Baby’s Name

You’re pregnant! As the news sinks in, you realize a lot of decisions will need to be made over the next 40 weeks.

For instance, will you change the guest bedroom into a nursery, or change your address?

Cloth or disposable? Natural home birth, or hospital and keep the painkillers coming?

And for the decision that keeps you awake at night — what are you going to name the baby?

Let’s think old school as a starting point. Enoch, Augustine, or Otis, if it’s a boy?

Or if it’s a girl, perhaps Permilia, Parthenia, or Pinkie.

Fast-forward about 200 years and consider geography as a starting point. What do you think of Malaysia, Memphis, or Milan? Or how about Catalina, Camden, or Kebira?

It’s a tough choice. Forget for a moment the fascinating baby name lists you find online, and turn to (you knew it was coming) family names.

We can hear Uncle Horace and Grandma Jezebel now, fondly recounting the many ancestors who proudly bore the family names that must live on in the next generations.

Or at least one more generation.

Over the next nine or so months, you will be bombarded with names by well-meaning friends and relatives.

You’ll drive yourself slightly nuts as you mentally flip through hundreds and even thousands of names, wondering which is the one.

But guess what?

When you see your baby the right name will be there, waiting for you to breathe it out for the very first time.