Tuesday, August 09, 2011

The Wrong Name Seems So Right

Keith and I have finally started looking in earnest at baby names. Of course, "looking in earnest" means trying to seriously discuss some real potential candidates ... a discussion which quickly devolves into suggesting totally inappropriate possibilities (like Landon, so he could be Land Lubbers).

Last time, we quickly agreed on a boy's name and couldn't really make up our minds about a girl's name. When we drove to the hospital for Eleanor's birth, we still had a list of at least 10 girl names. Eleanor was at the top, but still by no means a certainty.

This time, we're having the opposite issue. I think we're close to agreement on a girl's name, but have no idea what we want for a boy's name. I know we picked one last time and didn't use it, but it's too late. We don't really like that name anymore, so we're back to square one.

I've been looking at baby name websites, of which there are a million, and keeping a list of any boy names with potential. During this search, I discovered that Gomez apparently means "the man." Gomez is, of course, the name of our adorable little female kitten. Whoops!

Of course, as a neutered animal, gender is really a moot point for her. And I always maintain that there's more leeway with pet names than with kids. I can name a pet something slightly ridiculous and, perhaps, gender-bending, and have no qualms about it, whereas I tend to be very straightforward with children's names.

We chose the name Gomez for our favorite band, then we got the cat; irregardless of the cat's gender or appearance, it was going to be a Gomez. She may not be masculine. She is not even human. But somehow, she's still a Gomez and we love her!

(And no, Gomez is not in the running for the baby's name, girl or boy.)

2 comments:

jeremy said...

Stay away from presidents and we can still be friends.

My favorite so far is after the 18th president: "Ulysses Grant Gray". But Jessica doesn't like that the initials are UGG.

M. Lubbers said...

Yes Jeremy, you definitely have dibs on presidents. I think I'd rather look at inventors. Or maybe Nobel prize winners? That could be interesting...

I'm sorry, but Eleanor has totally shot down "Jeremy" as a contender. She is adamant that it would be too confusing. She also told me that we can't use Duncan because that's the name of a train she has, and it would be too hard to tell the different between a toy train and her little brother. Better luck next time!

If Jessica doesn't like UGG, just throw out some worse combos like GAG or BUG ... after awhile, UGG won't seem so bad! And she has an excuse for baby shoe shopping ...;)