Tuesday, April 8, 2008

The Name Game

So I've been tagged. How did my crazies get their names? I wish I had really cool stories about my kids names. We liked them. That was it. The biggest argument of our marriage is over kids names. If we can agree, it's good enough. I'm not the kind of person who can refer to a child by name while still in utero. I have to see a child before I can settle on a name. My kids names were never set in stone until it's time to leave the hospital. I luckily don't care about the meaning of names. For me, they don't really have any bearing on personality. My name, for instance, means 'pure'. Right. And my kids have some doozies. I'll include them for fun.


Parker Braden:
Parker: park keeper
Braden: broad, wide

With Parker, I didn't find out if we were having a boy or a girl. But both of us were so sure it was a boy that Spencer said if it was a girl, I could name her. We put all our efforts into boys names. It was then that we found out what a disagreement this would be for us. I wanted Garrett. Spencer wanted Christian. We explored the option of family names but again, we couldn't agree. My great-grandfathers middle name was Park, which led me to Parker, but I wouldn't consider him named after my great grandpa Stowell. We were pretty set on Parker about a month or two before he was born. But a middle name continued the arguments. We really liked Reid, but decided we liked it too much to waste on a middle name. Spencer loves the name Braden. I finally agreed on checkout day at the hospital.



Reid Callin:
Reid: red-haired, red
Callin: dove, slender

This was our hardest for sure. You'd think it would have been easy since we didn't use Reid for Parker's middle name for that very purpose. We had a friend in college named Reid who was about the coolest guy there ever was. He had a great fashion sense. He was nice to everyone, even the geeks, despite how cool he was. He told great stories and he was ever entertaining. He really shaped the way I viewed the name Reid. But I started to really like the name Gavin. We vacillated between Reid and Gavin clear up until it was time to leave the hospital. We couldn't call him anything for a couple of days. Reid finally became the front runner, and then we fought over the spelling. Spencer won. I planned to spell it Reed. So the obvious choice was to use Gavin for the middle name. We planned on it (either Reid Gavin or Gavin Reid). Then in the hospital I decided I liked it too much. We should save Gavin in case we have another boy. I worked with a kid named Callin (but spelled differently) back when I worked for the school district. He was a top notch kid. I liked the name. Again, I wish I would have saved it for a first. I love it.



Grayden Clark:
Grayden: gray-haired, pleasant
Clark: man of learning, clerk

Again, you'd think we should just use Gavin. That's what we saved it for, right? It never seemed to fit for me this time. Spencer refused to discuss baby names this time around. It was within a week of his birth that we came up with Grayden. Both Grady and Grayson were on our list of names we liked. And Spencer always complains that we used Braden for a middle name. He loves it. So about a week before he was due, we were watching none other than Thoroughly Modern Millie with the dashing Trevor Graydon. We heard Graydon and it just clicked. It combines all the other names we like. We still can't decide if we should call him Gray or Grady. We call him both. I wanted to spell it with an 'o.' Spencer convinced me that it looks too much like a last name and he won on spelling again. Clark comes from Dr. Seuss. I think it was the day before I was scheduled to be induced. We were reading Dr. Seuss and the line was, "Look what we found in the park in the dark. We will take him home. We will call him Clark." We looked at each other and immediately knew. It was perfect. Besides that, the young men in our ward always liked to point out that our kids had superhero names (Peter Parker - Spiderman and Reid Richards - Mr. Fantastic). Clark just fit...Superman. We seriously weren't set on naming our kids after superheros, but it's funny it turned out that way. Although this name took us the longest to come up with, it was the first time we went into delivery fairly certain on what we would name the kid. I second guessed myself with this name for probably a whole month after we named him. A lot of people didn't like it. And people always make us repeat ourselves when we say it. It seemed fairly normal to me. Similar to Braden, Hayden, Aiden and I even know a Rayden. Grayden just didn't seem that different. Someone even asked if we were from Utah because Utah people always pick weird names. Regardless, I'm happy with it.

