9.20.2012

Baby Names & Newborn Photos

One of my favorite things to do is to talk about baby names!
(And, while we are at it, I am posting an overload of pictures from Luke's Newborn Photoshoot that I took a month ago!!)
I love hearing about why people picked certain names for their kids, etc. 
When my friends tell me they are pregnant, I immediately want to talk Baby Names!
I love figuring out first & middle name combinations and  also how they flow with the other kids names.
(Just ask my sister Rebecca or my friends Kristin & Becky...I love talking to them about baby names!)
Luke bunting made by my talented friend Heather

Many people have complimented us on Luke's name (thank you!) and have asked why we chose it.
This story dates back 10 years ago to the Fall of 2002.
Kevin and I had been married a few months and we were sitting in Borders one night, (oh, how I miss Borders!) drinking chai lattes. I was studying for one of my state teacher exams & he was doing work for one of his Real Estate classes. 
We were both procrastinating studying, so we started talking about our future children's names.
We both liked Katelyn (Kate) for a girl and Luke for a boy.
We thought the name Luke Larson sounded awesome, like a future Quarterback's name. Ha!
We said if we had 2 boys, the first would be Luke James (James is my dad's name and since he had 3 girls, we wanted to use it to honor him. Plus, my dad Jimmy is awesome and is a great guy to be named after)

 Our 2nd boy name was Grant Thomas.
 (Grant after an amazing kid I used to babysit who beat Leukemia TWICE and Thomas is Kevin's middle name and his dad's name).
Bowtie made by my talented friend, Heather
We like simple, but strong, classic names.
I also like names that have good meanings.
The name Luke means "light"
Our prayer is that Luke would be a light to those around him!
So, what would we have named Luke if he was a girl?
We knew that if it was a girl, the middle name would be Alice after Kevin's grandma.
(As you can tell, we are all about using family names as middle names)
Kevin's grandma Alice was a really amazing woman & I never got to meet her because she passed away a few years before we started dating. Kevin's mom's middle name is also Alice, so it would be a way to honor his mom as well.
We had a harder time deciding on a first name.
One of my favorite girl names is Charlotte, so I wanted to use that.
I think it is a beautiful name. BUT, I was being OCD about having a K name and 2 C names.
And, I wasn't 100% sure about the flow of the names Kate, Claire & Charlotte.
Kevin wasn't sure about the name Charlotte.
 He wasn't sold on it, but for most of the pregnancy, our girl name was going to be Charlotte Alice. 
Then at about 38 weeks pregnant, Kevin vetoed the name Charlotte and wanted to use the name Emma.
(Emma was on our short list when I was pregnant with Claire)
I LOVE the name Emma, but I was a little hesitant because it is ranked #2 in popularity.
But, it was Kevin's "turn" to pick the name. We both named Kate, Claire was my pick (I had to convince him on that name) so technically, this was his turn to pick the name :)
I did love the way Emma Alice Larson sounded and I loved the way Kate, Claire & Emma sounded together. Then, I looked up the meaning for Emma and it means "whole". 
That sealed the deal for me because Baby #3 is our final baby that makes our family "whole".
All that stressing over a girl name wasn't necessary because we got Luke!
Click HERE to read about why picked the names Kate & Claire.

Here is Luke's birth announcement that I designed & made:

So, that is a little background on how/why we picked certain names.
I really, really, really love each of their names.
I love the flow of Kate, Claire & Luke. It will be easy to yell when they are all misbehaving. Ha!
Katelyn Grace, Claire Kristine & Luke James.
Hopefully they like their names as they grow up.
I think their names match their personalities (so far!)
Picking names was one of my most favorite things about being pregnant.
Anyone else obsessed with Baby Names? 


35 comments:

  1. Yay, I love talking about baby names. I love your kids names and how you chose them. Kate, Claire and Luke flow really well together. I especially love Claire, thats on our list if we ever have another girl. Alice is our daughter's name so i'm obviously partial to that :). Luke's newborn pictures are too cute!

