Sunday, August 10, 2008

names and more names


Naming a baby is so hard for me. It's not just that it's difficult for Troy and I to agree on anything even remotely similar, but it's such a step of turning this perfect miracle in a real-life, normal, ordinary person. This is the fastest we've ever named a baby, mostly because I named our last baby, so Troy just picked out any name he liked for this one!

She was born on the opening day of the Beijing Olympics: 08.08.08, which is a very lucky day in China because the word for 8, ba, sounds so close to the word for wealth that many people believe the number 8 is linked to prosperity.

And it just so happens both of her names also have Greek origins.
Zoey: life
Nicole: victorious people (or victory for Nike, another Olympic reference?)

Troy wanted her middle name to be something like "fifth born" because Julia's middle name Tess is Greek for "fourth born." But Penta or Quinta were the only (awful) options we found. He said how about, "Nickel?" So we take a normal name, Nicole, and turn it into our own private source of humor. I think for Zoe, he just likes that name, and it meets all my criteria: something everyone has heard of, but don't really know many or any. Short, or has a good short nickname. Ends in a vowel like all of our other names do. And Most of us have 4 letters in our name, and we both like the spelling of Zoey better than Zoe. My "rule" is to spell things normally, the way they're supposed to be pronounced, nothing fancy or freaky. So in this case it's just easier to pronounce with the y on the end! Like our first child: Taya isn't spelled Téa because it was too hard to pronounce when spelled the "real" way.

When I made the birth announcement a couple of weeks ago (with blanks waiting to be filled in), Troy requested her Chinese zodiac animal be on there somewhere (year of the rat). At that time we weren't thinking anything about any Chinese traditions or Olympics, we didn't even suspect I'd go that overdue! So she gets a number 5 for 5th born and a little mouse hiding in there.

So there we have it! A named baby, it took less than 2 weeks (WOW for us!), and the little history behind it.

18 comments:

Erica said...

Beautiful names for a beautiful baby.

Kerr said...

oh Emma! What a wonderful choice of a name! And I must say this because I am a bit partial too. My second child is named Zoie (notice differently spelled) and middle name Lynn. Lynn as a middle name is a family tradition (myself included)with aunts and uncles (yes uncles but we are horribly southern) as well as grandmas and grandpas in the past generations.

What a joy to finally have a name and what awesome history behind them. Thanks for sharing with us.

Amber said...

She is just beautiful Emma! And I love the way you spelled her name! :)

Unknown said...

What a very beautiful name for a very beautiful little girl!

Mandy T said...

CONGRATULATIONS what fantastic name choices for a beautiful baby.

Mandy Tregaskis

Mandy T said...

Emma, what a simply BEAUTIFUL little girl, and lovely name choices to match.

Congratulations!

The Roberts Family said...

Congratulations!!! I just got the lake travis email and we are thrilled for you. Can't wait to see her and the fam when we get back.

Samantha LeBlanc said...

Emma,

Congratulations on the newest addition to your family! I saw the midwifes car there this week. Girl you are so brave! I love the name Zoey..that's my sister's name (Zoe) The pictures are beautiful. Can't wait to see her in person.
Much Love,
Samantha, Doug & CoCo

AmandaScraps said...

Love it! Surprised you didn't pick something that ended with an "a" though :) Can't wait to meet her!

Anonymous said...

Congrats to you and your family! You tell a story so well, thanks for sharing! Aloha, Janelle Sotelo

Anonymous said...

hee, hee, amanda: it's because I didn't pick the name at all! Troy said no more "ia" names, it really is getting confusing calling the wrong name all time when they're so similar. I did like how it ended in a vowel, and now Levi won't feel so left out :)

Anonymous said...

OOOh, congratulations, Emma! She is precious! Beautiful name too!

Cheryl said...

LOL..love how you put "bothered to respond"....I feel that way often!

I think your announcement is awesome! What a beautiful little girl you have! I see you have 5 children--wow! Kudos to you Mom!

Anonymous said...

Emma, What a beautiful baby! Love how you came up with the name. You seem so... happy. Congratulations and best wishes.

Adrienne, Hanna, Hayden & Garrett said...

Congratulations on lucky number 5! Zoey is Scott's favorite name. She already has as much hair as my Hanna. Can't wait to see her. Enjoy these early wonderful moments!

Anonymous said...

nickel?? thats incredibly clever!! I Love you guys!

Anonymous said...

Wait - so Taya is (American) long A sound followed by short A sound? Not short A, Y, short A?

My personal pronunciation rules came up with Tie - ah for Taya (which would explain why I *hate* the 'Laya' spelling for the (Princess) 'Leia' pronunciation of the name 'Leah'.) But the accented e has the issue of not always getting it's accent in American.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Taya was the best phonetic spelling we could come up with, and it's the traditional English (British) spelling of the name (a short variant of Taylor). People still call her her Tie-a all the time, but there was really no sure-fire way to spell it so it would get a long a. Teia? But then people would call her Tia. Oh, well, such is life! Americans can't spell anyway.