Names! Ahh, they're making me crazy!

When I was growing up and even as recently as a year or two ago, I thought choosing a baby name would be easy. Weew, I was wrong.


Derek and I have gone through so many possibilities, and it's so hard to find something that's just right. Since we're not finding out the baby's gender, it makes things even more complicated. We've tried to manage the madness by keeping a shared Google document that we both can edit. 


Personally, I think it's a pretty hilarious document. We started it off with:

Derek Alexander Ratcliff
Mindy Jo Ratcliff
beget:?

Derek may disagree with this, but I think he's been much more opinionated about boy names. We've agreed very quickly on girl names, but the boy names all either end up being something I don't like or he doesn't like. Better yet, I'll LOVE a name, and he'll respond with something like, "Eh, makes a good middle name, I guess." For example, I absolutely adore the name Sebastian, and Derek says he has "no problem" with it. When I throw it around with a middle name, he swaps them and says, "I think it's better that way." Argh! So frustrating! I had always imagined we'd just be like, "This is it! So easy!" 


Well, we've narrowed our list of about twenty name possibilities down to 5 for a boy and 5 for a girl. We're not finalizing anything until we see the baby since we want to be sure the name suits him or her.


Drum roll please...


For a boy:


Paul; Gregory; Gabriel; Samuel; John. We're thinking Sebastian or Alexander for middle names, or some combination of the first names. Derek's madly in love with Gregory, but I'm not sure. I really like Gabriel, personally, and we do agree on it. 


For a girl:


Edith; Judith; Sarah; Mary-Catherine; Muriel. I really like Rosemary, too. I don't think it makes a good first name because our last name starts with an R. We may go with Louise for the middle name since that was my grandmother Kat's middle name, and I can't think of anyone better to name our baby after. I absolutely adored that woman. However, we'd want it to be right for the first name, too, since it's going to be something she'll have to live with for the rest of her life. 


It changes a lot, and I've tried to consult a lot baby name sites and baby books. The problem with those is that they try to get you to pick popular names, like Aiden. Popular names make me want to puke. Now, you'll see John on the top 20 list and our short list, and that's Derek's doing. He thinks a common name for a boy is a good thing since you want him to have something that's timeless.

On a slightly related note: we had a discussion about whether or not John and Jonathan are related, and it turns out that they aren't at all. Jonathan is really a form of Nathan. Derek jokingly said, "It wasn't St. Jonathan that wrote one of the Gospels." I think John is so common that it's best reserved for a middle name, but Derek doesn't think it makes a good middle name. Any suggestions? 


So, now you've seen what we've been dealing with now for the past couple months. I really thought this would be easy, but weew, buddy, it isn't. 


We're happy to receive input, but remember, Derek and I are both some of the most stubborn people in the world :)