What's in a name?

Shakespeare wrote: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

You may have noticed that we have not posted a name for our wee one despite her impending arrival in the next two weeks. You may think that we're being coy and keeping the name a secret until her grand arrival, but no, our sweet pea has no name. You would think it's an affront to mankind that our poor unborn child is nameless. Generally, the first two questions people ask you when they find out you are expecting are: "Is it a boy or a girl? Have you named her yet?" When we share that no, we haven't named her yet, the question is instantly followed by a non-stop barrage of name ideas. We smile and nod warmly for as long as we can and listen to people's favorite names, but I've got to tell you, our cheeks and necks are getting sore.

So, let's clear up the confusion about why wee one isn't yet named. It's not because we don't have any names picked out or we don't realize as first-time parents that we should have a name. It's because of a fundamental disagreement with Shakespeare about the importance of a name. When it comes to people, your name is one of the most singularly defining characteristics of who you are. It's music to your ears when people say it. When you have a distinct personality, people say things like, "oh that's so something Amie would do." Everything from the meaning, to the spelling to the pronunciation is an important part of who you will be as a person.

For all of those reasons, Picard and I have three immovable criteria for our wee one's name:

1. The name has to be unique - We will not name her any name from the top 10 most popular names for this year. Because I am an Amie, in a era of Amy's, I know the loss of individuality when six other people in your class have the same name. Luckily, my darling momma was innovative with the spelling, which has always made me feel special. If you're dying to know the list of prohibited names, you can check the Social Security website of most popular names:

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/

2. We won't name her until we see her - Because I am not carrying this child, I feel like I have no sense of her personality or what she will look like. There's something about when a mother rubs her tummy in a knowing way and says, boy with the way she kicks, I think she's going to take up karate. Or, this pregnancy has just been so easy, I'm hoping she'll be as easy of a baby after she is born. We don't get a sneak peak into her movements or sleeping patterns, so we just have to wait until she comes out to meet us.

3. Naming our child is the rite of passage to making her ours - Because we are adopting our wee one, giving her a name is one of the first things we get to do to really make her ours. It's a very important moment and one we will tell our wee one about for years to come.

So, that's it. When we post the first pictures of what will be the most beautiful and gifted child you've ever seen (See, I've totally got this parenting thing down) we will also post her name. One last clue for those dying to know the short list of possible names, Rose is not a contender.