What's in a name?

Well the naming fun has begun. No negotiations yet, just saying things aloud from
The Baby Name Wizard and talking about the associations, connotations, and sounds of different girl names.

As I mentioned before, Carmen & Gabriel have asked if they can help name the baby. We said yes, and once we told them it was a girl, they started making suggestions as well. I heard Carmen say, "I'm going to write down all of the baby names in the world." I didn't have the heart to respond to that!

This reminds me, when I was pregnant with Carmen, my friend Sandra's son Chaz wanted me to name her Trixie, you know, for Speed Racer. And I have to admit, at least Trixie is not too common.

The other day, David pondered aloud about Esperanza. It's a family name, and I've always liked it, but I also remember what Sandra Cisneros wrote about it in "My Name": "At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth."

Carmen said, "What does it mean?"

"Hope," he replied.

"Let's just call her Hope, then," she says, decidedly.

This is an early list she wrote (taking suggestions from Gabe as well):


and here is the one that came next:


Yes, the name Shenzi is on the list. Because we love the Lion King around here.

I asked her about this one. "I see you put Shenzi here, but not Nala. Why is that?"

I wish I remembered her answer! I don't think we will consider any of the hyena names this time around: Shenzi, Benzi, or Ed.