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  2. oh, I just loove baby names too - your names go so well together. I have twin girls - I wanted Isabelle and Arielle, but my ex vetoed Isabelle, knowing someone from the past he didn't like. Then they became Arielle and Nathalia - I couldn't let go of Arielle - Lion of God. Before they were born, their father asked if we could name one after his mother and sister - Adriana and Leana. Adriana means "dark" - no way - bur Ariana means "most holy" So we have Arielle and Ariana and since he is from Brooklyn, it's Arielle Brook and Ariana Lynn
    Tone

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  3. Okay, so it's 3am, my usual waking time for the last 3 weeks give or take and I'm sure it's no surprise that I'd chime in on this post ;) Definitely vouch for your love of baby names and expect that we'll consult! Though Ashley wasn't picked for Tatum's middle name, so glad I nixed the poll and went with my gut for her first and middle...a name is soooo important, whether the meaning of it, behind it, or just the "small" reason of being with you your ENTIRE life! I think that is why it's such a huge deal to me and why I have a difficult time going thru names, definitely not something I take lightly! This time around, we've been set early on and there's never been any alternative. Not sure why, and I broke my rule for sure of not being in the top 100. It's just been in my heart and the kids have always said they like it, Liam (guardian) Erik (after Erik and meaning ever powerful). Can't believe he's on his way in just 11 days, give or take! Love the name Grant Thomas, but it seems he was destined to be Luke--he's so darn cute and I can't believe he's already 6 weeks old! Love his newborn photos, they turned out great! I have a similar if not the same hat plus diaper cover for when I do mine for Liam! I guess we are both at the end of our baby naming days, but certainly not for the thoughts for others...you can help name my puppy in a few years if we are crazy enough to get one ;) xo

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  4. EEK, what a sweetie!! His name and story are so sweet, too!

    I love talking names too. I still get tickled when I remember picking out all our names, and they still make me so happy. I think Ethan, Jonah, and Caleb sound so nice together- we didn't realize they were all 5-lettered Biblical names until days after Caleb was born, ha ha! And Isabelle's big brothers decided her name- I fought it at first but they were right- Isabelle Kate is perfect! Now onto name #5...oh my! We've got our work cut out for us!

    I had to laugh at the OCD comment...totally get it! Half the names I love get vetoed because I can't share letters, ha! Bye bye Emma, Ella, Eliza, Chloe, Charlotte, and Janie! (You and I share some baby name loves, too!)

    Have a happy Friday, Mel!

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  5. Adorable pictures of Luke! I liked this post I am always interested in why people name their babies the names they do.

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  6. I found that being a teacher made picking names even harder. I always loved the name Jacob, but I had too many naughty ones to use the name for my son!

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  7. I love the baby names stories.
    I love names with strong meanings and hope to be blessed enough to name our future children.

    Also, as a Star Wars reference, Kevin can state "Luke, I am your Father" and embarrass him in public when he's being a complicated. hehe.

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  8. definitely obsessed with baby names. hubby and i are expecting our first in december(a boy) so we have been going round and round. we have a short list but can't nail one down. my hubby insists that we wait until he arrives to decide... wah wah.

    i love all the names you've chosen for your kiddos. all simple, classic, and strong - just like you wanted :)

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  9. love this post! Elyse actually was just a name we both heard in a movie and fell in love with it!

    the pictures are just darling, he's such a precious baby!

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  10. I totally understand your OCD about 1 K and 2 C's. I couldn't do it either.

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  11. My nieces names are Caitlin and Claire :) when we have kids our names are Lillian Belle and Jack Elias. Jack is a good solid name and Elias was Walt Disneys middle name. (We met working at Disney World). Lillian Belle is Walts wife's name and the Lilly Belle is the train at Disneyland and ever since Matt was little he has loved trains :) We're trying now so maybe we'll have our Jack or Lilly soon! :)

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  12. LOVE this post! I read it on my phone earlier but couldn't wait to get home and see Luke's cuteness in full-screen glory! Love all the pics. Adorable. Also, love the name explanation. Totally obsessed over here as well. If only we could decide on our own names! Ack! Stressing me out. I like to have these things nailed down. :) Hugs to you and your gloriously sweet and deLIGHTful baby Luke.

