Just thinking

About Baby Names

Names are more than personal identifiers; they are points of reference in a social system. A name can make or break a person.

My son has told me he wants to change his name. It is the most preciously perfect name he could have had. Partly because of the story. I dreampt the name. It was as if it was pre-selected. I through it into the metaphorical hat, the spouse at the time accepted it, and a year later she was like, “that is his name. I can’t see him being anything else.”

Though I am fond of my son, I am leaving his name out of this, and 99 percent of my writing. That feels like the appropriate thing to do in this day and age.

Had he been female, I would have voted for Elizabeth Grace Ege. I love this name. I like that the initials spell the last name, but also it allows the child to have some choice. Liz, Beth, Eliza, Grace…

For a moment, I had hope for another. My son really wants a sibling, though he is looking for friend his age, not a new baby. I am still fond of the idea of having another. I love children. The best age, in my book, was 0 to 6. My son is 9, and sometimes I get the grief I would almost expect from a teenager! :)