Baby Names

Kevin and I put a lot of thought into Landon's name. When we found out that Landon was going to be a boy we had no names picked out, well at least not boy names. I'm sure Kevin did, but I didn't want to discuss boy names before that day. Several days passed and we still hadn't discussed potential boy names. In fact, so many days had passed before we picked out a name that a friend of mine from work started calling the babe in my belly Kirk. She somehow thought that Kirk was a good mix between Kevin and Amanda. How she ever came up with Kirk from the combo of Kevin and Amanda is beyond me. I grew tired of hearing my baby being called Kirk by everyone at work that I finally told Kevin that we have to come up with a name. Kevin handed me a list of names that he liked and I shot them all down. In my defense he had names like Jackson Daniel (Jack Daniels) on there. I'm sure there was even a Hank Aaron on the list followed by a Bart Simpson. I couldn't help but laugh at his list, but he took some of those names seriously. Especially the Jackson Daniel one.

As the saying goes...when the going gets tough the tough get IHOPS! At least that is how it goes in our house. IHOPS was always a late night favorite for us pre-baby days. There was never an issue that couldn't be solved or a discussion that couldn't be had over a middle of the night stack of pancakes. It was only natural for us to come up with Landon's name over a plate of pancakes. I remember jokingly telling Kevin that since it was a boy the name choosing would be completely up to him. I always liked the name Landon, but didn't think that Kevin would go for it. Kevin seemed to be leaning towards more common names such as Christopher and Andrew. I know that Landon is not an uncommon name, but I had never come across a Landon at that time (now it seems like every friend of a friend has a new baby boy named Landon). Luckily for me Landon was one of the first names that Kevin said once I told him that the name was all up to him. Within seconds I called my mom to tell her what her first grandchild would be named. She was ecstatic and I could hear her yelling for Alex to tell him and then Alex's excitement could be heard as well. Not everyone took Landon's name as well as we would have liked. We even had a family member ask us "what kind of name is Landon?" They didn't like the name and wanted us to change it. We held our ground and had a Landon Hunter. 

The reason I brought all of this up is because recently I ran into someone who I hadn't seen since I was pregnant with Landon. She asked me what Landon's name was and I told her. Her reaction was "oh (followed by a long pause) ...that's different". I could sense her disapproving tone in the way that she had said it. I wasn't sure how to take that. I knew she didn't like his name, but there were so many other things that she could have said. I would never put down a child's name, especially in front of the parents. I know how much work and deliberation goes into picking out a child's name. The decision is not an easy one,  nor is it something that is taken lightly. 

Celebrities are the only ones who I think come up with crazy names on purpose. I always imagine all of the celebrity moms-to-be drinking coffee together and being like "so and so named her child Coco so I am going to one up her by naming mine Apple." I don't think much thought goes into naming your child after a food that you were craving. For the rest of us, a child's name holds a lot of meaning and love behind it. So if you come across someone and find out the name of their child is something that you do not like and you can not come up with something nice to say then just smile and nod.