Naming Our Loves

Because we had a request (and because everyone else is sleeping at the moment) I figured I'd go ahead and post a quick update about how we decided on Aurora's name.   It was actually not a long or difficult process due to the fact that we had already picked out the name when we were pregnant with Adam.

When it came to names for boys both Berta and I drew complete blanks - it took a lot of contemplation (and scanning lists of baby names) to find any that resonated with both of us.  We knew we wanted a winter reference in there somehow.  Adam very nearly ended up being named "Winter" - but we ended up getting cold feet (ha!) and decided the more non-traditional name might be better saved for his middle name.  Other boys names that had been on the list:

• Neil
• Ivan
• Edgar - as an aside, this is what inadvertently led us to Winter.  Roberta immediately thought "Edgar Allen" (obviously) in honor of Poe.  I jokingly said "Well, why not Edgar Winter?"  Voila we suddenly had something to build a name around!

Names for girls... well that was a completely different story.  Berta and I had both had first choices that didn't require even a moment's thought.  Berta has always loved Emma, I've always loved Aurora.  Lucky for me Emma has recently become very, very common - so Aurora became the leader of the pack.  Other names we had contemplated:

• Alice
• Freya/Freyia/Freyja - Awesome name, but bold.  We weren't sure we could handle raising a  Freya!
• Athena -   Ditto 
• Autumn - very nearly the winner and it kept to our cooler-weather theme.  However it sounds just a little too much like Adam - especially since he currently pronounces his name "A'am".

Roberta's middle name is Lee (as is her Dad's and a number of other family members) so of course we threw that into the pot of possible combinations.  We both thought that Aurora Lee sounded pleasant.  Two names down!

Finally, while working through the names we also tried to make sure the entire name flowed very well - even to the point of switching out Craig and Winston for each name, just to experiment with how they sounded.  This is part of what led us to think that it might be neat to let a boy take my last name and let a girl take Berta's.

  Aurora Lee Craig wouldn't have been a bad name at all, but I tend to not care for too many single-syllable names in a row.  Aurora Lee Winston flows a bit better and it also carries on the Winston naming mini-tradition.

Our Sleeping Beauty

Also - no, I did not latch onto the name Aurora via Sleeping Beauty.   She constantly falls asleep during feeding, however.  Doh!