"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Sunday, January 30, 2011

What's In A Name?

Ok, so, as you can tell from the title of this post we have decided on a name for our daughter.  We have had it for a couple of weeks, pretty much since we got the great news that we could proceed with her.  In the past Amy and I have split the naming responsibilities.  We pour over baby name books, websites, and apps searching for ones with just the right meaning, just the right sound.  With Braeden we agreed that Amy would choose the first name and I would choose the middle.  Amy fell in love with Braeden, she has a thing for Irish/Celtic names.  I have always loved the name Oliver, so that was an easy choice for me.  As a bonus our choices fit perfectly with each other, at least we think so.  Braeden is English for "broad valley", not the reason we chose it.  Rather it was chosen for the meaning of the diminutive Brady (which we do sometimes call him) which means "spirited".  Oliver is Latin and of course has ties to peace (olive tree/branch).  It is also Scandinavian for "kind or affectionate"! 

When Amy was pregnant with Jack, we reversed roles.  I got to choose the first name and Amy the middle.  I have always loved the name Jackson, although I must admit that his name was technically Christopher for a while and we still have paperwork with that name on it.  One day Amy and I both confessed to each other that we no longer liked the name Christopher and thus, Jackson emerged!  Amy again chose an Irish name with Riley.  The meaning of Jackson is not fun or interesting, it's English for "son of Jack".  But I have just always loved this name.  Riley is Irish for "valiant".  Again we are lucky that the two names we chose go well together.

However, with our daughter things were a little different.  We knew we wanted to keep her Chinese name, it is after all part of her and who she is.  So we began with the idea of giving her an American first name and keeping her Chinese name as her middle name.  Then we ran into difficulties.  We each already had one child who we got to choose names for, but now what would be do?  How would we ever come to an agreement on just one name?  I mean it had been difficult enough the first two times around to agree on the names even though we had a system.  We had a list formulated already, but once we saw her some of the names we had chosen clearly did not fit her and were thus thrown out.  This only complicated matters because we were back at square one.  So, when in doubt, we busted out our handy dandy, fail-proof, and well worn baby name book (The Mother of All Baby Name Books bu Bruce Lansky).  With 94,000 names, half of which we could use for girls, we were bound to agree on something, right?  It wasn't long before we were reevaluating our decision on her name.  We had it narrowed down to two names but we couldn't choose.  One of them I had chosen and the other Amy had chosen.  We loved them both so much, and honestly neither of us was willing to give in!  So, we compromised.  We would use both names and her Chinese name.  There, done!  The best of both worlds (literally).

So by now I know you are squirming with eager anticipation at our choice.  I don't want to keep you much longer, but I have to give you a disclaimer.  I can only write about her two American names as we are not yet in the position to share any information about her just yet, hopefully that will come soon.  So, until then you'll have to settle for 75% of her name, but trust me, the whole 100% is (like her) beautiful.  Here goes:

Margaux Eliana _______ Drosche.

Margaux was my choice, Eliana was Amy's.  Like it?  Love it?  Let me know.  Not so fond, that's ok too (just don't tell me, grin and bear it!).  :)  Margaux is French and is a form of Margaret which is Greek for "pearl".  We thought this quite appropriate since the area she is from in China is situated on the Pearl River.  China also being the leading producer in the world for pearls.  Eliana is Hebrew for "God has answered me".  The symbolism behind this meaning is clear as she is the answer to our prayers for this adoption and for a daughter.

So, there you have it!  One of the first things we can share about our beautiful little girl.  Hopefully soon we will be able to share much much more.  We have spent the weekend filling out gobs of paperwork and are currently smack in the middle of the extensive Home Study Autobiography, each of us having to fill out our own.  There are 8 pages to the document which includes tons of basic and obscure questions about us, our families, our beliefs, our health, etc.  Hopefully we can finish this tonight or tomorrow and get it emailed to the agency.  Luckily we are almost done with this first set of paperwork.  Not so luckily it is only just the beginning!  Hopefully we make it through without carpal tunnel syndrome!

All is well, and named, in Drosche Land.

 

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