The Name Game

One of the big questions we've been asked during the past 9 months (and especially more recently) is "Have you chosen a name?" My family relatives are known for keeping baby names under top secret until the child is born. It might be because they don't want anyone else to steal the name should the person asking happen to be pregnant as well, or because they don't want to hear any criticism about the name chosen. I had some clients tell me about their friend who named their child "Furious. Furious Gage." I don't know what his last name was, but they said he sure lived up to his first! Can you imagine a little Furious toddler running around and creating havoc for his parents? I can only imagine they will regret the name when he reaches his teenage years and they enter him into Anger Management classes.

So while we aren't trying to be bold and make a statement with our child's name like some celebrities have chosen to do, having the last name "Green" does limit some of the options for a first name. For example, Forest and Kelly are out. As are Leif, Sage, Hunter, Apple (ala Gwyneth Paltrow), Olive, Spring, Christmas, Gain (Gane) and any others found on this color list. There's also the consideration of how his name will appear on school rosters: Last Name, First Name. So that eliminates a few more: Pearce (too close to 'peace'), Bary (similar to 'bay'), Tre ('tree' and 'tea'), and of course, Tambourine :) Hey, we could have fun with this all day long, right?

I read on a baby name forum that someone named their boy Duran (like the 80's group Duran Duran). There were multiple comments about what a silly name it was, etc, but someone piped in that the parents would be forgiven only if they name their next daughter "Rio." LOL! I got to thinking about that the other day, and being that we live in the southwest, and Spanish is practically the official language in Arizona, if we were to ever have a girl, we could name her Rio. Rio Green. But the Spanish translation would be Rio Verde. Do I hear a yes??

And by the way, we don't know what we're naming our baby boy yet. Or maybe we do... and we just aren't telling! :P

Lyrics to "Rio" by Duran Duran:
Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand.
Just like that river twisting through a dusty land.
And when she shines she really shows you all she can
Oh Rio Rio dance across the Rio Grande.