Our boys all have last names for firsts. They sound like a law firm..."From the law offices of Parker, Reid & Grayden." Three boys in a row got a little rough. We were seriously running out of things to agree on. And neither of us have ever convinced the other to use Garrett or Christian. We'll see what the future has in store.

I know a lot of stories behind my friend's kids names. But not everyone. I tag Autumn, Amanda, Jessica and Crystal.

15 comments:

Traci Elizabeth said...

Its funny, I would not be able to sleep my entire pregnancy if I didn't have a name picked out. I love your kids names. At first I was thrown off by Grayden, but now I think its SUPER cool. I get the same reaction when I say the name "Boston", like I am crazy. By the way, cute pics! Thanks for playing!

Moms Are Contagious said...

I have always loved the names of your children! Especially Parker...it's good that you don't have set names though because you never know...

Traci Elizabeth said...

Are you still there? =)...The internet is a much better way to communicate for me... I hate talking on the phone.

Unknown said...

Fun stories!! We had a hard time picking naems too!! When it comes down to it, it is alot of pressure to get it right. I also really like all of my kids names, I think we did good. I do not think Grayden is a wierd name. As for the Utah thing with names -- you are right, people here come up with the weirdest names!!

jeanine said...

This was fun to read. You guys are funny... I'm with you--I can't refer to my baby by a name before it's born. It's too weird for me. We usually have the name picked out before hand but there's always a chance to change it because nothing is set in stone. I've already been rolling around boys names just in case we ever have another boy in the future.

Kelly said...

I love all your boys' names- they fit them all perfectly- I love that they don't hold true meanings, either, ours don't and we just liked their names, too. We do, however, know their names the minute we find out their sex=- I can't wait as long as you!

Amanda B. said...

Love the stories- fun to read how you came up with them. Thanks for tagging me! :) Will be fun- I just did a post so I will wait a day or two. So, look for it! :)

Unknown said...

Sorry I said that you said people from Utah use weird names -- I wasn't paying to much attention to exactly what I was writing. :)

Erin said...

I like your boys' names. They are great personality names and your boys can defiantly fill them. It is funny and cool that they are last names and superhero. Cool story!!

Jessica said...

I love how you guys come up with names and then save other names for future kids. That is the last thing I am thinking about is having another when I am pregnant. I love all their names, you did a great job. I think that Spencer should let you fly out for a weekend and see me since you didn't get to move here, you deserve a trip here instead.

Kim said...

I don't think Grayden is a weird name... but then again I do live in Utah. ( I wouldn't really know would I) I do think it is funny/mean that someone asked if you were from Utah because of the name. What a bizarre question.

Valarie said...

Ok, so I know that this was about their names, and it was fun to read...but seriously....could your boys possibly be any cuter???

And in reply to your side note....I have noticed that we share the same "circle of friends" and wonder how in the world we never knew each other. I think we must have gone to church in the same building, but in a different ward maybe...?

Anonymous said...

Yeah road trips with friends really are a great time! Spencer's reunions sound amazing! What did his mission president do for a living?!!? haha About Collin: for starters, he's a great guy! haha He's humble, loves family, works hard in school, is quite smart, wants to be a dentist, and served an amazing mission in Zimbabwe, Africa. We've been dating since around Christmas time and things are going well. We're taking it slowly though and i'm okay with that :) People and their mormon standard time of engaged after three months have been bothering me but they just need to chill out! haha I believe it takes time to get to know someone completely.

How's Texas treating you?

Autumn said...

I love hearing about the names. I've always remembered you saying it was a difficult choice between the two of you. I love it. Probably because I fear that will be our problem with a boy. We were sure that Ellie was going to be a boy and for the first 20 weeks couldn't agree on a name for "him"-good thing he was a she. However, I do fear this day as far as agreement. I love it that they all sound great together. I very much understand what you mean about saving great names for first names.

jeanine said...

Oh my goodness! I was just looking at your Parkerisms... I can't believe he's reading already! He IS a genius!