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Baby Name Stories

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Baby name stories

Our readers share how they chose the perfect name for their babies

Naming a baby can be tricky — and finding a name that you and your spouse both agree on can be tough. Some parents choose their baby’s name based on its meaning. Others are inspired by a grandparent, other relative, or close friend. We asked our readers to share how they found and chose a baby name they loved. Here are their baby name stories.

1. Amaya Catherine

My husband’s name is Jeremiah and before I was even pregnant we joked that no matter the gender we would name our first born Jeremiah. I said if it was a girl we could just nickname her “Emiah” and as soon as I said it I fell in love with it.

We decided on the spelling because we wanted to name a child eventually after one of my husband’s best friends that he served with in Afghanistan. His last name is Maya, so that’s how we created Amaya. I have been told in a Native American language it means “brave”, which makes it that much more meaningful.

Amaya’s middle name is my best friend’s middle name, as well as her mother’s middle and grandmother’s first name. We wanted to name her after amazing role models that she could be proud of. ~ Nicole

2. Olivia Brielle

My youngest child Olivia Brielle is 15 months old. Her first name was suggested by her great grandmother. She heard of the name off of the TV show Law and Order, and when she mentioned it we knew that was going to be our little girl’s name.

Brielle came from an Internet search. I think it sounds like a princess’ name and she is our little princess. ~ Wendy

3. Amanda Lee

Amanda is my oldest at 12 years old; her name was easy because I had it picked out since I was in the 3rd grade. In the 3rd grade all my baby dolls were named Amanda Leigh because of my middle name and my teacher’s first name, Leigh. Well Amanda’s father’s middle name was Lee, so I had to change the spelling to accommodate him. So she ended up with her parent’s middle name, Amanda Lee. ~ Ronny

4. Elizabeth Paige

Elizabeth is my second child at 11 and being a stay at home mom with Amanda, we would watch television together. So I call Elizabeth my TV baby, because her name was pulled for the four shows I watched the most. Elizabeth is from General Hospital and Reba. Paige, her middle name is from Trading Spaces and Charmed. So, Elizabeth Paige it is. ~ Ronny

5-6. Brooklyn Maria and Cheyenne Eden

When I first found out I was having twins, I wanted similar names like Madelyn and Brooklyn — but nothing with too much rhyme. The TV show, Jon and Kate plus 8 was out at that time, and I didn’t want people to think I chose the name Madelyn because of the show. So I looked further. Then I remembered their dad loved the name Cheyenne, so we decided on Brooklyn and Cheyenne. I said they would be my twin cities because they have city names.
Their middle names are family names. My mother’s name is Mary and so is my Grandmothers, and my sister’s middle name is Maria. So to honor them all we gave Brooklyn the middle name of Maria. My Aunt’s name is Edith and I wanted something similar to honor her because she has always been like a second mom to me, so we gave Cheyenne the middle name of Eden.
Everyone wanted to know how would we choose what twin got what name. I said from the day we finally decided the names that B is first in the alphabet, so whoever comes out first gets Brooklyn. I am so glad we did it like that because Cheyenne is so shy and Brooklyn is like the little boss. ~ Elidia B

7. Declan

“I chose my son’s name because of the meaning. I had a lot of insomnia when I was pregnant and a lot of anxiety. During those hours spent awake during the night I began reading baby name meanings. I was interested in Irish names because Ireland is my favorite place that I’ve travelled. I came across the name Declan which means “full of goodness”. Declan was an Irish saint that preceded St. Patrick. I knew immediately that this is what I wanted for my son. His middle name, James, is from his grandfather.” ~ Carmen O 

8. Aiden

“Our first child was due in November 2006, and we knew it was a boy.  I printed out the alphabet with spaces in between each letter to make  a list we could look at every day.  By October we had narrowed it down to two for the first name – Aiden or Logan.  (Logan because my husband is a big Wolverine fan, and Aiden because I was a big “Sex and the City” fan – although I didn’t tell him that’s where I got the name!)
“We already knew his middle name – James – because both of our fathers are  named James.  We decided to wait until he was born before choosing the first name, and when my husband saw his face for the first time he said “He looks like an Aiden!”. ~ Beth H

9. Maura

Our daughter was due in January 2011, and for most of that pregnancy my husband was deployed to Iraq.  I knew what her middle name was going to be – Susanne.  My mom’s middle name is Anne, and my mother-in-law’s middle name is Sue, so I mashed them together.  But I was having trouble coming up with a first name – until my sister had the most awesome idea: mash my husband’s and my first names together!  My husband is Matt and my first name (which I don’t go by) is Laura, so she came up with Maura!
I waited until my husband returned from overseas and casually mentioned that name to him, which he promptly vetoed!  I let him think about it for a few days, then explained how my sister had come up with it, and after that he thought it was perfect.  Even though neither of us are of Irish decent, I love how both our children’s names are Gaelic with interesting meanings:  Aiden means “little fire” and Maura means “great one”. ~ Beth H

10. Emmet

My son (now 5) is named Emmett.  I always knew I would name my kids after literary characters, as I am a bookworm of the highest degree.  During my pregnancy I happened to read the “Twilight” series of books.  They are a punchline now, but at that time they were quite popular.  (And, of course, the books are much better than the movies.)
My favorite character from the books was Emmett, though he hardly appears in the films. He was described as big, strong, playful, happy with a loud laugh, a practical joker.  When I looked up baby name meanings, I found that Emmett meant “Universal Strength”.  I liked that.  All of this, plus meeting the last criterion – being a classic, southern name that is easy to pronounce, and voila! we have our Emmett.
Coincidentally, my step-daughter Gabrielle, 17, was also named after a character in a book.  It’s an Anne Rice book, who as you may know made her career writing about vampires.  This just confirms for me that my husband and I, and our little family, were meant to be.  ~ Jenee D

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