Thursday, October 16, 2008

Would it smell as sweet?

Meet Adilyn Paige Bassett. Isn't she lovely?



You may know her as Gwen Genessy Bassett...(don't ask what happened to the mop of black hair, I'm not quite sure...)


But see, she was "Adi" all the way up until the day she was born. I have video to prove it. I have doodles to prove it. But she just....wasn't Adi. We didn't want her to be in a long line of "Abby"s and "Maddi"s etc. So we tried to come up with something a little less common right at the last minute, quite literally. And I couldn't be more pleased. I love the name Gwen, and I love who she is named after, and I LOVE the response I get when I tell people her name.

So that is why I don't name my kids in utero. Because then they might come out and be something else and it throws everyone off. My mother, on more than one occasion, referred to newborn baby Gwen as "Adi" and who could blame her, we had been calling her that for months.

So, it isn't that I am afraid that you will steal our favorite name. In my opinion, names are public domain. If you feel like your kid needs to be named Gwen, and your other kid needs to be named Bentley, that is fine by me! Even if you were my sibling and you used the same name, no offense taken. Seriously. I don't know why it is such a big deal, someone somewhere, no matter how creative your parents are, will have your same name. It's okay.

The reason I don't really like to tell people the names we are considering is I am afraid I will respond to their reactions. Say there is a name I really like and they really don't like it, it might make me reconsider using it. For example, I really like the name Hugh for a boy, we didn't use it --- partly because of an overwhelmingly negative vibe when I told people about the name. A few months later someone near and dear mentioned they were considering the name. What the? Had I known that someone else in the universe liked the name I may have been more likely to use it.

Anyway, I am kind of stumped with girl names. When I was pregnant with a boy I thought of how easy it would be to name a girl, now I am kind of in a pickle. It definitely is more fun to name a girl, and since this may be our last child, we should really make it count.

So don't tell me if you hate any of these names, but you could tell me like your top three in order from my choices. And maybe put like four stars if you are totally in love with the name. Or if there is some really cool girl name out there that you think I should know about you could list it too. And I might throw in some random names that I don't really like in here, just for kicks. Okay. Here we go....

Ivy
Gretchen
Paige
Marlow
Bailey
Millie (Amelia)
Josie
Bruhmhilda
Lucy
Lydia
Tru
Marla


Top three please...and no sassy remarks ( Ralphie ). Thanks.

33 comments:

Julie said...

I LOVE the name Paige. But when I was pregnant with Katie and we were talking names, Jeff refused because he didn't want our daughter to be PP. (Paige Pack) He didn't like the pee-pee resemblence. So that's my first choice by far! My next favorite is Lucy and then it's a tie between Lydia and Bailey. There's my two cents!

Ralphie said...

You have to got be kidding me! You give me a list like that and I can't make ridiculously witty comments?

I seriously can't tell you my favorites because those are what I want to name and/or have named my children.

But what about Jaguar? You could use that name.

Janae said...

# 1 Gretchen- I think it goes great with Gwen
# 2 Josie- really like it, but would she get called Josie Grosie? (think never been kissed)
#3 Millie-only just name her Millie not Amelia.
Good luck!

Jan said...

Well speaking as a grandmother, I'm all for Bruhmhilda, you have a grandmother with the middle name of Matilda, so that kind of rhymes don't ya think? (btw, I'm just kidding)

The only persons opinion I cared about when I was naming our children was Dads, after all they were his children too, so it's only right he should have had a say, that's why you are named "Kristi" instead of "Carrie"

Love ya, MOM

TheMoncurs said...

I LOVE the name Marlow. I knew a girl up at BYU named Marlow and pretty much had name jealousy from the first moment I met her. It's unique without being unheard of. It also feels kind of old Hollywood to me (like Harlow, which also is an AWESOME name. Except for how it's almost Harlot).

Kayla is an excellent name..

Kristi said...

Trust me mom, no one is happier about that than I am.

Though I remember as a kid I really wished you would have gone the Carrie route. Weird.

Alison K. said...

I love the name Marlow too.. I agree that Gretchen goes well with gwen. I think Bailey is too close to Bentley. I get kind of obsessed about weather or not the names 'go' together when we do our naming. Since we opted for Edward first we pretty much have to stick with english royal names from here on out!

JoAnna said...

Ivy, Gretchen, and Paige!! lOVE LOVE LOVE those all the same. i love the names Lucy and Lydia but for your family, the first three I listed seem to fit best.
BTW, i've been thinking lately how cute the name Hugh is. Funny!

Liz Applegate said...

I'm with Alison. I think you should go English Royal names -- like, say, hmmmm, Oh I know one -- Elizabeth. What a great name! And we all know you adore EVERY Elizabeth you have ever met! :D

I do have to say, as cute as the "goes together" is -- it will confuse for the rest of your days. Poor Chelsea is always Ashley and vice versa. I never really had that problem with Joseph and Tanner -- Just ChelSEE and AshLEE. Grr. They hear it so much that the other day I called Ashley by her sister's name and without thinking she said, "Mom, I'm Chelsea!" To which she quickly corrected herself.

Now having said ALL of that -- I think whatever you name your child they grow into it. We named Tanner, "Tanner" instead of Taylor (a very popular name at the time). Right now the thought of having named Tanner Taylor is almost laughable (however, Tanner is FAR from Tan-ner. Our neighbor said it best, "Tanner than WHAT?!") Still love him though and he wouldn't be anything else. I think you could name her ROCK or GRASS and she would grow into it. Love ya Kris...

Kristi said...

Funny you should mention that Liz because in junior high I really really thought the coolest name ever would be River. My cousin actually named his daughter River, and I do like it but I don't know if I could pull it off. I also think August is good, but since I don't predict my daughter growing up to be a beekeeper it may not work ; )

Kristi said...

