Baby Names

It's Show Us Your Life Friday over at Kelly's Korner! I very rarely get to participate, but this week is a topic I can talk about! She asked everyone to talk about the baby names they have picked out for future children or how you named your children.

When I found out I was pregnant, my husband and I already had a girl name picked out. I had been in love with this name for many years and Ryan enjoyed it as well. If the baby was a girl, we would name her Olivia Elizabeth. I have no connection to the name Olivia except that I really like that name. I also have a thing with the letter "O'. I'm not sure why. When I was in high school, I decided that I wanted to find someone with the last name Oates to marry because I loved to write that name (that did not happen). Elizabeth is a name that has been passed down for a while. It was my great, great grandmothers middle name and my great grandmothers first name. We called my great grandma, "Grandma the Great One" when I was little. I apparently started it at some point. My middle name is also Elizabeth and I promised my mom that I would carry that name on.

We found out we were having a boy and we were stuck...we didn't have any boy names picked out that we could both agree on. I love names like Aiden but Ryan hates names like that (which he calls trendy). So, we were in a predicament. We knew that we wanted him to have part of Ryan's name (he is Ryan James). The only name that we both liked was Jack (not Jackson, just Jack...which makes me think of Will & Grace...did anyone else love that show??). So, we decided on Jack Ryan for our son. It also worked out...my grandpa, who was one of my favorite people in the world was Neil Joseph, but people called him Joke (I can't remember why, but they did), so Jack is kind of like that. As a side note, grandpa passed away right when I started dating Ryan. I have always had this feeling that my grandpa sent him to me...they have the same birthday.

Now that we have our first child, my mind always thinks of other names that I like. If we have another child someday (right now, I'm perfectly happy with one!! I can't imagine having another child anytime soon), we will be in trouble if it is a boy...we are completely out of ideas for boys. I have come up with another girl name that I am in love with (and that has probably replaced Olivia). If I ever have a girl, I want to name her Claire Elizabeth. I just love that name.

So, that's why we chose our names!