TTA: What's in a name?

When I was younger (elementary - middle school aged) I was certain that I would name my first child Bailey. Bailey Rene to be exact - the last name didn't matter. If my husband grumbled...too bad. That's just what SHE was going to be named.

I tested that name with my first Cabbage Patch Doll. The one my mother staked out in the wee hours standing outside a Target in the freezing cold on the hint that a delivery was coming that day. Remember that craze back in the 80's? Well, out of the box she was Thelma Louise. Yuck. That just wouldn't do for my ponytailed blondie with beautiful blue eyes! I quickly filled in that birth certificate change form and sent it that Xavier guy to get fixed up. With much anticipation it came back 'Bailey Rene' - the most beautiful name in the world! I hung it up in my room and still have it to this day - the doll too - all frazzled and played with stored for nostalgia's sake in my memory trunk. (Hmmm...It's much easier to name a child or doll when you don't have to agree on it with someone else.)

Married for a mere 5 months I had the faint idea that I might be pregnant. I hid out in the bathroom of my one bedroom apartment in Grapevine, TX with my friend Shelley on the telephone anxiously waiting for the results via an EPT stick. Are those REALLY two pink lines??? They are kinda faint. Yep. (still have that stick to prove it too) The hardest part of the pregnancy - probably agreeing on a name. We mulled over many and rested upon something unique. Unique does run in the family with wonderful names like Cale, Rossi and Saedryn. Our eldest daughter is Raistlyn - the name originated from a DragonLance book series that Adam had read - it has a male character so we changed the spelling and made it more feminine. It's the first name we both liked, there were never any other options.

Next came our boy - 5 years later. We had originally picked the name Zane way back before we knew Raistlyn was a girl and intended on it throughout most of the pregnancy. When it came time for the baby shower I was in the midst of making 'thank you for coming to the shower pumpkin saltglow scrub' when it came time to print the tags. I changed the name to Caiden and printed the tags. I say "I" because my hubby insists that it was ALL me. It stuck. Caide's middle name has a bit of special meaning via his daddy....it's Michael....his dad's name is Adam...if you are LDS you might get the symbolism with those names.
Our youngest is Rowan. Her name was a toss up between that or Maclaine which we thought of via the main character in the Die Hard movies. I do still LOVE this name! We were attempting to have the 'ai' in each of their first names. She got her's via her middle name which is Ainsley - and she has the same initials as her sis.

I need to ask my own mother if there is any sort of story behind my name. I do know that I was originally a Jennifer and that I had two birth certificates each with different names. I don't have a middle name as do none of my four sisters. The 3 older boys do though. Growing up I always felt I got gypped. So, I unofficially gave myself the middle name of Lyn....because that is what my sisters always yelled at me when they were mad at me....Jennifer Lyn!

If I were to change my name I would be either Amber, Heather or Roxy. Random. I know.

Is there a story behind your name?

How did you pick the names of your children?