What's in a name?

What is in a name? A lot, apparently. I was thinking about names today, because I was thinking about babies. Not because I'm pregnant - or even trying to get that way - but I'm always thinking about babies. I think I drive Doug nuts with that, but that's another blog for another day. Anywho, I was thinking about names that would sound good with Daniel. When you have a second child (or third, fourth, or fifth child), you can't just worry about how his or her name sounds by itself. You have to worry about how your family's names sound spoken together. When I was pregnant, I yelled Daniel's full name a few times, just to make sure it was one of those attention-getting names. When we have a second one, I'll have to yell their names together. "Daniel and ___! Get down here this minute!" It won't do for me to get tongue-tied while trying to chastise my children. And no, I'm not only concerned with how their names will sound when I'm yelling. Merry Christmas! Love, the Careys - Doug, Sheri, Daniel, and _____. This _____ is important.

Ironically enough, almost every name we had on our previous list of names has been "taken" by one of Daniel's little buddies. Caleb was the last name we struck from the list when we finally decided on Daniel. Just before that, it was Will. Caleb and Will just happen to be two of Daniel's really good friends. Not that we can't have a Caleb or Will of our very own, it would just be confusing. So how about Jacob? Ethan? David? Huh. Scratch David. We'd have way too many D Careys running around. See what I mean? But I digress.

When I was thinking about names, I was thinking about how glad I was to be Mrs. Sheri Carey. Oh of course most of that has to do with how much I love my husband, what a wonderful man and father he is, and how happy I am to be with him. But wow. I started thinking about all of the other Sheri _____s I could have been. Good thing I married Doug. Sheri Young? That sounds terrible. Sheri Lopez - I had already endured months and months of She-Lo jokes as it was. I may have shot myself before that one was over. Sheri Chappa? That's just wrong. Sheri Rodriguez? I can't even spell Rodriguez.

So what is in a name? Letters. Sounds. Syllables. And lots and lots of hard work, if your mother was crazy, as I happen to be. If your mother was diligent enough to Google your name to make sure you weren't destined to be a porn star or a semi-famous criminal, made sure your initials didn't spell anything weird and weren't taken by an oil and gas company, and worked really hard to make sure your name just rolled off the tongue, there's a lot of thought and effort in your name. My name? It's just hilarious. Laugh all ya want - I love it.