I love Brinley’s name more with each passing day. This is how it ought to be.
It suits her, we’re all getting used to saying it, and it’s already become a part of who she is. I never felt that with Karenna’s original name (which was “Jolie” in case you missed that post) and it was an awful, sinking feeling to deal with.
People have asked where we found Brinley’s name and I honestly don’t remember. I think I made it up in my head, playing around with syllables I liked the sound of together, then checked to see if it had any kind of meaning. It’s an English name that means “burnt meadow” which really doesn’t mean a thing to us; we just like the name!
Her middle name, Anna, was my great-grandmother’s name. It’s also one of Steve’s favourite names. Finally, as my water broke and I began to push, the song “Anna Begins” by Counting Crows was blasting on my iTunes. So, it seemed right to go with Anna for many reasons.
Naming a child is such a huge responsibility. It comes easily for some parents, and others struggle with it. I was fully prepared to wait a good couple weeks before nailing down a name so that we wouldn’t have to, you know, CHANGE IT WHEN THE BABY IS A YEAR OLD, like last time.
The name is just perfect for her and I am so glad we found it.
Did you ever have naming regrets? Did you act on them or just force yourself to get over it?
I forgot, I wanted to ask how you pronounced Jolie (since you mentioned most people mispronounced it). Was it like Angelina Jolie? or like the French word? Or something else? Just curious 🙂
I absolutely *ADORE* my daughters’ names.
Charlotte was actually chosen by my husband, who was really into NASCAR at the time and I gather that one of the big race tracks is in Charlotte, NC. I of course loved it because of Charlotte’s Web, and it’s such a pretty, classic name. Her middle name is Kirsti, after my mother-in-law. It’s an Estonian name, so it links her to that part of her heritage (both my girls have Estonian, ergo EU, citizenship). I’m still slightly disappointed that I didn’t get the middle name I wanted: Autumn. I know it sounds really out there, but she was born in the fall, and it sounds so nice, and after all, it’s just her middle name. It’s not like I’d always be writing “Autumn” all over paperwork and whatnot. I wanted it. It was vetoed. I can deal with it.
Madeleine was a bit more of a roundabout process. I wanted Nathalie, but my husband didn’t. I went through a list of all my sisters and cousins, and he just kept saying “no, no, no” to each one. When I said “Madeleine”, he agreed. It kind of boggled me, because he really hated Nathalie, but Madeleine sounds a lot like it. Plus, I was worried everyone would think her name is Madison. Which they often do, because everyone calls her Maddy (we have the same spot on the school paperwork, Christine). Her middle name is Diana, after my mom, Diane (we thought her middle name sounded better with that extra syllable).
It is hard!!! Will was going to be William – then I figured he could choose to go by whatever he wanted. I mean will there ever be a Prime Minister named Will? Or a rockstar William?? In the end after I wrote it out on paper – I hated William for him. His middle name is Sutton – I wanted something to do with my mom but she wasn’t super close to her family so using her maiden name seemed wrong. She’s buried in Sutton, Quebec and it is so beautiful there…so I went with that…and i loooove it. It’s also a good ‘yelling’ name – Will Sutton…
I picked my first daughter’s name when I was about 6! The Irish Rovers had a children’s song called Katrina about a doll that saved all of the children in a village. I loved the song and the name and fortunately it suits my daughter very well!
My youngest daughter was named by my oldest daughter! Katrina was five when her sister was born and she asked me if she could name her. I of course asked what name was she thinking (expecting Elmo, Lunette or Barney). Katrina said she wanted to name her Krysta after the fairy in Fern Gully so her sister’s name would start with a K and end with an A just like her’s! I loved it and Krysta is most definitely a Krysta!
I love our boys names.
Campbell is my maiden name (his middle name is William after my dad)
Cuyler is just a cool name we both loved (middle James – after my granda)
Eva…
I only have one regret.
Her name is actually Geneva. After Sean’s gramma. I don’t love the name. Sometimes I don’t like the name. I wished we had named her Genevieve – a variation of Geneva.
But – she does suit Eva perfectly. So she never EVER goes by Geneva.
Sorta like Joshua/Aaron. She’ll only ever be called Eva, unless at some point she chooses to go by Geneva. (Her middle name is Elizabeth which was my Nana’s name)
Luckily on our school forms there is a place to write in their preferred name for class lists.
Amanda how do you pronounce your older girls names?
Kuh-renna?
Ave-lin or Av-uh-lin ?
I think you hit a grand slam with each of your girls names – I love them all!!!
I still love all of our children’s names…so I guess that’s a good thing, right? The only thing I regret is letting my husband talk me into making Joshua’s official name Aaron Joshua on his birth certificate instead of Joshua Aaron so his initials wouldn’t be JAM. Now, every single year on the first day of school, he needs to say…I’m Joshua, not Aaron. I guess in the grand scheme of things it’s not really that big of a deal…now that I think about it. Heh.
Fortunately, I settled on my daughter’s name quickly. My wife poured through all the books and kept suggesting new names. But I was stuck on the one I originally had in mind. For us, the name immediately stuck and seemed the perfect choice. I’m sure, subconsciously, I made sure that was the case. As you say, naming is a serious responsiblity! For what it’s worth, Brinley is a great name!