Picking a name is tricky...

I personally feel like parents need to put a ton of thought into what they name their child because they're going to be stuck with it for their whole life.

Years before Jeff and I were trying to get pregnant we had discussed names, even going so far as to go through a baby name book and highlight our favorites. None of those names even made the list once I was pregnant and we started considering names. lol

We try to consider how the name will sound when they're a baby, a child, a teenager and an adult. We try to consider nicknames - and names mean kids will come up with to pick on her. We try to consider how her name would make people judge her. Jeff liked to consider how it'd sound if she was in trouble and he had to yell at her. He said, "I can't be mad and yell at a Susie." Haha! We tried to cover all the bases.

Then we have to consider how the name will flow; the first and last name need to sound good together, but then it still needs to sound good if you add in her middle name. Her first and middle names need to sound good together in case you have to scold her, and it can't have some rhyme-y sound like Julia Goulia. (Yes... I did take that from The Wedding Singer.)

Then the comes the tough part. Do we name them after someone in the family? We'd love to honor someone like that, but at what cost? You don't want to offend the others you don't name them after.

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh!!

Clearly, there is a lot to consider and a LOT of thought went into picking the name we picked.

We picked Madeline Jo.

We liked that Madeline would be cute on a baby and little girl, but will still be appropriate when she's a professional adult. We like the obvious nickname of Maddy - which is good since everyone is already calling her that. And I like the fact that there's a line of childrens story books about an adventurous little girl named Madeline.



We picked the middle name Jo to honor my grandpa whose name is Joseph. I know it's not customary to name a girl after a male family member, but my grandpa is too important to me... I couldn't not give him this honor. Unlike my grandma who already has multiple people named after her in our family, my grandpa does not. She'll be the first and I can only hope that she'll love it when she gets older. Unfortunately, my grandpa is extremely ill - quickly losing his battle with esophageal cancer - so she won't have the privilege of knowing him personally. I will do my best to instill in her the values that he instilled on his children and his grandchildren, I will do my best to make him a familiar name and face with countless stories and pictures of him and I will do my best to make him proud of me and how I raise her. Not to mention, Maddy Jo is a pretty flippin' cute nickname!

As you can see, we put a lot of thought into picking her name - but I think we did a pretty great job picking one that is right for her. It just feels right to me, and even though she's not here yet I can't imagine calling her anything else. Her name is now part of her identity, and I think it's fitting - even if I am a bit partial. ♥