moving to France . . . .
Please retell the Darlene/Dalene story. If you did tell me before I can't seem to bring it to my fuzzy prego mind now. (Not unusual.)
I've spent my life correcting people too—you'd be amazed how many possible corruptions there are of the name Georgia. And then I married Rob, with a funny last name. And rachel b. started telling her Primary class in the hallway every Sunday, "Look kids, it's Sister Booger!"
Elaine is a family name in my family. And so is Grace so you get my vote's there. I wanted to name one of my girls "Sophie" but it somehow it was pushed to the side. I'll always love that name, ALL of those names.
Baby naming is oh-so-fun, I wish you the best!
ash: Dragon baby! That's right up there with Moon Unit (Frank Zappa's daughter).
peef: Those are all ethereal to me, just lovely.
Name-hunting is such fun! All of my siblings names begin with "K," so I used to get "Why don't you have a K name?"
I am now dying to hear Agnes pronounced properly.
julie: I still can't say it right. But you can check out La Moustache from the OPL (I'll be taking it back today). Just shet yer eyes at the nakey parts.
Our babies are all refered to as Skeletor until we know who/what they are.
Last night my 7 year old was suggesting names. After she went through all the cast from High School Musical, she suggested Lemon Juice. She was serious. These kids are so funny...
Lulu was Sophie until she was three days old. I LOVED that name and for some reason switched it right when we were forced to fill out the birth certificate. I have always KIND of wished we named her Sophie....
This is the fun part. Are you still feeling icky?
bek: Lulu is an adorable name! And Lemon Juice ain't bad either.
I'm not feeling too icky (knock on wood). Fatigue is what gets me. But if I can work in a nap here and there, and coax myself out of slug mode when all I need to get me going again is a walk in the canyon air, I'm okay. How about you? How is the new Skeletor(!) treating you?
You ARE right! I LOVE the naming process. What a FAB idea to start a journal for the babe to be... wish I did that (and wish I would do that as my children are right in front of my face now).
One suggestiohnay... have you thought of spelling it Sofie? I'm NOT a fan of weird spellings, although I like making fun of them when I see 'em (San Dee anyone?), but I have a friend in the UK that spells it that way. It's the European way and doesn't get butchered when it's "Anglicized."
Love these journalings. Lovely.
Funny you say you'll be learning wisdom from her. I've always looked to you as one who possessed a bunch of that.
xo
lucky: It's never to late to start writing. (Or in my case, I guess, too early.) I would cherish ANYTHING written at ANY TIME by my either of my parents, more especially now that they are gone. Think about it.
I would consider Sofie. That's a pretty spelling. But there is no room for Sophia, or Sofia, or Sofya, however lovely those might be.
elizabeth: You are kind, but I do hope that this kidlet will surpass me in everything. And soon.
Sister Booger. I never would have thought of that.
Here's my story. At first glance nearly everyone wants to call me Darlene. It's particularly embarassing on the first day of school during roll call. So I started responding, "No. The "r" is silent." Immediately the teacher would look back down at my name surely thinking, "When is the "r" ever silent?" Then the teacher would inevitably say, "There is no "r." And I would reply, "My point exactly."
Worked every time.
Jules--it's like a quick but delicate combination of "Ann" (only with a french accent) and "yes."
So it'd be more like...
awn-yes
?
I'm loving your name journal.
Wow. Agnes is French sounds beautiful.
It takes me the whole pregnancy to name mine.
c-dub: You are clevah!
lucky: More or less. But you really have to hear it to appreciate it.
rynell: I'm sure I'll be playing with names the whole time even though right now I'm leaning in a very specific direction. The process is just too much fun.
a couple I've heard recently:
Chlamydia because it sounded pretty
Clixie
DeNazia (pronounced: Day Nausia)
I left this comment yesterday, I thought??? But, anyway, please don't think I'm an idiot or anything, maybe I'm missing something... What if your baby is a boy?
I love Sofie/Sophie Corinne
Shoe lady beat me to it.
I was just coming back here to say:
What if Sophie Mustard Seed is born with a stem? Ahem......
b.: Those names are making me laugh out loud! Day Nausea? Whooee! A tribute to an enjoyable gestation?
shoe & b.: If she's a he, then we will call him . . .
Dracula Aardwolf
(thanks, Rachel and Jeanne)
~OR~
Sophie Philip
(after his dad, grandad, great-grandad, etc.)
~OR~
(maybe)
Chlamydio.
You can't name a kid Chlamydio!
Now, Sergio Chlamydio is another story.
Okay, okay. (But it sounds so pretty.)
Then how about Gordon B. Henckel, after my favorite chef's knife?
First - I think it's lovely you're writing to your baby in the womb - I did some of that...and it feels so good to have that conversation in your head with your baby. I love to think that we all hung out in heaven ...and that they are wiser souls than I.
Second - I love henckels too.
queen: I couldn't agree with you more on the pre-here ideas! And I really do hope New Person is bigger and better than I am.
As for knife-love, what's not to adore? Sharp, solid steel, reliable, nicely-built, cooperative—all good recommendations for a baby name! I come from a long line of people with dull knives, and Henckel has changed my entire outlook on life, kind of the same way our nice bed changed my life after too many years on a futon. (However, I'm not considering Simmons as a name, though that might be slightly more appropriate.)
I loved loved loved this! It made me tear up. I'm so happy for you. I hope it works out for you, and I hope you know that I am praying for you! Congratulations!!!
Beautiful post.
I have to comment.
Congrats to you and yours, babies bring happiness.
We just had our third baby and realized that naming one never gets easier. I woke up in the middle of the night after she was born and her name came to me. That had enver happened to me before. And the name hadn't been on any of our lists. The surprises just keep coming.
christa: And YOU have to know that I think you are a genuine sweetheart! It's GOING to work out. That's a promise! But you can keep on praying . . . . Thanks for the love.
tip: Thanks! And welcome.
phoebe: Welcome to you too! Your story gave me a happy little thrill—what an inspiration! It's funny, because Sophie's name "came" to me in an outside-of-myself, unexpected, unmistakable way too, but I was wide awake at the time. Only thing is, this was years ago, right after my husband and I got married. Another name for another child came to me later on, in a slightly different way, but still unmistakably. As the years have gone by, the number of people who've decided that I'm daft has risen, but I've never given up on at least these two children. Now one's on the way and I'm totally convinced she's going to make it. I'm still a bit in shock.
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