Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Names, Names, Names

In case you were wondering (and maybe you weren't) we don't tell the names until birth. I know it drives our family bananas, but we just feel that it adds some fun and SOME element of surprise to the birth announcement...after all, everyone already knows the sexes. We did this with Henry, and much to the chagrin of our moms, we are doing it again this time.

But don't worry, even if we DID tell, we haven't finalized our name selections yet...wait, I should re-phrase that...ANDY won't commit on a name selection yet. We have Baby A/Peanut named...and we refer to her (to eachother) by her name...Baby B/Jelly Bean on the other hand...is This One. So, you might hear something like: "Little Suzie is really crazy, but This One is so quiet and calm." (No, we aren't naming one Suzie). I keep telling Andy that I'm going to be more bonded to "Suzie"...but that doesn't seem to make him want to go with a name. Sigh.

Picking out names for twins is REALLY. REALLY. HARD. For us, we don't want the names to rhyme or start with the same letter or be in the same "theme". In other words, the following name combinations are OUT:
  • Kylie & Kelly
  • Harmony & Symphony
  • Denim & Lace
YET, because they will inevitably be introduced as a pair for the first 18 years of their lives, the names have to "go" together...but not match or rhyme. So, that makes it tough. I also have this thing that names should sort of follow the same overall feel...so, if you go with really traditional names like Jason and Matt...I feel like your third child shouldn't be named Tristin. Or if you go with Greek names like Magnus and Achilles...your daughter probably shouldn't be named Sally. I don't know, it just kinda bugs me...like, if you are going to establish a pattern...stick with it! If there is no pattern, great. But if you clearly start one, finish it.

I'm neurotic. I know.

All of that to say that we haven't fully picked out our names, and even if we had, you still wouldn't know it! :)

15 comments:

Rachel said...

Have fun! That's the thing I will miss the most if we are done, naming our kids was so fun. We didn't plan on their names both starting with "A" and if there is a third it is so unlikely that the third would too. That being said a girl name would probably end in the "ey" sound.

So I totally get your neurotic tendencies. I can't wait to see you blog announcement in a few months!

Kristen Borland said...

Zebediah, Nehemiah, and... Lola. I know, it appears we broke the pattern. But since our names weren't chosen to be a pattern (chosen for the meanings), and since I kind of have a neurotic need to break any rules and patterns and expectations, we surprised every one with a family name instead of a biblical "iah" name.

okay, so i wasn't on pins and needles before about the baby names because lots of people keep their names secret. BUT, now that i know you have all these guidelines, i'm totally curious! when you reveal the names, will you tell us which one was peanut and which one was jelly bean?

Lindsey said...

dangit jeannett. I was REALLY hoping for Denim and Lace.

jenny said...

Instead of Harmony and Symphony, you could do Harmony and Melody, like that one Psalty song. :-) Now, my question is, how did you decide which baby to name the one name you have? And how do you know which one's going to be born first??? Twins are so intricate!

Jeannett said...

Jenny-Because I can totally tell the difference between the two girls in the womb, I know who is kicking and not...so, it's pretty easy for me to tell the difference and keep them apart. We know that Peanut is head down and using my cervix as a pillow...and she should be the first out...they CAN switch places, but at this point, it's unlikely. Even if they do, my guess is that I'll still be able to tell the difference based on their activity level (Peanut is WAY more active than Jelly Bean), but even if I can't...does it really matter? I mean, when you choose a name for your singleton, you haven't met them yet, yet you've assigned a name...I suppose that if when they come out, they don't fit their names, we can swap the names at birth!

Kristen-Yes, I will tell you which was which when they are born. :)

Priscilla Rynning said...

we accidentally started "P" with our firstborn (Perrin-means "Peter")then #2 is Philip (starts witha "P", but doesn't sound like a "P")and I didn't like ANY girl "P" names that I knew in 1978 and had my husband all convinced with "Amy Elizabeth" until his mom (!) came up with "Paige" he LOVED it of course so she is "Paige AMY ELIZABETH"!!!! And, of course, all 3 names were perfect for them!!! We also thought that meanings are important too!

Brianna Heldt said...

yeah we never tell the name ahead of time either, b/c we aren't interested in what people think of the names, plus i like having the option to change my mind. we never even usually call the baby by the name ahead of time either.

i have two girl names right now that i LOVE, so i kinda wish i was having twins so i could use them both, if it's a girl. (if it's a boy i'm really in trouble b/c i don't like any boy names. shoot.)

denim and lace, that is fantastic.

joy said...

I'm still voting for Denim and Lace. Be original, Jeannett.

joy said...

Oh, make sure at least one of the names sounds nice with Newman--didn't we figure out that one of your girls is marrying one of my boys? I can't remember how we worked that out.

lindsey said...

hold up there joy! are you renegging on our agreement? but now that abe wants to marry ME that changes everything.

jeannett - i think henry has such a sweet sound, kind of old man-ish (i think grace and lily sound like old ladies, just so you know), so i was thinking molly and abigail, but then isn't your dog abby? back to the drawing board for ME to decide on your baby's names!

Mama Mote said...

Dan came up with Elizabeth. When we realized we might have a girl (since we KNEW we were having a boy), he prayed about it, searched the Bible and when the head popped out, he whispered, "Samuel David." I liked that...until the rest of HER popped out. But he said, "how about Elizabeth?" I loved it. Danielle was the name I wanted. I ALWAYS wanted a Danielle, but he didn't want another "Danny" in the house. So, when we were having our second child, he didn't have a name when she came out, so that's how I got my Danielle. Can't wait to find out. Stay healthy, young lady.

summer... said...

too complicated! but i can always count on you to make me smile. can't wait to hear the names of your girlies. oh the anticipation.

Jacquelyn said...

We had a hard time naming our kids as well. I think the names should mean something special and have some poetry to them (suprise!). Phillip picked Isaac's name. He thinks boy names should have some good hard consonants to sound "strong" and "masculine" ... when you figure that the kids will be stuck with whatever you choose for the rest of their lives it's important! BTW I have 7 cousins (from the same family) whose names start with K and end in IE .. that's neurotic!

Rachel Slagle said...

picking names is really a challenge. my favorite name for a girl starts with a "d" (it was going to be dillon's name if he was a girl) but i don't want to be one of those crazy parents that all the names start the same. so, when we have another one if it's a girl, i just might have to come up with another one.

and i like the idea of not sharing the name - my stepmom kept trying to get us to change our minds on dillon's middle name. so annoying!

Melanie said...

We have name rules in our house also so I totally understand what you're saying. And my daughter goes to school with a family and they have one older son, and twin boys. They are named Peyton, Pace, and Parker. (gag) The mom said that they really didn't want to name their twins a P name but they couldn't decide on any other boys names. Yeah, right. LOL.

I can't wait to hear your little girls names. I am a name freak so the suspense will be high until I know what they are.