Choosing a name for another human being has got to be one of the most difficult tasks known to man. Can I get an amen?
When the Dude and I found out we were expecting our own Little Monkey, one of the first things I started to think about was what we would name him or her. Choosing a boy name for the Monkey was easy as pie. We both agreed immediately (at least on the first name, the middle names took a little more work) but we had a heck.of.a.time deciding what we'd name our babe if it came out as a She Monkey. And, of course, she did come out as a She Monkey. Thankfully, we had reached a decision before she made her debut. All of Eva's names were specially chosen for someone important in her life.
Many people have asked us how we chose her name and, also, how we pronounce it (as so many of you have only seen her name written out and have not heard it spoken).
Yes, we went ahead and made things very confusing by changing up the spelling of a common name and also, changing the pronunciation of her full name and shortened name.
Her first name, Evalyn, is a combination of both her mother and her father's names (Surprise! Lucy is not my real name). It is pronounced the same way you would pronounce it if it were spelled Evelyn. With a short E. But we changed the spelling from Evelyn to Evalyn to fit better with the idea of combining our names to make her name and also so her name would be Eva when shortened.
When shortened to Eva, it is pronounced with a long E. Just like Eve from the bible, with an A on the end. This is because the Dude did not like the idea of her being called Evie (again with a short E).
We mostly just call her Eva but she gets Evalyn quite a bit, too. Either will do.
Confused, yet?
Her middle names are also very special.
Ada is taken from my Dad's mother. (The one you saw in the 4 generations photos). It is her middle name, as well, and I wanted my daughter to be named for her. She was very happy when she found out that we gave Evalyn her middle name.
And, lastly, Joy is Katie's (the BFF) middle name. We have been best friends since we were about 13 and I have always known that if I ever had a daughter, she would be named for Katie. It is extra special as Auntie Katie was here with us when Evalyn entered the world.
12 comments:
So sweet....
i have my grandmother's middle name. i may have gotten nothing materially speaking when she passed (9 kids and 26 grand kids will do that to a meager inheritence) but i will always have a part of her with me. :)
I'm sure Eva is going to feel the same! :)
Very cute! :) I actually really like the full name. Its pretty. We definitely thought about using names that ran in our family, but we didn't like any of them enough..oops! Don't tell them that!
I think naming a child after someone is so great. I love that you combined the FD's name and yours. My middle name is a name that both of my grandmother's had. Our second son is named after a friend of J's that suddenly died before we had him.
I love that you combined your names! So sweet.
If Alson and I combined our names, the baby would be named Alkie. Not really appropriate. Hahaha. Oh wait, we could put me first (as always, ha) and create Jason. Hmmmmm....
Very sweet when a name has so much meaning. When we were pregnant with my daughter, we knew instantly what we wanted to name her but couldn't come up with a boy's name, so it was convenient. The same exact thing happened with my son - we knew what his name would be. So this time around, when we quickly decided on a boy's name and couldn't agree on a girl's name - I should have known I was having a boy! =]
I love the meaning of your names. We've got four picked out - 2 of each - and we did similar things. I already love them, even though they aren't real kids yet, because the names mean so much to me:)
Glad you got that for Eva, too.
Love it!!
And, giving names was the first task God gave Adam... it is an important one :)
LOVE her name -- and love that it has both of your names as a part of it!
Love love love. Hi, Eva! <3
So, do you guys know somebody named Evie that would make the name distasteful to you? I seem to recall the name from way back when, but I can't say I've ever heard it since then...I wonder if it's a Canadian thing.
New topic: I don't know if you have a Children's Place anywhere near you,(just checked, there's one in Niagara Falls NY) but look at this Halloween costume!
http://bit.ly/bK6PMp
Craig and I hashed it out with crayons on the brown paper tablecloth at Montana's. I wish I'd of kept it.
We had narrowed it down to Paige or Charleigh (and Logan or Connor if a boy) but a couple weeks later (after we had found out the sex) I asked him if he liked the name Emily and we were sold.
There's no special connection for us. We just thought it was simple and beautiful and that it would be cute for a little girl but suitable for a woman too.
For a long time I wanted to name our daughter (before we ever became pregnant) Ava, after my grandma Eva (eeee-va). She is Italian and Ava and Eva mean the same thing. I love love love how you came up with little Evalyn's name. So precious that it's a combo of you and FD's names! Hope things are going great with you.
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