What's in a name...?

Ok, this is a WAY random post..not going to lie! After my hour nap on a beautiful Sabbath day, I had a hard time falling asleep last night. It was like I couldn't get to sleep until after 1a.m. and then I was up at 5a.m. very unrestful night! Anyway, I was thinking about names and how we get our names and how we name our children...quite an interesting thing actually. Here are our kids stories:

Olivia Kate:

Around month 5 of my pregnancy (August 2003), we were still living in St. Louis. We knew we were having a girl and had a few names that we liked. But the number one name was Alexa for 2 reasons:

1. I love full names that result in nicknames (ie: Katrina=Katie, Victoria=Tori, Olivia=Livi, etc)
2. I love the nickname Alex for a girl.

We weren't 100% sold on the name, for several reasons, but mostly because we hadn't seen her yet and to us that is a HUGE factor! So, we waited a few months and when she was born we were COMPLETELY unprepared for the blonde beauty that was born. I mean, we were really truly thrown for a loop...uh oh, we had to change the name. I don't know if it was the pregnancy hormones or what, but when I thought of the name Alexa, I thought a dark-haired/brown-haired baby. Weird, maybe, but we both agreed that wasn't supposed to be her name. So, back to the drawing board of our "list": more than 30 names!

Long story short...it was the last hour before we were going to be kicked outta the hospital (the 3rd day) and they told us we needed a name. It was actually sorta funny, all of the nurses came in in intervals telling us their picks! :) One of them said to name her after my middle name, Tacy, and although a good idea, not an option. So, we sorta threw the name list out and came up with a few names. I was so exhausted with the whole labor, delivery & now this, that I told Luke to take 10 minutes, walk around the hospital and pray about it. Good luck dear!

He came back, very serious and humble and said it was down to these names: Cheyanne & Olivia. I liked Cheyanne (my dad was born there and my grandmothers first name is Anna), but just knew that Oliva was it. Whoa, glad that was over...and the middle name was a piece of cake. Luke was VERY adamant about her being named after me: Kate. Easy. Wish all names could be as easy as the middle name!

Funny thing: driving home from the hospital (and for those of you that know Rexburg realize that the hospital is about 3-5 minutes away from anything, including our apartment) I couldn't stop thinking that we had made a mistake..."Luke, are you sure? Are you really sure that's what we should call her? We can turn around and change it!" I can honestly say...we are sure!

Spencer Luke:

Well, we got smarter with Spencer (or so we thought!). We knew his middle name was going to be Luke, no questions asked. Whoooo, one name down! Anyway, we made a list, but this wasn't any list, it was a very thought out, descriptive list. We didn't want to be caught off guard with the "hair color" so we broke the list of over 50 names up into sections: dark hair, light hair, either. Yep, that's right folks, we are just that weird!! :)

Well, the day before the induction we were sitting in church and our dear and sweet friend was sitting across the aisle from us, holding her 2 month old son, Spencer (Katie & Dan). I had never thought of that name...yep, out of the 50+ not even on the list. I couldn't get it out of my mind...until they started the pitocin the next day! After giving birth, we had a lot of visitors, including Katie, Dan & Spencer (Dan worked at the hospital-how convenient!) I knew after they left that that was the name we needed to name him, but didn't know how to bring it up to Luke.

Later that night after everyone had left, Luke was adamant that we weren't going to wait to the very last day like Livi because he didn't want the hassle. I agreed. We went through the "list" and none of them fit him. Luke looked at me and said, "You have a name that's not on the list, don't you?"

Haha, it wasn't that I was scared to tell him, but I wasn't sure what he would think. So, I told him. He said, "so what are your reservations?" 1. Katie & Dan might be mad ;) 2. I dated a Spencer.

Then he asked, "why would you want to name him Spencer?" 1. My cousin whom I love dearly is name Spencer. 2. Spencer W. Kimball 3. Katie & Dan's little boy is Spencer

We said his name and it felt so right. It was wonderful to have named him on the 1st day and before falling asleep that night. We called our parents and they were ecstatic! It really was a great feeling.

So, here's to you: What's in a name? How did you come to get your name? How did you name your children?
Any regrets?