A Name For Baby Girl

Once the ultrasound revealed we were having a baby girl it really only took about a month to settle on a name. We may have chosen one sooner, but life was in the middle of a lot of change and decision making regarding where we would live, so sitting around discussing names with Casey wasn't top priority.

I knew I wanted a beautiful name...not a cute, trendy, Hollywood special one. Even so, for about two days after the gender reveal, we thought we might name her Charlie. I wanted a name for her that would represent strength and grace. I spent some time pouring over lists of girls names from the late 1800's and early 1900's. There was some texting with friends over names I was considering and I do believe Nikki gets the credit for first bringing up the name we ultimately chose.

I knew I wanted to use part of Grandma Moore's name for her, but Lois isn't too appealing. So, each name we tried out we paired with either Ann or Anna. Grandma was legally named Anna Lois at birth. She legally changed her name when she went east to work in Washington D.C., after high school, to Lois Ann. She told me there was a popular girl in her school named Lois and at the time she thought the name Lois was much cooler than Anna. She recently told me she wished she'd never done that and she regretted that it probably upset her mother to do such a thing.

If it sounds like Casey didn't have much dialogue in this baby naming process, that's because he didn't. Guys just aren't fixated on finding the perfect name...mine just wants veto power. He was my sounding board and he got final say, or rather final okay...I really believe he'd let me choose just about any name that I pleased if it stuck around long enough. As cute as Charlie Ann is...I'm glad we walked away from it.

So, what's the name you say?

Eleanor Anne

Eleanor... "From the Old French form of the Occitan name Aliénor. It was first borne by the influential Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was the queen of Louis VII, the king of France, and later Henry II, the king of England. She was named Aenor after her mother, and was called by the Occitan phrase alia Aenor "the other AENOR" in order to distinguish her from her mother. The popularity of the name Eleanor in England during the Middle Ages was due to the fame of Eleanor of Aquitaine, as well as two queens of the following century: Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry III, and Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I. More recently, it was borne by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), the wife of American president Franklin Roosevelt."

Eleanor, the name of queens and a cherished American First Lady, strength indeed. In English the meaning of the name Eleanor is: Shining light.

Anne... "French form of ANNA. In the 13th-century it was imported to England, where it was also commonly spelled Ann. The name was borne by a 17th-century English queen and also by the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (the mother of Queen Elizabeth I), who was eventually beheaded in the Tower of London."

In Hebrew the meaning of the name Anne is: Favor or grace.

Wait, back the truck up. Didn't I just explain we wanted to use Ann as the middle name? Yes, it's true. Grandma Moore's middle name is spelled A-n-n. So, what's with the 'e'?

Leslie Anne Wurdeman Riner is what's with the 'e'. I've written about her before. You can read it here. She was a sweet friend I know from high school, a strong woman full of grace who fought her last fight with cancer on April 20th of 2013 when she left this world and joined Jesus in a celebration of health and healing.

Ellie-girl, that's what I call you, you've got a lot to live up to in your name. I know you'll make your momma proud and when you're older and feeling unsure of who you are I hope you'll lean hard into the name we chose and know you don't have to get everything perfect to be a woman full of strength and grace. A woman full of strength and grace knows how to love fully and forgive others. A woman full of strength and grace knows how to push through hardships, painful as they may be. A woman full of strength and grace finds her identity in a risen Savior, a hope that transcends any awful things endured here on Earth.

Eleanor Anne, you are loved, prayed for, and cherished and you aren't even here for us to hold in our arms yet. We cannot wait to meet you and watch you grow into the beautiful woman you are meant to be!