Where Did You Come Up with That ?!?!?!

I wasn't quite sure what I was going to post today, and then I stumbled across Katie's post , and saw that today's Show Us Your Life theme at Kelly's Korner is about baby names, specifically to "show" baby names you have used, or plan on using in the future.

Confession: I have a slight baby name obsession. This post might get long winded and smug. Consider yourself warned.

First off, I have to tell you...I am a baby name snob. I don't like kreaytive spellings, I don't like "made up," names, and don't you DARE try to talk to me about a name in the top 25. Pshhh. Finding names that meet my exacting criteria is not particularly easy.

Also, I am a single mom, and have been since pregnancy. You would think that this woud have made choosing a name easier on me, because I did not have to take the wishes of the baby's father into consideration, but that was so not the case. I think because I did not have a significant other, that my loved ones felt they were more entitled to force suggest their names to me. Maybe they thought they were helping? If so, I wonder how my grandmother thought telling me that the name Lola reminded her of, "a red-headed, Vegas showgirl, smoking a long cigarette.", would help. 

Really, grandma?

To top it all off, my family has a tradition of using two middle names, so that means I had a whole extra name to come up with.

Not easy. Totally fun, but not easy at all!

The name I ended up with?

Gemma Helena Rose, last name.

I named her the day after she was born, when finally I was in the hospital room by myself. I was still undecided  when the nurse came into the room, but  I decided to just go for it. It being Gemma. I am pretty sure that I am glad I did.

A whole lot of name for a baby. But I think it fits her. Hopefully?

The most common reaction I get to her name is, "Oh! That's different." Others say they love it though, and so do I. (luckily, right?)

Gemma. Her first name. Gem, like a gemstone, so it sounds like Jemma. It means jewel and is Latin in origin. Apparently it is pretty common in the UK, or Australia or something, but not so common in the U.S. I think the first place I may have heard it was actually in the movie "Fools Gold." I liked it, but didn't think much of it because, well...I wasn't planning on having a baby. It grew and grew on me during my pregnancy and right before she was born I had narrowd it down to Gemma or Leila.  I think most of my family prefered Leila (pronounce Layla), but I didn't (and don't) like how popular it was/is becoming...so Gemma it is. To me the name seems classic, but familiar, and feminine all at the same time.

Helena. Her first middle name. Pronounced Heh-lee-nuh. By me at least, because that is the way my grandmother, whom she was named after, pronounced the name. My entire childhood is memories of my grandmother. She was an amazing, strong woman. If Gemma has an ounce of her spirit, I will be proud. Helena means bright one and the origin is Greek.

Rose.  Her second middle name. I am pretty sure you know how to pronounce it, and I am pretty sure you know what it means. Its origin is Latin as well. One of the worst parts of becoming pregnant, was knowing I had to tell my father. It shook me, knowing that I would be dissappointing him. Luckily, my father was almost instantly supportive, true to his good heart and the great man that he is. At some point, mid pregnancy, I asked him about names that he liked. He told me he didn't care at all about names, blah blah blah. A few weeks later, I was on the phone with him, and he asked "how about Rose?" I didn't like the name, but he didn't care. He called her Rose from that point on in my pregnancy. The name never grew on me enough to use as a first name, but I decided to use it as a middle name, and as a tribute to him.

Gah! I am sure that that may be more than you care to know, but I am happy to share it. As I said, I LOVE names!

I am not thinking about any babies for a long time, but I still think about names.

My current short list:

Asher Franklin ?

Isaac Timothy ?

Isla Kate ?

Honor Elizabeth??

So, honestly, what do you think? And how did you come up with your child's name?

Enjoy your weekends y'all!