The Word is Out!

So much for waiting until the baby is born!

We went to a family baby blessing last Sunday. The baby name question came up, and since everyone was voting against surprises on the poll, I gave up. Grant's cousin, Lisa, asked me what name we were thinking about for the baby, and I buckled under all the pressure. She wasn't pressuring me at all. I could have just told her we weren't ready to tell people. It was the pressure from Grant being so excited to share it with people and my blog voters telling me to share it already and maybe my own need to actually have an answer to that question. Plus, Lisa's really easy to talk to; for some reason, I end up telling her just about anything. But that's not her fault. So, I told her the name, and we then proceeded to tell the rest of the family our potential name (I'm still saying maybe, but who am I kidding?). Are you feeling left out yet? I guess we'd better fix that. Here it is. Like it or not, we are most likely naming this baby girl

Phaedra Noel

(pronounced "fay-dra")

We'll call her Phae for short. It's not a family name, except Noel is my middle name. I just liked the way Phae sounded, but I wasn't that fond of it spelled with an F --no real explanation why. So, we looked on some name websites to see the different ways to spell Phae, and we stumbled upon Phaedra. Grant loved it immediately and has ever since. I loved it at first. Since then, I've had moments when I loved it, and moments when I wasn't so sure about it. Considering how much Grant loves it and how stumped I am to come up with another name we will both love, it is really very likely going to be the name for this baby, so keep that in mind before you leave a comment trashing it.

I'm not hesitant because I don't like the name. I think I'm mostly hesitant because of how different it is. I grew up with a rather different name. I like my name, but there have been periods in my life when I didn't appreciate it quite as much. It has always been a pretty name, which I think Phaedra will also be. It just isn't as common or easy to spell. Jocelyn is now becoming more popular, but when I was growing up, I would tell people my name and get a puzzled look and a request to repeat it. (I've already seen hints of that with the name Phaedra.) I learned to try to pronounce it really clearly the first time to avoid having to repeat myself as much. I still end up repeating myself sometimes because people just don't pay attention. I don't even try with customer service people over the phone. I either give them a last name or tell them my first and immediately spell it. Add to that the misspellings and the mispronunciations. I didn't get made fun of for my name much in school except when I was called to the office on the intercom. My mother's handwriting makes her Os look like As unless you compare them to another A; this never helped my case. I was always called down to the office as Jacklyn or Jacelyn or even Joycelyn. Some people can have my name typed out right in front of them and still call me Jacklyn or Jacelyn, as if they assume it just must be a typo. Certainly, I don't know how to spell my own name!

I guess this is why I'm hesitant. I don't really want to put my daughter through that. On the other hand, it's not like I'm scarred for life, and I've never had to be known as Jocelyn W. to clarify that I wasn't that other Jocelyn. That has been one of Grant and my main goals in naming children. We're not trying to give them a name that will never ever be used on another child, but at least one that won't be shared with five other kids in their class. Obviously, there are no guarantees, but we try. Luckily, I don't think Phaedra will be quite as difficult as far as pronunciation when it comes to conversation. It will mostly be a spelling/reading issue. Plus, Phae is familiar as a nickname when it's spoken. Blah, blah, blah. I can really talk myself in circles on this one. Sorry about all the blathering. I have some concerns, but when it all comes down to it, I still really like the name. I guess our daughter and others are just going to have to deal with it.

It could be worse. My joke names for this baby were Garbanzo for a boy or Tambourine for a girl. I still really like Garbanzo ;)