June 28, 2010
he will not be a junior
I’m a little late making the announcement here but we recently found out we’re having a boy. The plan was to post an updated ultrasound picture but I haven’t had the time to scan it.
Below find the answer to a couple of the most common questions:
- November 5th.
- No. We are taking suggestions.
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dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
which is also my suggestion for a name.
do i include the “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” on the birth certificate?
Happy to hear.
Manuel? Miguel? Pepe?
Caleb
Jefferson
I think the exclamation points are implied. but I won’t tell you how to raise your kid.
Oh, good!
Lovely!
Arthur rocks my world. Or Arturo, like all the men in my family.
Sue. It’ll be good for him.
Congrats on your successful seeding!
J.R. Ewing might be a nice compromise.
If he arrives on the due date, you might consider “Guy.”
Or Punctual. Punctual Smith.
Ronya reminded me of the 65 year-old woman at my office who smiled at me when I told her my wife was pregnant with Izabella and said, “good job,” her eyes wide, forcing me to wonder what she might be imagining.
Punctual Smith. That might be a little too much pressure for the kid.
Guy Fawkes Smith.
Oh, Brachinus beat me to the punch.
Good job indeed and I ain’t imagining anything or at least I’m trying not to
Pixies crept in during the night and put a baby brother for the Iz in Alicia’s tummy.
Gack. That is so much creepier than the imagined reality (which I promise I am not imagining).
Randy Taylor
Nov. 5 will be my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. Eldridge is my Dad’s name. Leon is his middle name. (Not so long ago, I’m not sure how it never came up before, we discovered our Dads shared the same middle name.)
I’m not suggesting either. Just floating information that came to mind.
Congratulations, Michael!
Eldridge! Leon! Love!
Years ago, a friend told me of an acquaintance whose parents named him simply R. B. Just initials. When he went into the service, he wrote his name as he’d been accustomed to writing it on forms: R (only) B (only) Jones.
Later they called the roll: Jones! Ronly Bonly Jones!
Leon is my dad’s middle name and he’s a junior. I’m probably not using Leon. Not that I dislike the name, mind you.
My ex- was simply [baby boy] L_______ when he was carted home from the hospital in Chicago. (Yes, there was a full surname; I just ain’t telling.) The family called him by a very silly name that I also refuse to reveal. Just imagine a name suited to a twit in tennis whites bouncing onstage in a sub-Noel Coward comedy of the 1930s, and that will be close enough. And it is the name my ex- went by until he was eighteen and gained the legal right to adopt a name he chose for himself.
He went with ‘Wilson’ — after his great-uncle, whose birth name was Wilhelm, but when WWI broke out and patriotic Americans began stomping dachshunds to death on urban streets, WIlhelm changed his name to Wilson because it was the US president’s surname. How could he go wrong?
Years after taking the name Wilson, my ex- discovered that his mother had apparently convinced someone in the Cook County (Chicago) vital records office to write in the ridiculous Noel Coward-y family name on his original birth certificate years after the fact.
Names are funny things. And you can bribe anyone to do anything in Cook County, Illinois.
Michael, instead of Leon, how about Leroy? Pronounced Lee-roy? Just because.
Oh, oh! Michael Grant.
Michael Grant Smith.
Either that or maybe Deron Smith.
This is fucking awesome news.
I had a bitch of a time trying to get boys’ names right. The girl stuff came easy, but Waltina and I both had huge problems both in finding boys names we individually like, and subsequently finding ones that we found mutually acceptable. If I liked it, she didn’t and vice versa. Rather frustrating.
How about naming him after pessimistic German philosophers? Schopenhauer Smith? Mainlander Smith? There would be a lovely bit of irony in naming your baby after an antinatalist.
Or you could just call him Colin. I always liked that name, but she didn’t. Damon works for me too. Malcolm. Preston. Stewart. Blake. Forrest. Miles.
That’s all I can remember from my set of likes from the last baby name war.
I know a young Colin, Walt. He is just setting off to college in the fall. He turned out all right. I think young Colin’s dad may have prevailed over young Colin’s mom in the naming. And I think young Colin may have been (secretly) named for Colin Blunstone.
My parents were on the fence between naming me Sheila or naming me Maurig. I’m kinda glad they went with Sheila.
Elliott
Nolan
Paul
Maurig! My friend’s name was supposed to be Pheribee. But then they went with Abigail. This revelation caused such delight in all who heard it.
YAY
SCORPIO
(neither of those is my suggestion for a name, though I’m partial to Noah.)
Scorpio Smith.
Henry or Snoop.
Oh, I love the name Henry. Henry Smith. That’s a great name.
Congratulations! And a Scorpio – yeah! November 5 was my due date, wasn’t it?
Names…Hmm…
You could always go Brontë:
Heathcliff. Hindley. Edgar.
Mia was almost named Catherine Linton.
“If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it.”
That’s right, Flannery–November 5, 1981 was your due date. You decided to make your entrance on Veteran’s Day, though, so you’d always get the day off.
I think Sheila had it right way up there–a Spanish name. Smith is short and very English, so put some weight in the “given” name. How about Joaquin?
Joaquin Smith would be good. I agree.
What about a Nahuatl-style name? Like Cuauhtemoc? Cuauhtemoc Smith.
Or Ilhicamina Smith.
We have a lot to think about here.
Thanks all.
I’m with Daryl. Henry Smith has weight, you wouldn’t doubt a guy called Henry Smith.
