Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Tuesday Tell-All: What's in a Name

This week's subject: Is there a story behind your name? How did you pick the names of your children?

ZACHARY JOSEPH

There was never a discussion as to Zack's middle name - it was always to be Joseph. Joseph was the name of his father's grandfather, "Papa Joe." He was a scrappy, tough little boxer of a man who was a convert to the church. I never had the chance to meet him, but I always liked the idea of him being named after a family member - I believe that a name should MEAN something. Papa Joe always sounded like a very colorful character to me, and I adore an eccentric person. Joseph is also an homage to the prophet Joseph Smith. I can't think of a more honorable, righteous man to be named after, and Zack is very proud of his middle name.
Zachary was the result of a compromise. His father and I had a horrible time agreeing on any name at all. I liked Hunter, he hated it. He liked something else that I have (conveniently) forgotten now. So, a couple of months before Zack was born, I gave him a list of 5 names. Pick one, I said. I still remember the names: Luke, Ian, Zachary, Ethan, Hunter. He returned to me a few days later. Joseph Luke or Zachary Joseph, he said. I took about 3 seconds to think about it. Zachary Joseph, I said, and a name was born.

DYLAN COOPER

Dylan
was always a name that I loved. It sounded strong, a little trendy but not TOO trendy, and it didn't hurt that I was a "Dylan McKay" fan back in the day. (If you don't know who that is, you are TOO young.)

I had always wanted to have the name Cooper for one of my children. Dylan was actually given a different middle name when he was born, but when Matt adopted him we decided to change that - I could finally have my Cooper! Cooper is my maiden name, and a name that all us Coop kids are extremely proud to bear. It sounds really cool being yelled out at the basketball court..."COOOOOOOOOOP!" Dylan is especially happy that he has a name just like his beloved Aunt Savy. :o) He thinks he is named after HER. Savy is awesome, so I am ok with that.

3 comments:

Amanda P. said...

I really like this tuesday tell all! I think a lot of the sistas like that Cooper name. Emily and Jessica in particular. Papa Joe DOES sound like a guy you'd like to get to know :)

Cheffie-Mom said...

I love stories names. When I named my daughter I have never heard of the name Marissa, and I got Joy (her middle name) from my mother whos name is Joyce. Thank you so much for stopping by the blog. Next time your there I put in a new section called "Family to Family" which serves as an outlet for mothers to write and post pictures about their children. Love to hear from you and hope you share some stories! :)

Valerie said...

Fun "naming" stories - thanks for sharing!