For some, they have had their future child’s name picked out since they were young; others decide once they are expecting their child, and for a select few, they decide once they meet their child for the first time. For my husband and I, we made a list of boy and girl names that we liked, and decided half way into both of my pregnancies what our children’s names would be. As one saying goes “you never realize how many people you don’t like until you have to name a child.”
On our fourth date, my husband and I sat at a pub, waiting for our food to be served, when we started discussing our future. Shaun told me he had always wanted a little girl, and that his favorite girls name was Jade. I had always been on the fence about having kids. It wasn’t something I knew I wanted from a young age like most girls, but I also thought if the timing was right and I met the right person, I could see myself having kids in the future. When he told me his favorite girls name, I was almost in disbelief as it was my favorite girls name as well.
Less than three years after our fourth date, we were walking down the aisle, and I knew in my heart of hearts, I had met someone I wanted to start a family with. Fast forward two years after our wedding to October 2019: we learned we were expecting our first child. Everyone thought we were going to have a girl (myself included), except for Shaun who thought it was a boy. All of the wives tales pointed to girl: fast heart beat, my food cravings, and the intensity of my morning sickness; but in mid-January of 2020, we found out we were expecting a boy! Even though I wasn’t always sure about becoming a Mom, I always thought about having a boy when I envisioned myself as a parent. However, the nerves that come along with being a first time parent, as well as the growing news coverage of a new virus spreading across the globe, was becoming overwhelming.
We had made a list of potential boys names when we first found out I was pregnant: Luke, Hunter, Ryker, Rain, and Jaiden. I have always liked the name Luke; in recent years my husband and I had heard the name Hunter and added it to our list. I also liked Ryker, while my husband liked the name Rain (for a boy as well as a girls name). And finally, we had added Jaiden to our list as we both loved the name “Jade” for a girl, but knew that even if we went to have another child (we always said we would have a maximum of two children, unless we had a pregnancy that resulted in multiples, which was out of our control), it wasn’t guaranteed we would have a girl.
We gradually crossed names off our list as we narrowed it down to our two favorites: Hunter and Jaiden. And for a while, we were referring to our son as Hunter, prior to his birth. But about a month before his arrival, I told Shaun, I think his name is Jaiden. And that decision stuck. We waited until he was born before we told anyone of our decision, but the minute I saw him, I knew Jaiden was the perfect name for him.
As for our daughter, we had a list of names from my first pregnancy that we went back to. Because our son was named Jaiden, we crossed Jade off our list. Tia was another favorite of ours, and remained our favorite for quite some time. Rain was again on the list, as Shaun loved the name (but it wasn’t my first choice). We also liked the names Brie, Ava, and Eva. But around the six month mark of my pregnancy, I brought up the name “Nova” to Shaun. We instantly loved it. We went back and forth for a couple of weeks with Tia and Nova, before ultimately deciding on Nova – our Super Nova. We loved the meaning behind it (“new”; “brightest star in the sky”; and in Hopi: “chases butterflies”); and thought it was a beautiful name for a little girl. When she was born, just as with Jaiden, seeing her face solidified her name.
Jaiden is turning 3 at the end of the month, and Nova will turn 1 shortly after. They both suit their names beautifully, and I have no regrets in our choices. For both our kids, their middle names were the easiest to choose, and were actually decided before their first names were chosen. I hope they grow up and like their names as much as we do. I know Jaiden already has a couple of nicknames – we call him “J” most commonly; but I will be interested to see what he prefers when he grows up!
How did you decide your children’s names? Let me know in the comments below!