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  13. Baby names are so much fun to talk about. If our first was a boy, the name we picked was Andrew. However, she was a girl so she ended up Ava Drew named after our friend Andrew who was killed in Iraq three years before she was born. Our son is named John Benjamin. He's a fifth generation John Cummins and is the only boy who carry's on my husband's last name. He actually goes by Benjamin, named after a favorite uncle of my husband's. I prefer the name Benjamin so it just stuck. We've got a boy named picked out for our third but we're having trouble agreeing on a girl's name. Hopefully, we'll end up with a boy and not have to worry about finding a girls name :) I love Luke, it's perfect adn it totally sounds like a QB's name!

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  14. I spent hours and hours pouring over baby name books and internet sites for Amanda's name. We had a short list of 4 names and then narrowed it down to Amanda about a month before. Sam was the only boy name we both liked so when Sam came along 3 years later, it was easy. I love the name Luke and it would have been one of our top names, but I thought it would run together with Cory and sound like all one word. Little Luke is scrumptious. What a cutie pie! Thanks for sharing your fun story.

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  15. These pictures of Luke are SO CUTE! & I love his name. Luke has been a favorite of mine for a while. :) My hubby & I were just talking baby names last night (not because we plan on having a baby anytime soon, just because!). We're thinking Graham for our first boy; I really like the name, and it's my hubby's middle name. Lydia & Hannah are my favorite girl names! Baby names are so fun! :)

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  16. I love discussing baby names too. I'm having the hardest time coming up with a middle name for the girl's name we chose. I don't know why either, but I am. If it's a boy, my husband has chosen it's name already. But if it's a girl, I get my choice and I have the first name but the middle name is killing me. It never was this hard at all with our first born

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  17. I love hearing the stories behind why people picked out names! And we used family names as middle names also. Your pictures are gorgeous!

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  18. When I found out I was pregnant the first thing I did was decide on a boy name. I just KNEW I was having a boy. When we found out I was right (when am I not? kidding kidding) we told the world what we would name our little boy. I LOVE talking baby names and yours are beautiful; as are the newborn pictures of Luke!

    I'm a new follower from the mommy mixer and looking forward to following your posts!

    lewislife10.blogspot.com

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  20. I am in love with picking baby names. I have multiple lists on my computer if I get pregnant again. (Here's hoping!)

    I don't share my family's names, but I can still share the story. My son is named after my husband. There was much debate (literally until momments AFTER my son was born) if my son would be a junior or have a different middle. If it was a different middle name, the middle name would be after both my grandfather and my husband's grandfather. My brother told my husband that if he couldn't decide, I should just give my son the middle name "T-Bone" (long story, but there was a reason he suggested it), which is now what my brother calls my son anyway.

    My daughter, well, I had her first name picked out long ago. It started with a stained glass window of a saint. The middle name just happened almost by accident. I wanted a middle name that started with E, in honor of my dad's family (my dad and his siblings all have E names). I said the first and middle name together, and realized multiple things about it almost instantly. 1) It sounds beautiful and had beautiful meaning. 2) It honored my dad and his family with the middle name. 3) The nickname of first and middle name combined honors my mother (it's her nickname). 4) The initials were the first two letters of my husband's grandmother's name, which honored his family as well. It was a done deal, and I spent about a day saying to my husband, "This is it," and he finally agreed.

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  21. That knitted hat is the cutest! Luke looks so much different already than in these pictures, I can't believe it. It's a perfect name for him. Nice job. :)

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  25. I am using some example for name Luke. The name is borne in the Bible by one the four evangelists. Congratulation on maintaining a great blog. If you would like to find any information of the name Luke, you can simply search on babynology.com.

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  27. Like you, everyone faces problem while they want to give a name to their new born child. Name choosing process is quite confusing and i too had faced this problem once. Well, people look for meaning of the name they want to give, but in my case it's totally different. I chooses name by predicting what the baby can do in his/her future. I have named about ten children's name excluding my two girl babies. It is quite funny for me to name them. I make jokes of several names suggested by their parents and then finally I choose. Oh,I'm so lucky!
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