We're blessing Sally tomorrowA. I'm a Kelly McCaleb fan. I found her while doing a little blog-stalking one day. She's the one that took our family pictures in Utah last summer. And she also has the cutest Etsy shop where I found these hand-knit newborn blessing slippers. Here's her blog and here's her Etsy shop (where I stole the above picture).
B. I'm anal about names. Here are my baby naming rules that only apply to me so don't be offended. And also I'm allowed to break my own rules:
1. All family members names should start and end with a different letter. I think this came from my family where none of my 4 brothers and 3 sisters share the same first letter. (BROKEN: Shauna and Sally both start with S; Justin and Owen both end with N)
2. No 3 syllable names (the last name is a mouthful).
3. 3 syllables total allowed between 1st and middle names (the last name is a mouthful). (BROKEN: Justin's 1st 2 names = 5 syllables and mine = 4 (my maiden name was also a mouthful). But we didn't name ourselves so it's okay)
4. Names should be obviously masculine or feminine so that if somebody has never met one of my kids but they see or hear their name they would know if it's a boy or a girl. No unisex names. (SEMI-BROKEN: Drew Barrymore is a girl named Drew. That name is 75% male so there are a few girl Drews out there. But Drew Alan is obviously a boy name. I hope. And Michelle Branch is busted for naming her DAUGHTER Owen)
5. The middle name should have some family meaning. (BROKEN: Sally's middle name Belle. I'm sure one of us has a Belle somewhere but we don't know about it. Our friend Elizabeth threw out the name and the more we thought about it the more we liked it. Think Southern Belle (we ARE in the South), not Belle from Beauty and the Beast. We did find out after the fact that one of Justin's great-grandpas nicknamed his wife Sally which is cool)
6. The names need to sound different enough so that when they're yelled they don't get confused. Not that I would ever yell! But my brother Derek and sister Karen's names sound the same when yelled. Not that my mom ever yelled! But we did have a basement that got hollered down to a lot.
7. And lastly, a kid's first name not only needs to sound good with his own middle and last name but ALSO his siblings names. Drew's name was the toughest ever to come up with. We knew his middle name would be Alan before we had chosen a first name so his first name had to be one syllable and sound good with: Alan, Hollobaugh, and Owen.
It's a miracle any of our kids have names at all with all my rules.
10 comments:
Those are adorable blessing slippers! Enjoy Sally's special day!
Funny, my naming rules are *almost* the same. 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are exactly my rules too. Especially 4.
And of course, I am allowed to break my own rules if I need to, but ideally this is how it should be. So far I haven't broken any, except Melinda and Emma both end with a, but I was really only making the rule for kids that I name myself:) Naming is way hard for us too because I share your anal-ness (is that a word??)
Anyway, I'll stop rambling now;)
Happy blessing day Sally!
That is too funny! I have rules too. Tempted to post those one day. Your kids names are cute. Ellie was going to be Owen if she was a boy. Probably already told you that. My nephew was born 2 months before her and they "stole" it. I guess it's not stealing since they didn't know. So maybe one day it will be a middle name? I love those blessing slippers btw. So cute!
oh my gosh i am dying laughing. you are TOO funny! i do LOVE LOVE sally's middle name...very cute. it fits so well with the sally and love that she was born in the south and the whole southern belle. CUTE. Wish we could come and see the princess get blessed. Cant wait to hear what silly thing justin does this time...i loved how he held owen or was it drew up like simba on lion king. hahahaha!
those little slippers are too precious. i agree with your rules. i think i follow most of them myself without even realizing it. i love sally's name. it and she are darling. i hope tomorrow goes well.
WOW!! I did not know it was even possible to think of that may rules. All We did was think of names we liked. And of course we changed her name when she was born. And it does have 8 syllables too. But when we say it it sounds good. Actually if I say here WHOLE name I sing it. My older sister did and it stuck in my mind. I know wierd!!
I swear you are a crack up! Thanks for the fun posts always :) and good luck tomorrow
oh and cute names, but with all those rules, maybe you should stop at 3 :)
It was fun to read your naming rules...now I feel like writing down all of my unwritten naming rules. Those blessing booties are so darling!
Those slippers are the cutest thing ever.
That's to much to remember when naming a child. I posted them on the fridge and as I got sick of them, they got crossed off!!! But with a last name like Smith, we're pretty safe with just about any name.
Like how I'm consulting your rules because I'm at a total LOSS for boy names this time around? I mean TOTAL. NOthing clicks for me this time. I'm 6 months. I need to get this name nailed down....I already have a few girl options...not as hard this time for some reason.
Send any cute names you hear, my way! :) p.s. enjoyed re-reading your rules ;)
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