by Thomas Kling

Created on: September 16, 2009   Last Updated: September 18, 2009

Naming children may be one of the first most important decisions one makes as a parent. There are many people out there who want a "heritage" name, one that is passed on throughout generations or a name that honors a beloved family member. Most of us are interested in the etymology or meaning of the name. Then of course one has to consider how it looks and sounds with the child's last name, middle name or initials. "What's in a name?" Shakespeare asks. Plenty!

Our first born we named David. The name means beloved. As our first child, we were sure he would be, even though he was quite a surprise to my wife and I. We liked the name. It sounded and looked right with our last name. We didn't want any names ending in a 'k' sound because it was too many 'kuh's together. We liked Stephen, but with our last name, it sounded too much like the popular writer. Strangely, we didn't really do a lot of research, debate, or discussion about the name. Somehow, we just knew he was going to be David, even before we found out for sure he was a boy. In fact, we had no girls names picked out.

Jonathan was our second born. His name means "gift of God." My wife grew up in a very religious background and was well aware of the Biblical story of Jonathan saving the life of David from King Saul. We also tried to dodge some of the common pitfalls that we avoided when naming David, even though we still liked Stephen. We even picked out girls' names this time. If female, he could have easily been a Sarah. But in the end, he was definitely a Jonathan. It is always nice when strangers get the Biblical connection between Jonathan and David without being told. To this day, Jonathan and David are not only brothers, but close friends.

Our third child turned out to be the girl that my wife and I were hoping for. Naming her, however, didn't come as easy as you would think. I really liked Jennifer, but my wife did not. She campaigned for Aubrey, but I wasn't sold. We both kind of liked Sarah still, but something was holding us back. Because we had done so well in naming our first two children and because there was so much disagreement between us, I felt that there was more pressure on me to pick, not a good name, but a GREAT name. And, because I put so much time into it, I was easily hurt when my suggestions were shot down, as I'm sure my wife felt the same. There was going to have to be another way of coming up with a name for our much anticipated little girl.

At the time, I had just finished a

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