How We Named Our Boys

I am not sure how it is for boys, but most girls start thinking about baby names long before they are married, or dating, for that matter!

When we found out we were pregnant with our first son we decided we were NOT going to find out the gender. Pretty quickly we were able to come up with a boy name. We both loved the name "Owen" and it is not overly popular. I have never had a student named "Owen" either which was an added bonus. "Arthur" is a family name on both Mike's side and mine. Mike's grandfather's name was "Arthur" and my great uncle's name was "Arthur". We loved the initials O.A.R because Mike likes kayaking and we also like the band OAR (more so in our younger years than now! ha!). Our girl name was going to be "Olivia", but we were not set on her middle name. It probably would have been "Nora" after Mike's Nan whom he adored. Since we ended up having a boy, we named him

Owen Arthur

I just love that name and I call him by his first and middle name all the time!

When we found out we were pregnant with our second baby, we decided to find out the gender, but before we had the ultrasound we had some names in mind. If it was a girl, we liked "Allison" and "Abigail". We were not going to use "Olivia" since so many of our friends had girls named "Olivia". After a lot of thought, we both agreed her name would be Abigail Grace. We'd call her "Abby Grace". I love girl names that use a first and middle name. "Grace" is not a family name, but a really pretty name. We found out during my ultrasound that we were having another boy. We liked the name "Benjamin" for a boy and that was going to be his name, however friends of ours had a boy a month before us and named their son "Benjamin". Both boys would be in daycare together and possibly the same class at school. So that name was out and we had a month to come up with a new name. Our second choice for a name was "Adam". I really liked that name too. Like "Owen", "Adam" is a strong name and not very popular. Mike kept coming home from work suggesting new names. We also liked the name "Andrew". To be honest, we were still contemplating names up until I delivered him, but "Adam" was always at the top of our list. I had not had an "Adam" in my years of teaching either. Our second son was named

Adam Robert

"Robert" is a very special name because it is Mike's middle name and Mike's dad's first name. His dad is such a kind person and a wonderful dad and grandpa. Mike and Owen really look up to him and I know Adam will too. I also call Adam by his first and middle name a lot. I don't really know why, I just think it sounds cute.

I love that both boys' names start with vowels and are two syllables. Also, you can't shorten them, although we sometimes call Owen "O" or "Owie".

I love my boys so much and love their names too!