Over the years, each of our kids has asked me and Matt how and why we picked their names. In all honesty, I don’t remember the initial reason behind our first daughter’s name but when we finally settled on it, it was probably because I liked the way it sounded with Matt’s last name.
The other day I came across an old notebook of mine in which I had glued a ticket stub to this museum. It was one of the places Matt and I went on our first trip together after about three months of dating. Perhaps that was a subconscious reason I liked the name. Whitney would not be born for another six and a half years. Most people would ask if she was named after Miss Houston. We also owned a couch that had fabric of the same name… though I don’t remember if this was before or after she was born. Must have been after, as I would not have named our child after a piece of furniture.
In choosing names for our other two children – Blythe and Brighton – I (yes, it was mostly me picking names) sort of followed a rule of similar letters. Some people name all their kids with the same first letter, while others maybe do it alphabetically by age. All of our names share common letters. They also all sound good with Bennett, although I chose to keep my own.
Matt was named after his mother’s maiden name, Matthews, and his middle name is the same as his dad’s first name. Before our first daughter was born, my mother-in-law had asked if her middle name could be Grace, after Matt’s dad’s mother. That also influenced our final decision with her first name.
I am pretty sure that my mom named my sister after this actress, whom she greatly admired. But I don’t think she named me after the other Hepburn. Her first name starts with a “K” after all. I’ve always preferred it spelled with a “C”.
As a kid, I remember taking books out of the library that would tell you the meaning behind each name. I learned that my legal first name meant “pure” and perhaps felt a little self-righteous because of that. The other typical associations with the name I typically went by did not seem to suit me at all though. Chatty, charming, cheerful. That certainly did not describe my preteen self.
I wonder, how much do our names influence our lives? If my parents had named me Gertrude or Roberta, would I still be where I am today? I’ve always liked my name, at least well enough to not legally change it. But I know others who haven’t agreed with their parents’ choices and have either formally changed them or asked to be called by another name. Hopefully our kids are happy with theirs.
What is the story behind your child’s or children’s name(s)?
