Brian and I spent years trying to decide on our next child's name. Like literally yearsssss! We couldn't agree on anything and honestly when it came down to it we compromised. Neither of us equally loved the names as a whole. I got the first names that I wanted and he got the middle names that he wanted. We do love the meanings of both genders names but I am already feeling like I will regret not using Leighton if we have a girl (pronounced lay-ton not lee-ton). It's been a top pick for me for a good 6 years and it's one of the names that has never left my heart. I really wanted to use it as a first name and spent a lot of time debating that but since all of our girls names end in lee I decided not to do it differently with our next girl.
We are officially changing our girls name to Eilee Leighton Louise Lane. Yes, I'm not kidding. It's long and unconventional but we don't care. Louise is special to Brian and Leighton just won't leave me alone so the only fair thing to do is to use both. Eilee is a given as the first name. It's not only after my grandma but it's also super unique and ends in lee. It's perfect.
Some people make comments like 'that poor kid is going to have it rough learning his/hers name at school' but that's an ignorant assumption. Most parents that give their children 2 middle names use one of the names solely as a legal name sake. A legacy of their loved ones passed on through a documented name. The child typically only goes by 2 names just like anyone else.
For example: we are teaching our almost 4 year old son how to write his name and he goes by Hudson Joe, his middle names, so those are the names that he is learning to write. Brian was a name sake after his father. It was never a name that he was going to go by. Sure some day he might want to be called Brian and if that's the case it's his choice but for now he goes by Hudson. Not to mention that most kids only are taught their first and last name in school prior to learning how to spell/read. They aren't taught their whole name early on. That's something that I've worked on with my kids on my own.
Another comment I hear is stuff about a long monogram. Firstly, who the hell cares if it's a long or off monogram? Secondly, I've never had that issue with Hudson. If I want to do a monogram type of thing I either just do an H or I just do HLJ.
If baby #4 is a boy he will go by Granger Wayne. Claud is about legacy. Same if baby #4 is a girl. She will go by Eilee Leighton (I may call her by Leighton. That'll just depend on what she looks like to me once I meet her, if it's a her). Louise is about legacy. Also the same if baby #5 is a boy. He'll go by Nash or Rafe Perry. Andrew is the legacy.
Some people may say that it's pointless to give a kid 3 names when you know that they won't go by 1 of them but that's also an ignorant statement. One most likely made by someone who doesn't care at all about family or name sakes. It's the meaning that matters to us and when you don't know the gender of your baby or if it'll be you last baby of that gender you want to be sure and get in all of the name sakes that you can.
I feel strongly about this subject for a few personal reasons. I changed my legal name at 25 years old because I wanted to include both of my parents in my name. My birth name was Cally Ann but I changed it to Callee Jo'Ann. Callee because I've spelt it that way since 6th grade and Jo'Ann after my dad's middle name, Joe and my moms name, Le'Ann. When I asked my parents how they'd feel if I changed my name they both got emotional. My mom said that she regretted not naming me that to begin with and my dad was so proud. He wanted to name me Cally Jo but my mom won the coin toss. Literally ha. Also I've mentioned this in a previous name game post but when we named our oldest I had regrets. I wish that we had named her Charlee Grace rather than Charlee Noelle. Brian picked her names and at the time I intended on calling her Ellie after her middle name but the second that she was born I knew that she was a 'Charlee' and I instantly wanted to change her middle name but I didn't. I should have followed my gut! It would of saved me a lot of time and money in the end because I am in the process of changing her name legally. We call her by Charlee Grace anyways. Grace was my great grandma's name and it's very special to my dad plus it's a beautiful name so it's perfect for us all around.
My point of this blog post is to say that names should ALWAYS be personal! Whether it's a family name that's special or a name that you just can't get out of your head, it's about you and your spouse. You have to go with your gut. If you don't just love a name that's special to your spouse, that's okay. You can both get what you want. There are no rules on naming YOUR CHILD. Give that baby 10 names if you want to. Give him or her 1 name. My mom doesn't have a middle name and it names her unique. You can't go wrong if you follow your heart.
D
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