What's in a Name?

When we were pregnant with Carys we decided not to find out if we were having a boy or girl.  That meant we needed to have two lists of baby names!  Now, when it comes to baby names (and probably a lot of other things) - I'm a total nerd.  I love studying the history of names along with meanings and trends.  My sister still teases me about buying a baby name book to find inspiration to name my dog years ago!  In fact, the Baby Name Wizard is my hero - I so wish that was my job.  Anyway, that being said, I began to torture question Scott about baby names before we were even married.  I kept a running list of baby names and any time I heard one I liked I'd write it down.  Then I would randomly ask Scott what he thought.  Our conversation would go something like...

Me: Hey baby, how was your day?

Scott: Alright.

Me: Yeah, mine wasn't too bad either.  I'm hungry. Are you hungry?

Scott: No

Me: I think I'm ready for dinner.  Do you like the name Olivia?

Scott: No

Me:  So, I'm thinking we can have tacos or chicken for dinner, what do you want?

Scott: Tacos

Me: Or we could go out to dinner.  Do you want to go out? 
Scott: Sure

As with everything else, Scott always knew right away whether or not he liked a name. I, on the other hand, changed my mind frequently.  I even tried to 'test' Scott once by waiting awhile and asking him again about a name I that I really liked, but he had already said no to.  Of course, his response was, "You already asked and I don't like Greta, what makes you think I'll like it now?"  Ahh...the black and white mind of engineer, there's no getting around it!   

When we found out I was actually pregnant, that ramped up the name research to all time high.  I went nuts trying to find the perfect name.  I wanted it to be classic, but not too trendy.  For a girl, pretty, but not too frilly.  For a boy, masculine, but still unique.  I pretty much drove myself and likely Scott, crazy!  And then over Easter, we were talking about picking names and I started sharing some of my concerns about the whole responsibility of picking a name.  At which point, my Father-in-law says, "Who cares, as long as you like it and it's not stupid."  And the amazing thing was I actually realized he was right!  All that matters is that WE liked it.  Talk about relieving some pressure!

So, fast forward to August 2009, Scott and I had narrowed down our lists.  For a boy, it was easy, we both really liked one name and we were pretty sure that was it.  Well, Scott was sure - I still wanted to see the baby first!  For a girl though - I just couldn't decide.  I had a list of names that we both liked, but there wasn't one particular name that I really loved.  But that's okay, I was due September 2nd and was pretty sure I was having a boy, so no worries, right?  Wrong!  Friday, August 7th,  I got a call from my doctor that ended up changing our lives forever (that's a whole other story).  And a few hours later, I was in my room asking the nurse (for the 100th time) when I could see my sweet, baby girl...we had had a girl.  It was finally starting to sink in!  Of course, everyone was asking her name, but at this point I was still in the 'recovery' mode after the c-section and still hadn't even talked to Scott.  I had a name in my mind, one that I had started whispering to our sweet baby just a week earlier (to test it out), but it wasn't one that Scott and I had discussed recently.  So imagine my surprise when Scott finally brought in our sweet girl and tucked her safely in my arms, and responded, "Do you want to go with our favorite?" to my, "What should we name her?" question.  "Favorite? What's our favorite?" I asked and he said, "Carys."  The name I had been whispering!  So, of course it was perfect for our new, sweet, little love.  

And so, Carys Delphine was then officially introduced to the nurse in our room and anyone else that wandered in.  Her name is so special to me for many reasons.  I love that Scott and I both picked it for her.  Also, since it's derived from the Welsh caru, which means love, the meaning of her name couldn't be more perfect.  The only struggle we've run into is with the pronunciation.  My trick, if asked, is to tell them to rhyme it with Paris and then they usually don't forget.  I did find these audio files though and I love hearing it with the flair that only a true Welsh speaker can add!  

Her middle name is also very special, as it's my grandmother's name.  My Grandma Delphine is a beautiful woman with strong faith and character.  She has always been a great source of support and encouragement to me, and I hope that Carys will display these same traits as she gets older.       

So I will say though - now, that I'm thinking of it - I never did ask my FIL his definition of stupid, so I hope he wasn't disappointed.  I'm guessing it's not a problem though because from what I've seen he's definitely smitten!