And it must be said that it is a good thing that Ralphie can bake because otherwise all she is good for is a good sassing, even when requested to not sass, she sasses away. The nerve.

Jan said...

Carrie was the Name of your Great Great Grandmother Genessy, on your Dads side of the family, Dad was all for it almost until the day you were born, then he asked if I would mind if the girl name we picked could be Kristi, He said he really liked that name, I've been trying to find out for over 40 years if that was an old girlfriends name, but he won't tell me, sighhhhhhhh

Strong Family - said...

1 - Paige
2 - Josie
3 - Lucy (my best friend in Tucson named her son Zach 4 months after my Zach was born...they loved having the same name!)

simple mom/wife said...

My vote . . . Lydia, or Gretchen. Maybe because they are on my list. Grace, elegance, intelligence all come to mind when they roll off your tongue.

G said...

I think more of my friends should consider using my name so that I can read everyone rave about it! I am feeling pretty good about my name now :)

Really though, I'll give you my top 3 AFTER Gretchen because I suspect I'm a little biased. (BTW, I have always LOVED being named Gretchen. No complaints!)

#1 Lydia
#2 Lucy
#3 Tie between Ivy and Millie (I REALLY like Amelia even though I know you'd probably never actually call her that)

Laurie said...

My favorite is definitely Gretchen. Or Gretta.
I'm glad we're not the kind of friends where we'd get offended that you're not naming your kid after me. Because truly, I've always hated my name. Luckily your friend Gretchen doesn't. Maybe it's a sign....

Andrea L. said...

1- Amelia
2- Marlow
3- Lucy

I really don't know why you care what other people think - once you name her, nobody is going to tell you how much they hate the name (at least I hope they wouldn't!). I'm sure you and Blaine will come up with something in the time you have left :). We were not even sure on the boys until after they were born. We wanted to see them first and then decide on some names that we had narrowed it down to. Good luck!

julianne orth said...

I like paige too, plus paige davis on trading spaces is so dang cute! I hate picking names... just remember if you give your kid an odd name they will either be so cool that everyone loves them, or they will be a complete nerd- no in between... But i am sure they would be so cool though so name them what you want. by the way i love both Gwen and Bentley, I wish i would have thought of bently- so cute :)

julianne orth said...

Oh by the way.. I thought you had your baby when i saw that picture- when are you due??

kateworthi said...

I like Ivy and Gretchen. Both are so cute. My only problem is that I like a short nickname, and saying, "Come 'ere GRETCH!" Just doesn't have quite the grace of Gretchen... Just my 2 cents.

Oh yeah, and how could I forget Brumhilda?

Sarah said...

1. Amelia (Millie)
2. Ivy (One of Adam Schlessinger's band's names, btw)
3. Lucy (But we all know that one is already taken...)

Unknown said...

What about the name Grettle. I think it is so cute. Grettle and Gwen.

Shauna said...

Paige, Bailey, Lucy. Those are my three. I have no reasons, just they sounded good in the moment.

Sheyenne said...

Really like Ivy and Marlow. Marla is 3rd for me. Lydia makes me think of the lady in Beetlejuice.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Lucy has been one of my favs for a while, and I thought I was being really unique in digging up that name from the past that nobody uses anymore. Also love Ivy, and I think Marlow Bassett has a nice ring. My short-list for girl names is:

Eden ("Edie")
Noelle
Grace ("Gracie")
Lyla
Lucy

Those are the top ones right now, and I could really use all of them if I ever had 5 more girls. Boy names are really tough for me. I got nothin.

But I'm with you: names are public domain. None of this name-claiming business, especially in big families, making like 60 names suddenly off-limits. Amen.

Thora said...

Remember me? Your lurker in Oxford? I'm your lurker in Ohio now. Anywho....

I like Lucy. I also like the variation on it, Lucia. I named my daughter Lydia, so clearly I like that name too. I like Ivy as well. As far as random names you asked for, I love the names:
Elaine
Eleanora
Adela
Ariana
Arabella
Mirabelle
Adelaide

I love names that were popular a century ago, and that bring to mind English Gardens (I'm not sure why; none of these are flower names...)

SJ said...

Ivy and Marlow are adorable. Bailey is cute, but becoming way to common. I would suggest Sadie (my favorite girls name, but beware, as it tends to be a favorite name of dog owners as well).

By the way, this is Sarah from high school. I love your blog and hope you don't mind that I read it!

Stef Bassett said...

Kris, love Lucy, Ivy and Millie, glad to check out your blog, sorry it has taken me so long!

Marcie said...

Of course I love Paige because I have a niece named Paige... we end up calling her Paigie. She is a doll.

so its

Paige-
Ivy-
Gretchen-

those are my picks.

And for your moms reading eyes, my dad DID name me after one of his old GIRLFRIENDS. I was just Leona for 9 months..then at the last second they named me Marcie Leona. :)

Vee said...

I love..
Ivy
Lydia
Gretchen.

We seriously considered using the names Ivy and Gretchen at one time or the other. And I have an adorable/smart little cousin named Lydia. Good luck with the name thing. That's always been a hard thing for me.

RyanNordgren said...

Is it too late to comment on this?? I think that Ryan is a great name for a girl. It never worked for Julie and I for obvious reasons, but I really like it. Ryan Bassett.

Robin said...

I just love the way that Lydia Bassett sounds together, so if you don't end up naming your daughter Lydia, I hope you don't mind if I call her that anyway.

For #2 and #3, hmmm...I am not as decided. My votes will go to Lucy and Paige.

Aimee said...

Millie, Lydia, Lucy, and Ivy.