Thursday, July 19, 2007

Non-Post and Baby Names

(Thanks for the idea, Bubandpie!)

It is raining here, Eli has some sort of stomach virus, and every single thing I look at in our house is a nagging reminder of something I should be doing. I doubt that the arrival of my Harry Potter book is going to help.

We've had all summer to read the twenty books for the summer reading program, and now there is just one week left. I don't think that reading eight books to your kindergartner in one sitting so that she can get some prizes is what the librarians had in mind.

The RSVP date for my sister's wedding has come and gone, and approximately half of the invitees haven't responded. What is that?

Sara is entering her office's bake-off with this recipe today. Hope she wins big!

Katherine is sitting at our dining table painting in a paint-with-water book of animals right now, and she just asked. "What's that critter?" You can take the girl out of Kentucky.... (It was a skunk, by the way.)

Let's talk about baby names some more. Swistle took my question and turned it into a post that received 59 comments! She can totally spin blogging gold out of straw.

As I mentioned, we always have an easy time with girl names. We already have a girl name for this baby, which probably guarantees that it's a boy. I am circling back around to a boy name I have loved since before Katherine was born. (We weren't able to find out if she was a girl or boy.) It is a family name, not commonly used, and one of a very small number of names that Scott and I agree upon. However. Here in our small town, it is also the name of the son of a prominent citizen. This boy is well-known and not... well-liked. Granted, there will be about a 10-year age difference between him and our possibly-male, hypothetically-named child, but, will people hear the name and have a negative association? Will they wonder why we chose the same name? What do you think?

9 comments:

  1. Judging in about 10 minutes, I'll let you know. (they are AWESOME, btw, but I used regular old chocolate chips)

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  2. I can't believe how many people don't RSVP. It was the same at my brother's wedding. They had to call about half the list. And they'd pre-stamped the envelopes and everything. What a waste.

    I think it depends how common the name is. The more common it is, the less a single person "owns" it. If the name is, say, Coltrain, and the only Coltrain anyone knows is this other kid, it will be a little weird. If, however, the name is Michael, it wouldn't be weird at all. I'm guessing the name is somewhere in between, and thus the challenge. Well, if you love the name, you should probably just go ahead and use it. That other kid will be in the picture for only a certain number of years, but your kid gets to keep the good name for his whole life.

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  3. Can you link up your boy's name with his middle name? No, not like "Billy-Bob." Oh, well, it was a thought.

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  4. It depends on how small the town is. Ten years is a significant age difference - but if you're living in a town of 3000 or less, with no major center nearby, and prominent-citizen's-son is not likely to leave...that might make a difference.

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  5. If it's a really small town, I'd pick another name. People won't be able to get over the association!

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  6. I want to hear the NAMES!! I am recycling books that I've owned for years. I really need some new ones but then I get sucked in and don't do anything until they are read..so new books are bad.

    It is raining here this week and has been a nice break from the heat. Hope Eli is feeling better! How are YOU feeling?

    Ugh, people suck. They can't RSVP and I know a lot of people can't write thank yous (like my SIL who had a baby and never thanked me for the baby quilt I made for her...ok, rant over ;)).

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  7. well, someone who made maple walnut cookies won for originality, BUT my cookies were the only ones that were gone in 30 seconds flat. Everyone loved them and it seems that many people know someone with an intolerance to flour--they lined up for the recipe. So I didn't win the ice cream maker, but i consider it a win overall.

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  8. It probably won't matter. Prominent citizens usually don't stay prominent forever, and one well known child having the name shouldn't influence your decision.

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  9. If you like the name, go for it. You know your son (if it is a boy) will grow into it and reflect it with both pride and flare:). Boy names are harder, I swear!

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