I have to disagree about one gender being easier than others. Our friends had easy times with girl names, but we struggled. We could pop boy names off the top of our heads all the live long day, but could come up with nothing for a girl.

Complicating the fact was that we didn’t want to know the sex.

Going into the birth we had a lock on a boy combination (we have the same problem with generic names), but had a so-so, at best, girl name. It was tough.

Luckily we had a boy.

We made our own lists first, then read the other person’s list and crossed out the “no ways,” pleaded our case for the ones we wanted to stay on, and narrowed it down and down to three names each. We waited for the final decision until we saw them.

It was never a torturous affair and I didn’t feel a whole lot of pressure about it. It was fun. Now I believe that we shouldn’t name children until they’re older, like three or something. That’s when their personalities are running full force. Although I don’t regret the name choices – I think they fit them just fine.

Oh, and six years after stating our desire out to friends, family and the universe, we got a red-headed blue-eyed little girl … She was just waiting for us to get our act together before making her appearance. She is such a diva.

Her sister, Paige Taylor, joined us in February of this year. I thought for sure I would have a Roslyn! I just knew when I found out I was pregnant that it was Paige though. Not named after anyone. Just loved the name. Taylor is another family surname.

we also had too much fun using the baby name inventor search at babyzone.

Where else can you find a boy’s name – Ynngsm?
http://www.babyzone.com/babynames/nameinventor.asp

We decided early on what the middle name would be, for either a boy or a girl. It was my dear Granddad’s middle name, and the one he used as his given name. It was also his mother’s maiden name, and since I was named after her, it seemed appropriate. After the kidlet was born, someone told us it was a Jewish tradition to name a child after a recently deceased family member, so that meant even my Granddad’s very WASP-y name gave a nod to the Jewish side of my husband’s family.

We didn’t choose first names until week or so before he was born. Friends at the baby shower were so appalled that we hadn’t decided on names yet, they all gave us suggestions! We finally decided to each make a list of boy and girl names and then compare to see if any were the same, or if any were acceptable for both of us.

I still have the list of name suggestions my mom sent me. They were pretty funny, especially combined with the reasons she gave for suggesting them. Like Cordelia, which was suggested because she was King Lear’s good daughter. (a nice name, just a funny reason)

My first we named Vivian, mostly based on a dream I had where I was talking to her as an older child, and her name was Vivian. Her middle names are for her two dead grandmothers (Dianne and Sara)

Rosalyn stemmed from my husbands desire to name her after his maternal grandmother, but he didn’t like Rose. So we dug around. I preferred Rosalind, but since I won with Vivian, I lost with this one. Her middle names are for also for her maternal grandmother and my father (Virginia and Frances) We liked Virginia, but not the virgin bit, as well as the two kids with a V name bit.

We still have the list from Vivian (I remember Annika and Veronica were prominant, as well as Thurston for a boy) but we never had one for Ros. That one was quick.

And we like older names. I also loved Beryl, Opal and Ruby, but got shot down. Quickly I might add.