Well, our little "L-Belle," "Ladybug," "Lauren Suz,""La," "Lala" is here! We've gotten a lot of questions about her name, which is fun and, of course, expected.It took a long time to finally decide on a name for our sweet girl. We spent about 4-5 hours in the car coming home from Pittsburgh discussing names. There were a few requirements:
1. The name needed to be something classic, traditional, or a name that would "hold up" over time. Nothing "trendy" or too "popular." We didn't want a name on the "top 10 baby name list."
2. It needs to be a good "adult" name. Not just a good "baby" name. Would it be a good name for an adult with a good job, as a wife, etc... If this makes sense at all.
3. We tried for 1 syllable. This wouldn't work. We tried every name!
4. It needs to go well with the name "Claire" obviously. We didn't want their names to have the same letter (Chloe) or rhyme with Claire (Blaire, etc...)
5. The middle name needed to be a family name of some sort, preferably after my mom, because Claire's middle name was after Mark's mom and grandmother (Marie). Our first born was girl, and since Twyla (Mark's mom) had all boys, and really wanted granddaugthers, we wanted to honor her by naming the first granddaugther after her. It has been neat to know that Claire's middle name is after her Grams, who is an excellent example of a Godly, Proverbs 31 woman.
6. We wanted her name to have a good meaning, or at least not a "weird" or "bad" meaning. We really liked the name, Emily, but it meant "rival," and we didn't want our 2nd daughter to rival our first. We also liked Leah, but it meant "weary," and we just didn't want a weakling of a daughter. Ha! So, we also decided that a name that was "neutral" was okay.
7. Pronunciation- it had to be a name most people couple pronounce. I mean, as a teacher, I can't tell you how frustrating it was when names were weird or weird to pronounce. Now, Lauren is often pronounced "Lawren" or sometimes "Lowren." We decided that it wasn't a big deal to us if that particular syllable was said differently. I even asked a few Lauren's how they pronounced their name, and if they cared that other people pronounced it differently. They all said that it didn't seem to matter.
8. A "Good" Student- Okay, so this was my stipulation. No names of former students that drove me nuts. This was easier for girls than boys, but either way, I was a cheer coach, too, so I've had some "sass" and I wanted my daughter's name to have a good taste in my mouth from my teaching days.
9. It needed to be a name that couldn't be shortened. We liked Jillian and Lillian, but we knew people would call her "Jill" or "Lilli" and we just didn't really want that. So, that shortened our list a bit.
10. We had to both agree on the name, and we both had to have a peace about it. :)
So... we decided on her middle name first. Suzin. That is an interesting name, right? It's pronounced, Soo-zine or Soozeen (not soo-san or soo-zen) and it's my mom's name. My mom has been a living example of how faithful the Lord is, and how much he loves us. We have been encouraged so much by mom, especially in the last few years, and we felt like it would be really neat for Lauren to be able to explain her middle name and how it's after her Nana, who loves her and the Lord dearly.
Next, her first name. Man, it was tough. Honestly, it wasn't until around January 5 or so that we decided on her name. We were down to 2 names, and the other name made it on the "Top 10 Girl Names of 2010," and after about 2 weeks of hearing of about 10 baby girls with that name, we decided to go with the name Lauren. We loved the fact that it was a classic name and went with Claire really well. Also, we really like that Claire and Lauren have the same number of letters and so does Marie and Suzin. Symmetry!
Well, that's how her name, Lauren Suzin came to be. Here's hoping she likes her name when she's older. Look at all the thought we put into it. How could she not love it? Well, we love it, and we love her!
