Monday, August 29, 2011

A Name Is Born...


What's in a name??  Well.... Everything!  It's important!  I am not going to be one of those celebrity types that wants to name their child something sooo different or original in hopes they will stand out (or... ya know.. get made fun of).  Apple?  Suri?  Coco?  Mowgli?  Bluebell?  Free?  Kyd?  Pirate?  Puma?  Zuma?  Ummm...yeeaa.. I'm sure celebrities find those names amazing, but I'm not a celebrity ... and I am NOT crazy!  Frankly, I feel it's ridiculous.  But...whatever. 

I've had names picked out for my children for a very long time.  I had a girl's name...and a boy's name.. ready to go!  So, how did we come to a decision about these names??  It was fairly simple.  I won't discuss a little girl's name, since I already know I'm having a little boy.  Plus, that will be in her blog... if I ever get a baby girl. 

When I met Brian, he already had two girls, Brooke & Bailey.  They are the B's.  Since his other two children have names that start with the same letter as his, I wanted my babies to have names that started with "S."  Now, I always thought I'd name my son something starting with my husbands first name....and my daughter would have the S name (after me).  Because that's how it is in my family.  My mother's name is Sheila ...so I got the S initial.  My father's name is Jerry... so my brother got the J initial.  However, I refuse to have my child grouped in with the B's.  We have enough B crap in this house.... so it's time for the S's to RULE!  Brian, of course, didn't care.  Whatever I say goes!  So... my search for the S names was on!

I looked through a plethora of "S" baby boy names.  A couple caught my attention, but only ONE was a solid, strong name.  Now, when I say solid, strong, I mean as in would be tough enough to withhold the Herington last name.  I consider it a strong name, so he needed an equally strong first name.  So, don't freak out if you know a guy with an "S" name... I am not calling it weak... it just didn't sound as good with Herington (to me at least).  I have friends who named their baby boy's name starting with an "S"...and they are all adorable.  Some of them.... I REALLY considered.... but I kept coming back to one name.

So, my baby boy is going to be named Stanley.  Stanley Herington!  To me, that just sounds like a CEO of a company.  Now, I think Stanley is sweet, but I like that it's very much similar to my name in the sense that it can be shortened.  So, his little pals can call him Stan.  Or...his little female admirers can call him.. "Stan, the man!"  lol... He is going to be just as adorable as his daddy, so I just assume he will be chased around by little girls. 

Ya know, naming a child is very different than anything I've ever had to do.  I've named pets... stuffed animals.. but naming a child... different!  I mean this child is going to have this name FOREVER!  I can't give him a weird name or a name that doesn't flow.  It's a very hard decision. 

As for a middle name, I told Brian that was up to him.  Okay, not really.  It was still my decision, but he had to give me some options.  I thought it would be cute if Brian and Stanley had the same middle name.  My dad gave my brother his same middle name...and it's a very male thing to do.  Pass a name down.  Well, Brian HATES his middle name.... Kenneth.  So, that was OUT!  He suggested his fathers name... John.  He said that was a name that had been passed down from generation to generation in his family.  Umm.. I had to say NO to that one.  A couple of reasons: (1)  Nice name... but... It didn't flow (2) if it was such a "passed down" name, then why didn't Brian have it inserted in his name somewhere? (3) Anyone that went to high school with me knows that I'd be a complete weirdo to name my child Stanley John... ummm turn it around and think about it.  I wouldn't expect someone from high school to name their child Nicole Samantha...ok?!  So, I had to stand firm on this one.  He wanted a family name... and ... I will ONLY name my children after people I love dearly and respect. (We will get into that if I ever have a baby girl).  I can't give MY child a name that is a member of his family that has been disrespectful.  That will NEVER happen.  It's like bad karma. 

So, I thought... the baby can take the middle initial "K."  He has mommy's first name initial, and daddy's middle name initial.  Fair enough.  I went on the search for baby boy K names... it was unbelievably hard.  I really liked the name Kinsey.  I mean hell... Alfred Kinsey was successful.  If you went to IU, then you've heard of the Kinsey Institute, right?!  Although that name didn't flow, nor did I really want to name my child after the founder of a sex research institute.  I either didn't like any K names, or they didn't flow.  I've always liked the name Windsor.  Who wouldn't want to be named after a castle???  Right??  No luck... that starts with a W.  Now, when little girls are growing up, they give themselves different names when playing with other friends.  I ALWAYS chose the name Alexis Carrington.  I LOVED that name... Ok...so my mom liked the show Dynasty.  Whatever... loved the name... and I always chose it for my fake name.  When I married someone with a name that rhymed with Carrington, it was just absolutely meant to be.  So, I thought about that... and I thought.  Why not slap a K on Windsor??!  And... the name was born...

Stanley Kindsor Herington!  Now, Brian wants to take out the "d" on Kindsor....so I said we could do that.  He has to make some decisions, right?  Kinsor it is!  It flows, and it's just a cool name.  We thought that if baby boy likes Kinsor better, he can change it to Kinsor Herington ... in the future.  So, perhaps I gave my child a bit of originality to his name after all. 

I firmly believe you have to start off with the right name in life.  It can't be a silly name...or a trendy name... it has to be solid.  So, there we go.  NOW... I can finally start writing his name in this blog.  It's too hard to not call him by his name...or nicknames he already has :) 

1 comment:

  1. Love it... and hey, Dan is called Dan the man :) You did, indeed, chose a strong name! Good job, Mama.

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