What's in a Name?

Now that Oscar is a week old and the long-awaited secret is out, I wanted to write something about our process in choosing a name.

Customized M&Ms for the name reveal.

 Even before we were pregnant, Alex and I discussed what we'd want our future children to be named. We both hoped for something unique, especially given our common last name, and we also wanted something with meaning. I've always been a firm believer that the middle name is a great opportunity to honor a family member and so we decided that if we were to have a girl, her middle name would be Anne (just like my mom and me) and if we were to have a boy, his middle name would be Kenneth (after Alex's father). Alex has always had a special bond with his dad and we thought that this was a great way to honor him and the rest of his family.

Well, when we found out we were having a boy our next quest was to find a first name that sounded good with Kenneth. We didn't keep the middle name a secret but we definitely wanted one good surprise for delivery day. Right away Alex and I sought out names with literary significance, specifically theatrical names as that encompasses both of our interests. For goodness sakes, our dog's name is Beckett! We contemplated names such as Will (after William Shakespeare) and even Garrick (after David Garrick). Either the names were too out there or too common; after all, what child is going to want to answer to, "Come here, Bertolt!" at the playground? After wracking our brains a bit, we had an epiphany: what about Oscar after Oscar Wilde?

Oscar Wilde's tombstone

Alex at the grave site.

We had visited his grave site in Paris last summer on our belated honeymoon and both of us were inspired by his iconic embodiment of individualism. He was definitely a playwright and person who marched to the beat of his own drum, a characteristic we dearly hope for in our children. It didn't hurt that the name Oscar also resonates the Academy Awards - another interest for us both (more so an obsession with Alex). Lastly, and this realization didn't come until well after we had decided upon the name, Oscar was the name of my great-grandfather who had immigrated from Norway. He was a small business owner and made his way on meager means.

With all of these reasons in mind, we began calling him by his name and continued to do so from week 20 on. Both of us struggled to not name drop in front of anyone else and Alex even slipped up once in front of his Dad, but thankfully it was quiet enough that he didn't hear it. We know that because the name isn't very common, some people may not like it. We've even heard people ask if we got the name from Sesame Street's Oscar the Grouch but we don't really care. We love his name and what it means to us. I cannot wait to share this story with him when he's old enough and I hope that he appreciates a name that is as uniquely wonderful as he is!