How To Name A Baby (How We Did At Least)

I wrote a post earlier this year about baby names. At the time, we didn't yet know if we were team PINK or team BLUE. Since then we have learned and confirmed that we are having a precious baby girl due in exactly two months! Of course we were tickled pink (haha) to learn that we have a daughter, but what we were not so tickled by was choosing her name. We had a boys name all picked out and ready to go! But when it came to lady names we were still on Mars and Venus.

Husband wanted something really feminine, pretty and more on the modern side. I wanted something traditional, southern and more on the classic side. So as we processed through our respective lists we rarely found ourselves in agreement about any of the names. So we decided to stop thinking about it for a while. This was around March/April of this year. We revisited the name game occasionally, we narrowed down the list, and even thought we made a decision once or twice, but in the end we (I) just couldn't commit.

If you read this blog often, you know we are prayin folks, and we prayed NIGHT AND DAY (I am not kidding) about what this child's name should be. We said to God over and over "You know what this child's name is, why don't you tell us what it is!!" I still don't know why he waited, but the good news is that he did finally answer us and we are so excited to know beyond a shadow of doubt that we have chosen the best name for our baby girl.

Last weekend, I read through one of those 1,000,000,000,000,000 name baby name books. Yes, I read ALL of the girl names. I studied that book like I was studying to graduate from college. We made new lists, some new options and the old ones we have liked all along. We discussed the meaning of the names, and if the names carried any significance for us... all names have a meaning but not all names carry some level of significance for you personally. Significance behind the name was probably my number one factor I needed to make a final decision.

I carried this book around with me ALL WEEKEND. I took it on date night, it stayed with me wherever we went. So last Friday we were driving down the road and I found a section in the book about names that were popular in other cultures and countries. One of the names that continued to pop up on other country's top name choices was Lucy. Lucy has ALWAYS been one of my favorite names, but Brian wasn't as crazy as I was about it... that is until I told him about the other versions of Lucy. In Italy, if your name is Lucy it would be Lucia (Lew-SEE-ah, emphasis on the second syllable), as it would also be in the other romance languages.

Well, the name Lucia really did it for Brian. He loved it, and I loved it too since it was a form of Lucy. So as we discussed Lucia, Brian just randomly said out loud "Lucia Kathryn Walters" to which I exclaimed "We could call her LucyKate!!!!" And a name was born, or at least the idea for the name was born. We spent the following week thinking and praying and pondering and asking her if she liked it (kick once for yes and twice for no, however she did not cooperate). Then for a number of random reasons, yesterday we decided to go on and make it official. Here are the reasons:

1. Brian LOVES Lucia and I LOVE Lucy so we get the best of both worlds.

2. Lucia/Lucy means light, and light was MY first word as a baby (after the mama dada stuff). Learning this meant a great deal to me and really hit my need to find significance in the name.

3. Brian loves the name Kate (it had always been on the short list) and I love the name Kathryn. Again, we get the best of both worlds.

4. Kathryn is a family name, Brian's first cousin is named Kathryn and now that there are two Kathryn Walters we hereby declare that Kathryn is a family name!

5. Kathryn and Lucy both carry the old-school classic feel I love while Lucia and Kate both carry the more modern feel Brian loves.

6. Kathryn means Pure. Lucia means Light. So our baby girl's name means Pure Light. I LOVE THIS!

7. LucyKate is the cutest little southern girl name ever. I am very proud to be carrying on the double name tradition with my daughter. And when she gets older if she wants to go by something other than LucyKate, well she has several options to choose from!

8. I googled Lucia Kathryn Walters and according to the interwebs NO ONE ELSE HAS THIS NAME. Again, this carried a TON of significance for me. I am proud of my own random name, and proud to be the only AnnieLaurie Walters I can find online, so I am glad that my girl will also have a unique and distinct name.

9. As I mentioned before, Lucia is the Italian version of Lucy. We went to Italy last fall as our last big vacation on our own before starting a family and we loved it! In fact I loved it so much I continually tell Brian that I want to move there some day! So having an Italian element to her name is special to us because of our time we spent in Italy.

10. The final point on how we chose our baby's name is the most awesome, most beautiful, most significant and meaningful point of all. Yesterday afternoon, after we sealed the deal between the two of us that this was the name and that we would set it in stone, we saw yet another miracle from the Lord.

I have mentioned before here on the blog how God has miraculously used RAINBOWS at critical times of decision in my life, to encourage me and let me know that I am following his path and that he is pleased with me. I am always amazed when he reveals himself to me in rainbows at exactly the right time to put my heart at ease and bring me peace.

Well, by now you have guessed it. Yesterday afternoon as I was leaving work, a huge thunderstorm passed over the church (where I work). It was pouring buckets and I had no umbrella so there was no way I was making it to my car. I waited for about 45 minutes for the storm to let up. I called my mom and talked to her while I waited and we had a really good talk about all kinds of things. Then the rain appeared to be weakening so I let her go, and called Brian to let him know I hadn't left yet. I was complaining that it was still raining and he told me to go on out and not worry about getting wet that it would probably feel good since it had been so hot. Right about that time, the sun came out, but it did not stop raining. So I got off the phone and headed out the door. The sun in the western sky was SO BRIGHT while the eastern sky was still dark with rain clouds. I got to my car and it was then that I saw it.