Unremarkable enough if you want a quiet life, but, for someone trying to make his way, hits you right between the eyes.
Hell, I might change my name.
If I had the last name Smith, I would definitely name my child Elliott. But that would probably be a bad choice.
Tyrannosaurus Raygun Smith
Tyrannosaurus Raygun is a really good boy name, Robert.
Luke, Elliott was on the list but my good friend’s son is called Elliott, so we reconsidered.
Robert, Tyrannosaurus might be a little difficult for our two year-old to say.
Sheila, Ilhicamina and Cuauhtemoc might be a little difficult for me to say.
Keep ‘em coming.
Bilbo.
Congratulations! Congratulations!
You have my permission to name the child after me.
I always liked “Desmond” or “Clyde” or “King”.
I have friends who gave their child the middle name “Dynamite”.
Michael, I bet the Iz could manage “T-Rex Raygun”.
Michael, you can call him Ty for short, until everyone can pronounce it. You could also use Ray. Or T. R.
I’d feel better knowing there’s a person out there named Tyrannosaurus Raygun.
I came here to shell out some options but now I like Henry so much I can’t think of anything better. If you’re looking for worse, you could do like my aunt and name two of your children the same thing. That’s a winning strategy.
I have a friend who was called June even though she was born in April so as soon as she was able to changed her name to Mary
Izzie and Izzy.
Didn’t change her name to April, eh? Or May.
In truth, I’m with Kelsey and Phil and Daryl and Amy. Henry Smith is a wonderful name.
Robert, I could change my name to Tyrannosaurus Raygun Ryan.
Phil! A name as a placeholder! Perhaps, Placeholder Smith.
Sheila, that always confused me. So much so that I dare not ask.
Tyrranosaurus, I support your decision 100%.
To help y’all focus, please note that whatever name we choose, my mother-in-law will call him by the first syllable only. So, Henry Smith will be just Hen. I’m not sure that changes anyone’s suggestions.
My middle name is Lee, I have always liked that.
I may have told this story, but, I guess my early stage dementia allows me to repeat myself.
My middle name is Lee as is my son’s – when his mother and I split up I married someone whose maiden name was Lea and my son’s stepfather his name is Leigh.
I always fancied taking my wife’s name of Lea, but, Philip Lee Lea seemed a bit too much especially if my son had done the same and would have been Richard Lee Leigh.
Well, Lee is a goer then, she can’t mess with Lee!
Thank you, Robert. You may call me Ty if you like.
Disclosure: Daryl’s comment about Henry was actually me. Sharing a computer, you know. Still, we agree that Henry is a grand name.
Here are some other suggestions:
Carlos
Xan
Jack
Phil, I very much like the name Lee but Lee Lea and Lee Leigh may have been too much. Good job on Bebbington.
Well, hopefully someone names their child after you, Ty. It would be the highest of honors, in my opinion.
Sometimes I address my cat Lena as Lala. I may try Leelee.
I can only hope, Robert. Thank you.
A spam name? Alexandre Leblond Smith? Okay, I’ll stop. Maybe.
A friend had a teacher in high school who names her children after forms of water that started with “r” . River, Rainn,…and Reservoir. Most unfortunate.
but honestly, I’ve always been a fan of recycling old names. Norman, Martin, Miles.
I don’t care what you name him, so long as you call him Sparky.
So he can go on and manage the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers later in life.
God damn, what is the matter with us? Christopher Walken Smith!
Cindy: You. Are. Awesome.
I read an article way back that said an actual study had been conducted on this very matter involving prison inmates. No lie. And it found that boys with way out names are much more likely to go to the slammer. Girls can handle an eccentric name. But not boys. Something to do with peer pressure and conforming. Boy names found to be safe of course were Michael, John, Steven (Henry probably was in there). Which rules out the greatest byline ever, someone I worked with but never met in person : From New Orleans, Royal Brightbill.
Ok. Confession: my real first name is not Luke. It’s Leslie. This means I have a dog in this do-names-really-matter fight, and I’ve paid attention to the relevant studies. Here are two somewhat contradictory takes on the matter:
A Boy Named Sue, and a Theory of Names
Baby names have long-lasting effects, for better or worse
I like the first one a lot better… but probably just because it says this:
I would hazard a guess that what is true for cross-gender names might also be true for slightly strange names… like Christopher Walken Smith, for example.
Warren.
Wade.
Oliver.
Oliver like Ollie!
Dave, I like Oliver (Ollie) too. It’s been added to the list. Thanks Maefo.
Calderon Henry Smith.
Alivar Henry Smith.
Henry Atticus Smith.
Emanuel Henry Smith.
Thaddeus Alivar Smith.
King Abdullah.
During a period of sleeplessness last night, I solved the Henry problem. His diminutive would not be Hen, it would be Ry. But pronounced Rye. As in Ry Cooder.
Ry Smith is one glorious name.
You are welcome.
word.
There is Hal, as in Prince Hal who became Henry V. But then there is Hal 9000, so Ry is probably better. I like that name.
My mom and sister have both weighed in that they like Henry. My mom’s text said, “I like Henry or Tyrannasouros (Hen or Ty)…”
Guess she reads the comments.
Hi Mom!
[...] Cindy S.: Years ago, a friend told me of an acquaintance whose parents named him simply R. B. Just initials. When he went into the service, he wrote his name as he’d been accustomed to writing it on forms: R (only) B (only) Jones. [...]