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When you are pregnant, you get standard questions asked of you on a regular basis.

1. How far along are you? (OR) When are you due?
2. Do you know what you're having? If NO go to #2b, If Yes skip to #3
2b. Are you going to find out?
3. What are you going to name him/her? (OR) Have you picked out a name yet?

I am 35 1/2 weeks along. I'm due in a month. I am having a boy. But I'm not sure what we're going to name him.

The last statement is mostly true. We have pretty much decided on a first name. We are still up in the air with middle names. But don't ask, we won't tell. Not because we don't love you, though.

Our reason is twofold. We've decided that there should be some element of surprise this time around. Not only that, but it seems often when you share the name(s) you've picked out, people feel they have license to criticize it. We've already received requests on naming the baby after certain people, and even a request NOT to name the baby a certain name. Not sure if it's because they don't like the name or what, because we do know somebody with that name.

To me, there's more to it than just liking a name. The first and middle names have to go together, and with the last name too. I also take into account the initials. I don't want THOSE spelling anything strange. A couple we know named their baby girl with a first and middle name that gave her the initals BAM. I just can't help but think of Emeril. Bam! Bryan's first and middle name make the initials BS. Of course one doesn't usually go by only the first and middle initials, but it seems like if there is a J in there, they do. I despise initial-based nicknames. (AJ, DJ, PJ, etc.)

I am also not fond of Juniors. (As a name, not a person.) :) To me it seems to rob little Junior of identity. I get that it can be tradition to name a male child after his father... Junior, the Third, the Fourth, etc. It's not as common to go past the Jr. these days, at least in the US. Maybe it's because Jr. agrees wit me! I also don't like when a father and son are referred to as "Big Bill" and "Little Bill". How weird is that going to get as Little Bill gets older? Luckily Little Bill could go on to be Will, or something, but not all names have as many options.

Some fathers and sons who share first names will go by their middle names. I'm not clear on if this is to avoid confusion or if the middle names are the preferred names. It would seem to me more wise to just name the child with the middle name as the first name and the father's name as the middle name.

Personally, I prefer (first) names that can't be easily shortened into nicknames. We picked Caleb and only one person (a NICU nurse) that I can think of has ever tried to call him "Cay". That lasted about a minute, then it evolved into "My Ca-man". She loved him, so I didn't care. But the point is he's not going to be a Bill. He's going to have his name.

Another think I don't like are names that nobody can spell or pronounce. Of course foreign names are an exception if one or both of the parents are (decended) from a foreign nation. But making a perfectly good name and adding letters for the sake of who-knows-what just rubs me the wrong way.

When we first told a pastor we know Caleb's name, he asked, "How will you spell it?" I thought this an odd question at the time, especially since this was a pastor we were talking to and Caleb is a biblical name. But it turns out a couple in his congregation had named their son the same name, but spelled K-A-E-L-E-B-B. Poor child. That's what I think when I see stuff like this.

Maybe it's the speller in me. That is probably part of it. But the rest of me feels bad for him because he'll never get his name spelled right the first time, and probably not the second or third either.

Bryan, Carla, and Caleb. Common enough names that you'd think would be trouble-free names. But Bryan gets Brian, Carla gets Karla, and Caleb gets Kaleb. I believe Brian-with-an-I is the more common spelling, so I understand. But Carla and Caleb are by far more commonly (and originally) spelled with a C and not a K. It's those people who wanted to name their kids something familiar but with a twist that ruined it for us. So when asked our names for forms and such, we're "Bryan-with-a-Y, Carla-with-a-C, and Caleb-with-a-C." All in all, not too bad. We're not going to have to spell our names like poor Kaelebb for everyone we meet (multiple times).

I won't go into having to spell our last name for people. While I think it's a nuisance to have to spell out such an easy last name, I get that it can kinda sound like another common last name when spoken. At least it's only four letters and spelling it takes 1.8 seconds.

So back to this baby.... We'll probably decide on his full name when he's born. It seems like that would be an inspiring moment. If we happen to decide sooner, we most likely won't let on. ;-)