Big and bright, this rainbow stretched from horizon to horizon right over top of our church. It was beautiful! As I sat in the car staring, the rainbow got brighter and brighter and then a second band began to appear outside of the bright band. God was creating a double rainbow right before my eyes! I got out of my car, barefoot, while it was still raining and started snapping photos with my iphone, praising and thanking God the entire time. This is the second time he has used rainbows to affirm and encourage me during this pregnancy (I have not told you all about the first one yet, but I will soon.)





After standing in the parking lot in the rain for about 15 minutes taking pictures, I finally decided to go home, and the rainbow followed me home! When I got home the rainbow was still right over me, it was stretching over our condo from one side to the other. We could even see it from our balcony.

I am so thrilled and ecstatic that, in addition to all the reasons we chose this name, we got the official rainbow seal of approval from above. We now know our little girl's name and God was faithful to reveal it to us in his perfect timing.

So thats the story. I know this is long, but I wanted to get it out here on the blog, as a testimony to the Lord and praise to him for answering our prayers and always going above and beyond to let us know that he is here and that he cares.

Thank you Lord!

The Truth About Baby Names

Unsurprisingly, I've been doing alot of thinking about baby names lately. We find out the sex of our baby on Thursday this week. We have talked a little about names, but we decided to hold off on it until we knew if the baby was a boy or a girl, largely because we couldn't agree on anything. I prefer traditional old-school names, husband prefers modern "short" names. I personally like long names, names with lots of syllables that roll off the tongue in perfect poetry. Husband wants one syllable or the potential for a one syllable nickname. So rather than exhausting ourselves over this, we thought we could cut the debate in half if we knew we only had to choose a boy or a girl name, not both. Sometimes I think we will not have a girl ever because we are so at odds with each other on girl names.

My friend Ashley told me about this new show on Bravo called Pregnant in Heels. I talk to Ashley just about every day so she patiently listens to alot of my baby talk, and recommended I check it out. So today I Hulu'ed the show, sadly there was only one episode on Hulu to enjoy, but the one was pretty interesting. The show featured two couples, both who brought in Rosie Pope, a "pregnancy concierge," to help them with a pregnancy dilemma. One of the couples wanted Rosie's help selecting a name for their baby. This is a New York City "power couple" who valued selecting a name that would help their son start off on the right foot in their power world.

Rosie first brought in a think-tank of experts including a linguistic expert, a baby name blogger, a poet, an editor for A Small World (the elite social network -- have you ever heard of that??) and I think one other person I cant remember. Anyway, this couple presented their ideas to the group, then the group presented some ideas to the couple and they talked through pros and cons of the various names. Then they took the list of names to a true focus group of professional New Yorkers who then gave their opinions. Finally the list of names was presented to this couple's group of socialite friends at a dinner party. There was so much pressure to find a name that would define the child's future. Is this a name that you would date, or marry, or that could be a CEO or even the President of the United States?

It was then that I thought to myself:

The name doesn't define the person, the person defines the name!

I can appreciate how difficult it is to name something. My first "baby" was this blog and it took me forever to name it. In fact, as I have lately considered re-naming it, I have decided to keep the name Living Canvas because this blog will always be a vibrant portrait of how I am processing what I observe about life. But the process of landing on ONE name that would forever represent what I was trying to accomplish with this blog was exhausting. And after nearly 4 years of blogging I am not sure that the name of the blog has helped in anyway to determine the outcome or the success of this blog. Its the SUBSTANCE that makes the blog what it is. I say the same is true for naming people.

I have a unique name, a name that I have had to convince people to say correctly my entire life. Its not spelled weird or difficult to pronounce. Its simply two names joined together as one. It baffles me that AnnieLaurie is so difficult for people to catch on to, especially here in DC. I have had any number of reactions to my name over the years. I have folks who love it, who have even chosen to name their own children double names and told me it was because they liked my double name (I say that humbly, it is true though). I also have folks who are confused by it, call me Laurie Ann, Anna Laura, Anne Laur-ee (3 syllables), Amy Laurie, Amy, Annie, Laurie, Amy Ray, Annie Ray and more. And, I kid you not, I have had folks here in DC tell me it was pretentious of me to expect to be called by two names. After I graduated from college and I started my career as a television news reporter, the news director called me into her office to tell me that the owners of the company wanted me to stop calling myself AnnieLaurie that I should choose one or the other -- and this was in GEORGIA (double-names are much more accepted in the south, no Bobby Ray or Billie Sue jokes please)! Needless to say my career in TV news was short lived. I went on to become a press secretary and used my name as a way to screen calls, if the reporter calling got my name right I took the call, if not they went to voicemail.

ALL THAT TO SAY, having this double name has not defined me or made me who I am today. I could have just stopped correcting people somewhere along the way. I could have just let folks call me one of the list of incorrect names above but I didnt. And it wasnt having the name AnnieLaurie that made me have the self-assurance to correct folks and stand my ground after several attempts in various ways to persuade me to change it. Its who we are inside, the mix of genetics, upbringing, culture, life experiences and God's design that make us who we are, not our names. I am not a better or worse person in any way because of my name. NO one is! The person makes the name! Its not the other way around.

I was very pleased to see that, at the end of the Pregnancy in Heels, the couple needing help with the baby name decided on the name that ultimately THEY liked best. In fact, it was the name least liked by the think-tank, focus group and friend group. But all that mattered is that THE PARENTS liked it and I am confident this "power couple" will raise their child to be confident and self assured and he will make his destiny -- and his name -- great.

So now that I've named my blog, and fought my entire life to be correctly called by my given name, lets see if husband and I can successfully name our off-spring and raise the child to be who God created him or her to be and not let the baby's destiny rest on whether its called Aiden or Sophia.