My take on the name

For those who've never had the opportunity, choosing a name for someone else can be a daunting experience. You wonder if they'll like it, if it will "fit" them, if it will unintentionally turn into a pun, or if it will be easy to ignore. My mind went through all of those thoughts as we came up with a name for our daughter.

There were two significant components of the naming process that affected our selection. First, and what seems most obvious, was the gender. Though she doesn't know it yet, we thought little bunnyboo was a boy for a good three months. In hindsight, we had no real conclusive evidence that she was a boy; we just had it wrapped in our minds that that's how things were. So, consequently, the only serious names we considered were boy names. We both had lists of girl names on the side, but we never went through the process of "trying them on" and seeing if they were a good fit. I think by the time we went to the ultrasound, we had discussed boy names for several weeks and narrowed them down to 5-6 good options. But the night before we went in I remarked, "Wouldn't it be something if this turns out to be a girl?" [Ironically, I had almost the same identical question - just opposite - when it came time for delivery].

So after we found out it was going to be a girl (with 98% accuracy, of course), we realized it was time to dust off our list of girl names and see what made sense. That takes me to the second big component.

I have a very common last name. Though I'm not one to name my daughter Moon Unit or my son Dweezil, there really was no chance that we were going to name this girl Sarah or Mary or Rachael. We wanted something a little off the reservation, if only slightly. I've told people since then that when you are naming a child, you have to decide what level of weird you can tolerate. We wanted her to have a name that was memorable, yet still easy to pronounce, and not necessarily trendy, such as changing the i's for y's or throwing in an "-aiden" somewhere. We wanted a name that was distinctive, yet easy to pronounce on the phone. And I wanted a name that didn't sound too ballerinaish or that would make her embarrassed when she someday interviewed for jobs. [I might add that we do call her "bunny" all the time. I hope she doesn't think it's her real name!]

A difficult thing with the naming process is that there are so many names out there. We have a baby name book that includes more than 30,000 selections, most which you would never actually use. They may be appropriate for someone else, but they don't exactly fit what you want to say with your child.

So with all that said, once we found out we were having a girl, it wasn't all that hard to narrow our list of prospective names to 10-12, and then to 4-5. I'd try on names for a day, writing them down and wondering what it'd be like to have a child with that name. We'd bounce ideas off each other, sometimes specifically trying to think of something outside the box. In a way it was fun, because we quickly found a handful of names that we both liked, and it was just a process of choosing one that resonated the best.

In terms of our final choice, I like several aspects of Emery's names. Emery is both simple to spell and a little unique. I also like that it has a strong, courageous side to it. Emery as a word means strong or strength, and I have not too subtly wanted her to embody that with her life. Each day when I pray for her I try to say these words: "Be strong in the Lord, in the power of his might."

For her middle name, Annabelle for me captures some of the whimsical and joyful aspects of life. In our home and in our marriage, we've tried to create space for life that is fun, at times a little silly, and filled with genuine laughter. In Annabelle, I want Emery to experience the joy that her parents share, a joy that at times may be a bit off the wall. I want her to know that she will be accepted and loved for who she is, and that our home is a safe place to become all that God wants her to be. And I kinda want her to think I'm funny.