What's in a Name?

What's in a name? A whole heckovalot if you ask me. It's why I stress to no end in picking out the names of my children. Your name influences people's opinions of you, there is no getting around it. I once knew a girl who said studies have been shown that people with more common names are more popular and have more confidence than those who don't have common names. I can see how this might be. Although, I'm not sure if that holds much water in this day and age.

We live in a time where unique names and derivations of names are all the rage but then that has a seemingly reverse effect causing them skyrocket to the top of baby name lists. Take Nevaeh for example, it's heaven spelled backwards and I've never really been able to figure out why this name has become so popular. To me it's awkward and a little strange but apparently people love it because it has gained rapidly on the "lists".

And then there's someone like me. I'm named after great-great grandmas on both sides. Growing up I never knew another person with my name. And I LOVED it. I felt unique and individual, special, really. I was never popular though, so I guess that lends a little credence to my friend's theory. It wasn't until I was 14 that I met another Eliza and it kind of bugged me. Nowadays, I'll be at the park or a restaurant and hear my name, turn to look and realize it's a mom calling her young daughter. I haven't quite squared away my feelings over my name gaining a little popularity, but it doesn't bug me as much as it did when I was a teenager. I guess I feel a little like a pioneer, like I was one of the first one's with the name so I'm still special.

Now I am struggling with the task of finding a name for our new baby. For some reason girl names are really difficult for me, I agonize and search and ponder and ask people for their opinions. Sheesh, we had a boy name all picked out already and I'm even kind of a little sad that we aren't going to get to use it (well, I'll never say never but...). Maybe it's because I didn't dare let myself hope for a girl. I don't know though, because I suffered through this same agony with my first daughter. We didn't even have a name picked out after she was born and felt all the pressure at the hospital to get it done.

Then there's your last name. It's no secret how much we Wright girls loved our last name growing up. It's catchy, positive, it inspired a degree of confidence and pride in us, it came in handy for student council campaigns. We are proud of our strong family heritage and wanted to carry that on. And then we all went and got married and had to give it up. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love having the last name of a Sesame Street character now, but it just isn't quite as cool as having Wright for a last name.

And then our brothers had to go and get married and their wives got to take on our beloved last name. Now, that was kind of a weird feeling and talk about being a little bit jealous over that. But what do I know, maybe my sisters-in-law weren't too thrilled about giving up their maiden names? Don't worry girls- I have no hard feelings over you having Wright as a last name! :) And anyway, it doesn't really matter what last names we have now because we'll always be "Wright Girls" no matter what.

Ahhh, such is life! I guess I'll go back to playing the Name Game and hopefully in the end my daughter will wind up with a name she loves as much as I loved mine. (Both first and last!)

What do you think? How do you feel about YOUR name(s)?

All of us Wright Girls from left: Kindra, Aliece, Eliza, Kristi (she's not a Wright girl- that's Michelle's sis-in-law, and the only girl in her family) Michelle (the bride), Britny, Tara, and Emilie (and cut us some slack- half of us were prego at the time- Kindra, Aliece and Eliza; and Tara and Emilie had just given birth less than a month before!)

This was the only picture I could find that had everybody, it just happened to have one extra. :)