Names

When I would hear a mother-to-be say how difficult it was to pick a name for their soon to be bundle of joy, I would think to myself, "just pick your favorite and go with it". It shouldn't be so difficult, right? Then why is it?

Now I know.

This is something they will have FOREVER. We want it to be masculine and strong, but not overly insensitive or formal/informal sounding. We want it to be short and easy to say since I am the QUEEN of nicknaming. I really would like my child to use the name he is given, but the chances of that are slim given my history:)

The name conversation has been put off long enough in our house and has been commencing nightly over the past few weeks, but are we wasting our time? Before we knew baby was a boy we threw around the most beautiful girl names. We almost immediately agreed on a short list, except for the old fashion ones I like, and they came easy.

The day we found out baby was a boy we narrowed it down to 3 boy names. I have the pickiest husband in the WORLD, for those of you who don't know, so this was a small miracle in itself. We love all three of those names and baby will end up with one of them, I am sure, but I keep searching. I keep trying to talk myself out of them. Why? Is it the hormones? What if it's not? Why am I so indecisive? I think Robby is just going to have to decide once we see him...

Name #1: Our favorite. It's also Robby's (2nd and 3rd favorite!). It's becoming more and more popular, but that's not necessary a bad thing, right? It's much easier to think of weak male names that are not popular. It is strong, but also so sweet. It sounds beautiful with his middle name, Robert, and last name. AND, you can't screw it up. You would really have to try to misspell or mispronounce it. We know one person by this name and he's a pretty cool normal guy. You know, because that is a requirement - cool and normal :)

Name #2: Our 2nd favorite. It's not popular and pretty informal and there is no way to make it formal. Like Robby said, "It would be perfect for a second son." The first born son seems like he should just have a name that takes on more leadership. Do you think we have over analyzed, lol? We also only know one person by this name. He's pretty humorous and, while Robby knows him better, constant entertainment. Maybe that's why I associate it with the lack of formality?

Name #3: The 3rd down the line. This one is fairly common, but I still really like it and don't really know anyone by the name. So I don't have to worry about the whole 'someone from 10 years ago was named that and they were a jerk and ruined it' kind of thing :) The jury's still out.

So, what are your suggestions? How did you pick your baby's name? Or, if you already know what you will name your future babies, how did you decide? Oh, and as public as I have just made this topic, by the husband's request, we aren't spilling it (assuming we decide on an it) until we meet him. We just have to make sure the name fits our baby boy.