This weekend we went to a friend’s house for brunch. One of the couple’s girlfriends was expecting their first baby, a boy. She wore a bright pink shirt over her round belly.”Have you got a name for her?”I ask them, slicing bagels for her own children. I was.
“I have a short list,” the woman told me. “But she’s waiting to see him before deciding.”
I completely understand. We decided on the name of our first child, Toby, when I was pregnant. I wanted a name that was easy to understand. Have you ever met a hated Toby?When he was born the name suited him and we were off to race.
But for my second baby, I had a list of girl names, but I didn’t know the boy names. And while I had a few names in mind, including Elias, Julian, and Sasha, when the baby was born, he was brooding with a square chin, so a more poetic name didn’t seem to fit. So I went back to brainstorming and came up with ‘Anton’. Now I can’t imagine him having any other name.
what about you? Do you choose (or did you choose) names before they were born or after you met them? Curious…
PS Toby’s birth story and the first time Toby and Anton met (sobbing!). Also why children cover their eyes when they hide.
