Heeeeelp!

In the past, I've written about difficult things... you know, like having a tornado hit our house, training for a marathon, running a marathon. Difficult stuff.

But this, folks, is pretty difficult.

Naming a person.
Now this is difficult.

It's hard to try to write about names and not have Juliet's famous line come to mind...

"What's in a name?"      

                  (Romeo & Juliet)

Well, sister, I'm here to answer that question for you: everything!

Adam and I didn't seem to have this problem with bestowing the most regal of names on our two dogs. Easy peasy. But there's just so many things to factor into naming a person - this is something they'll have forever. 

Now, our parents did a great job. Adam has a cool name. I have a cool name. The pressure is on. My name actually comes with a great story! My real name is JaNell --- a combination of my father's name (James) and my mother's name (Myra Nell). 

Here's where we come to the first downfall of my name and, consequently, the first criteria in my name search. It should be unique, but not strange to spell. For me, I had to spell my first and last name for 23 years. Janell Merriman. How many times do you think that was misspelled? Jenelle Merman. Geanell. Merryman. Janelle. Marymen.   I lost count. For this child, I plan to have something easy to spell. 

The second criteria in my name search is that I can't have any sort of bad connection to it. I hate it when someone mean ruins a perfectly good name. Like those strange classmates or dorm mates I had in school. Or those kids I've had while teaching. Between my list and Adam's, we've unfortunately ruled out many a good name. 

Le sigh.

Finally, I'm not a big fan of names that easily lend themselves to nicknames or silly sayings.

Justin? Just-in-time

Benjamin? Been-jamin

Uuuuuuugh. I've spent hours pouring over lists and books. Still, nothing. 

When I get stressed out about it, I just watch this video --- just as long as I don't come up with something like this, I think it'll be alright. ;)

So, do you have a suggestion?