A Name...

How do you choose a name for a baby? This isn’t the same as choosing a name for a pet. When we got CJ I knew what I wanted to name her before we ever when to the pound and met her. I knew I wanted a cuddly black kitten, and I was sure long before we saw her that the name CJ fit well with whatever personality happened to go with the physical description I was looking for. I also knew that very few people would ever call her CJ, realistically, how many people are going to interact with my cat, sure she is adorable, but she wont go to school, grow up, or have to get a job. I could have picked the most ridiculous name and she would have lived essentially the same life. The same isn’t true for a child, if I chose something off the wall it will haunt them though school, through their future careers, and eventually down the road they are going to blame me for some of the teasing they were forced to endure, so how do you choose a name? How do you choose a name that fits both a child and an adult, one that says I am cute and lovable as a toddler but worth taking seriously as an adult? Beyond that, how do you choose a name that fits the child's personality? I have heard people say to wait until you meet the child to choose their name, but really, how much of a personality is this kid really going to show in that first week of life- I doubt there will be much that week that tells me about the toddler, teen, or adult he is going to be- maybe I am wrong, but right now I am skeptical. So I have decided to go another way, we have decided to name this little peanut after someone we know. It is unlikely that he will have a similar personality to this individual (trust me on that), but it's a starting point. Our plan is to name the little tyke- Michael Andrew- both common, easy to spell, and easy to pronounce. There is very little chance that someone will rearrange the letters in his name and spell something like "brain sucker", very little chance that a first grade teacher will be unable to pronounce the name, and very little chance that he will be the only Michael you ever meet. My little brother is named Michael Andrew (well currently "elder Michael Andrew") and he is great- so we are going to steal his name. At first I was uneasy about this- I thought it might be mean to whoever mug eventually marries- maybe she wants to use the name, then I realized the following: 1. He is on a mission and not dating so who cares, 2. There are lots of Michael Andrews what is two in one family, they will have different last names anyway, and 3 and most important, during the last ultrasound this kid was so uncooperative (I know I said you cant tell about a child's personality before they are born but anyway), the doctor tried everything to get him to participate, but he refused, if I am going to have an uncooperative child, I might as well name him after the most uncooperative person I know (he is still great) so at the moment, Michael Andrew it is…