And Our Daughter's Name is...

     Throughout the course of our relationship, Kate and I have had the pleasure of naming several things.  The first thing we named was a fish.  It was a tiny beta that we named "Superdude" because the ironic disonance of such an epic name for a little fish was hillarious to us. 

 

     The next creature to be named was a hamster.  Kate was in her first apartment alone and was looking for something to blame the bumps in the night on.  What Kate was saying was "I want a cat."  What I heard was "I want a hamster." Epic communication skills, even at nineteen. Thus the short-lived reign of "Gordon" began.  We named him after our favorite Barenaked Ladies album at the time. So hardcore.

 

     Shortly after my drastically missing the point, we did wind up getting a cat for Kate, which we named Murphy.  At the time we were fairly certain that Murphy was a girl and thought we were being all punk rock by giving her a male name.  Turns out Murphy was just incredibly fluffy, obscuring his boy parts, so we weren't being so subversive after all.

 

Can you blame us?  That's one GORGEOUS cat.

 

     There was Penny next who we named for my favorite web comic at the time, and Buster whom we named after a character from Arrested Developent (after briefly being Baxter, named after the dog from Anchorman). 

 

     So we had names based on a rock album, ironic detachment, punk rock fight-the-system ethos, and finally comics and movies.  Which is to say I felt like we had this naming thing down.  Then we got pregnant. 

 

     From day one the name was a ongoing discussion between the wife and I.  The conversation really amped up once we found out that we were having a girl.  At that point it became much less theoretical and felt far more real.  There were many names that we liked, but we couldn't settle on just one.  So we decided that we were going to hold name auditions.  Every day we would call our daughter something different and see how it felt. 

 

Day One: Lucy - Loved it!
Day Two: Amelia - Loved it!
Day Three: Luna - Liked it, but it's a little weird.
Day Four: Hazel - Like it, but it just doesn't sound "right".
Day Five: Margot - Like the old-timeyness of it, but it's just not for us.
Day Six: Ivy - I automatically think Batman villain "Poison Ivy" and I don't like the idea of my daughter being a insane, sexpot, environmental terrorist.

 

Not EXACTLY what one hopes for in a daughter...

 

     After about a week, we had it wittled down to Lucy and Amelia.  We loved both names and when we used them, they felt "right".  We tried to eliminate one based off of nicknames, both adorable and playground cruel.  Even heat.  We tried to do it based off of whether or not the name would sound respectable on a grown up; turns out we would both vote for a "Congresswoman Amelia Ferris" in addition to "Senator Lucy Ferris".  Another week passed and we were still at a loss.  What do you do when there are two options that you like just as much as the other?  Finally one night I turned to Kate and said;

     "I know how we settle this. We ask the wisest creature we know...  We ask Buster."

 

The wisest creature we know.

     After a bit of discussion we agreed that we would let our dog Buster have final word on our daughter's name.  It seemed only fitting, as his job would shortly become protecting her with his life, so may as well let the fella have a say.

 

     I went to the kitchen, grabbed to treats and had Buster sit in front of Kate and I.  I held a treat in each hand.  Lifting my left I said "Buster, this is Lucy."  I lifted my right, "Buster, this is Amelia."  Slowly I set each on the ground about four feet from one another.  Buster's tail twitched back and

forth with excitement, but being a good boy, he stayed until I gave him the signal.  Once more I gestured left "Lucy" and then right "Amelia." I lower my arms from the "Stay" position and said

 

    "Okay, Buster!"

 

     Buster shot off with all of his stored up excitement and with no hesitation goes right. 

 

     Everyone, we can now say a big hello to our little girl, Amelia.  We can't wait to meet you.