The Name Game

I think naming a child is an awesome gift that parents get. However, it is also challenging to choose a good name that both parents agree on and one that you hope your child will grow up enjoying. Before we had any children, Len and I decided we wanted to give them a first name that was unique to our families, but a middle name that was shared with a family member. We decided the boys would get a middle name from Len's side of the family and the girls would get one from my side.

Noe's name is probably our most unusual name as it is traditionally for a boy, but it is our daughter's name. We came across it very shortly after we were married when we read the Old Testament together. In Numbers 27 it tells of the daughters of Zelophehad and mentions all 5 of them by name. Neither one of us had heard this story (and it is again mentioned in Joshua 17- it's a great story showing that Heavenly Father loves His daughters just as much as He loves His sons), and we were amazed because we both grew up spending every Sunday at church, went to seminary for 4 years, had numerous religion classes at BYU, and Len was a full-time missionary for 2 years. Anyway, one of the names was Noah. At first we thought it was odd for a girl, but then we fell in love with it and dreamed of our own future daughter with that name. We decided to spell it Noe (with an accent acute, but blogger won't do the accent marks), because that is the French spelling of it. We thought it looked more feminine spelled this way, plus it's a link to Leonard's mission in France. Her middle name is Lynn, just like mine.

Kaleb's name first made it to my "list" when I was in high school. I watched the movie, "Sarah, Plain and Tall" and just fell in love with the little character of Caleb with his chubby cheeks and curly hair. When we found out we were having boy & girl twins Caleb worked with Noe as they were both people mentioned in the Bible who lived during Moses' time. We didn't want to do the alliteration or rhyming thing with them, but we did want their names to have a connection. We decided to follow my family's tradition of spelling it with a "K" though. His middle name is Michael, just like Leonard's.

Gavin's name made my list during my BYU days. Along came a band called Bush that had a dreamy lead-singer, Gavin Rossdale. I had never heard the name before and thought it was cool. So yes, my sweet baby love is named after a rock star. His middle name is Arland, after Leonard's father.

Now it's time for us to name baby #4. His middle name will be Gerhard, after Leonard's grandpa, so _____ Gerhard Reil is what we're working with. It seems that I come up with the names and then Len has veto power. I told him that that's not fair, if he doesn't like my names, then he has to put forth some names of his own. Well, he busted out our baby names book and has started a list. I decided I should read through it as well and come up with my own list. At the top is Teague or Teagan. I originally discovered Teagan, but then my adorable nephew, Keegan was born. I then learned Teague is the original Irish name, and Teagan is just a form of it. I like Teague better than Teagan now, but I think Teagan Gerhard Reil rolls off the tongue easier than Teague Gerhard Reil. I'm thinking maybe his real name should be Teagan, but we'll call him Teague? For those of you who have children that go by a middle name or a nick name, how complicated is it with school paperwork, medical stuff, etc to have your child go by a name that is not the official name on the birth certificate? Len likes Teague, but he's not 100% yet, so I wanted to put a poll here with some other names I like. Please vote for your favorite, or if you vote for "other" please leave a comment with your suggestions. We appreciate your help!

*Len vetoed Daris, Harper, & Hogan, so I wanted to replace them on the poll with Boden, Taron, & Xavier, however I can't edit the poll since it already has votes. Len also wanted to veto Dylan, Preston, & Taylor, but they got votes and I like them. I'm sure after Len finishes his list the names will change again. It's a good thing we still have lots of time to decide!