Let's Play: Name My Baby (Updated)

I am now almost 34 weeks along and working hard to get ready for our new baby girl. Specifically, naming her.

This is tricky business because Chuck and I fundamentally disagree on what a name should represent or who it should honor. Chuck usually pulls inspiration from hall-of-famers or "hot" girls from high school. I think if we're going to choose a namesake, we should honor people like our parents or grandparents.

Despite our differences, we're trying to come to an agreement. (Actually, Chuck is a very giving man and simply said, "Just bring me your top three and I'll pick my favorite. Isn't he wonderful?)

Here's what we've done so far.

I made a long list of names:
Alice - of noble kin
Anna - gracious/merciful
Anne - gracious/merciful
Beatrice - bringer of joy
Bethany - town near Jerusalem
Brenna - sword
Breanna - noble
Cora - heart
Easter - born on Easter (I think she might be born near Easter)
Elizabeth - God is my oath
Elsa - God is my oath (short form of Elizabeth)
Evangeline - messenger of good news
Jane - God is gracious
Jerah - boldness/bravery
Jessa - God beholds
Joy - happiness
Margret - pearl
Martha - lady
Myra - admirable
Natalie - born on Christmas day
Nora/Norah - honor
Savannah - open plain
Susanna - lily

Chuck made a short list of names:
Morgan - great circle (hot girl from high school)
Victoria - winner/conqueror (not sure of his inspiration here)
Joy - happiness (Jaime Presley's character from My Name is Earl)

Famous for saying, "Hey
Dummy, quit lookin'
at my boobies."

Then we looked to our family for inspiration:
Chuck's Grandmas:
Wilma Fern
Donna June

My Grandmas:
Vesta Verl
Dorothy Carolyn

Our Moms:
Barbra June
Carolyn Susan
Paula Beth (This was almost my mom's name, but my grandma lost that battle.)

We'll skip going back any further. I didn't really know my great-grandmas that well, but stories about them involved a lot of judgement and firearms. I can't remember the details, but I know at one point my mom said, "Grandma, please put the gun down, I'm afraid you're going to shoot me."

Then I made a list of unreasonable demands:
1. The name has to fit this baby:

• She seems sweet (she never kicks too hard).
• She also seems laid back... or hearing impaired. Ben plays his snare drum (again, thank you Little Brother for that super thoughtful Christmas gift) pretty much every day and she never even flinches.
• She seems to love Chuck and Ben. If they touch my stomach she always taps them back. It's like she's saying, "Hi. I know who you are and I love you."
• Although we don't know who she'll look like, I'd like to strive to hit the mark. Here are several choices:
• Ben: Lots of siblings look alike and, unfortunately for our daughter, Ben looked like Grandpa Enderle. The handlebar mustache looks sharp on Grandpa, we'll see if she can work it.

Grandpa and Bean looking handsome.

• Joseph: My mom keeps telling me how similar this pregnancy is to hers with Joseph. I'm having pregnancy nightmares of a bearded, guitar-slaying baby girl.

Joseph shredding on a tiny pink guitar.

• Me: Chuck says he hopes our baby girl looks like me. Little does he know, as a child, I may have look like a wild animal.

Judging by my weird little bangs, it looks
like this picture was taken after one of
my many self-haircuts. Don't blame my mother
for my crazy hair; I'm sure it was my fault.

2. It has to coordinate with Ben's name - Benjamin Charles. Benjamin is a traditional name and Charles is a family name.

3. It has to be clearly a female name. There is a current trend toward unisex names or giving girls traditionally boy names. And although I know lots of cute Taylors and Ryans (of both genders), I think this girl needs a girl's name.

4. It has to have a nice meaning. I simply can't name my baby something that means "sadness" or "afflicted". With every little cold I would think, "This is it. We named her Whatever-Name-Means-Afflicted and now she's doomed to spend her whole life afflicted."

5. It has to be versatile. When we were trying to name Ben, SG suggested Fletcher. I just can't imagine a person named Fletcher doing anything except working in a ski shop and aspiring to become a professional wakeboarder. We need something that will allow her to grow up and be an accountant or writer or whatever else she wants to be.

6. I would prefer a two-syllable name. (Like I said, these are unreasonable demands.)

So here are some names I've been playing with:
Alice Easter
Elizabeth Joy
Elsa Anne
Evangeline Fern
Jessa Beth
Jerah Beth
Joy Elizabeth
Susanna Joy

And here are my top two choices:
Nora Anne / Norah Ann (Annette is my middle name)
Joy Susanna (Susanna would honor my mom)

Update 1:
I love the write-ins! I didn't realize Brenna was such a favorite and I really like Evangeline Ann. Please keep your ideas coming :)

Update 2:
My parents don't love Nora and my dad said he would call her Noriega. If you're like me and don't know what that means, let me share. Manuel Noriega was a military dictator in Panama in the 80s. A quick glance at Wikipedia tells us he was a pretty bad dude. Plus, he looks like this:

The notorious Noriega

Despite this new information, there is no way I can come up with a name that's safe from my dad's nicknames so at this point, I'm undeterred.