Remember my husband? He’s the guy who lovingly supports our fiction aspirations, encourages trips to writing conferences, preaches delightfully quaint parenting advice, and gets constant praise on this blog. Well, forget all that good stuff. Now we’re mad at him.
Get this: Bryan has lost faith in my baby naming abilities. MY abilities! Aren’t I the person whose meanderings about baby names got reprinted on BlogHer and Nameberry? No decent person in his right mind would take away what will likely be my last chance to name a new soul.
Bryan (standing here) says I should at least tell you why he’s lost patience with my baby name “issues.” I’ll try to set the scene for you, which took place in June:
ME: I think we should change Elissa’s name.
HIM: Fine. Let’s do it.
ME: Seriously? She’s two.
HIM: You talked me into her name anyway, and you’re always complaining about people spelling and saying it wrong. We can just call her Rachel. [Rachel is her middle name.]
ME: Too matchy-matchy with Rebecca! [We already had the "you can't have a Rebecca and a Rachel in the same family" argument at the hospital two years earlier.]
HIM: You’re crazy. What else would you change it to?
ME: If we change her name it should at least sound familiar to her. [Much to my dismay, everyone calls her Lissy.]
HIM: Fine. What sounds like Elissa?
ME: Other than Melissa, nothing. But Libby sounds like Lissy and is so much cuter.
HIM: Do whatever you want, but I’m naming the next baby.
ME: You don’t mean that. (He did.)
I went on a baby name bender and stayed up all night Googling how to legally change the name of a minor. I researched any name that sounds like Elissa or Lissy, but had the simplicity of spelling and pronunciation that worked well for Sam and Rebecca. For a good portion of the night I’d settled on Eliza, thinking Eliza & Elissa at least look similar. But then we’d have the “is it E-LEE-za OR E-LIE-za issue.” I decided I loved the name Libby and stayed up all night with excitement.
The next day my friend Jorie and I called Elissa “Libby” throughout a morning play date to see how it felt. It felt weird. And I realized most people would assume her name is Elizabeth. I was done with Libby and the idea of legal name change. Elissa needed a new nickname, that was all. No more Lissy. My friend Nancy S. suggested we call her Ellie. Perfect, I thought. I forced Sam and Rebecca to call her “Ellie” all afternoon. Sam cried. Rebecca requested we change her name to Hula.
And that’s when my baby name bender came to an end. For about a week I tried to get people to say Elissa instead of Lissy. Everyone ignored me. Soon after, not only did I have too much heartburn and back pain to care, but I’d realized our precious little nugget of love is our Elissa and our Lissy (and our Lulu and Lu). I couldn’t imagine calling her anything else.
Now Bryan’s punishing me for terrorizing him and the children on the subject of baby names; he says he won’t listen to my suggestions.
Oddly enough he’ll listen to yours.
People, you have to help me! I want all the names you’ve loved, used, or wished you’d used. Do you like your name? Let’s hear it. Caveat: it must go with Sam, Rebecca, Elissa, and Badzin. And Bryan will never agree to a name without some kind of Jewish/Hebrew undertone. Elissa was a stretch. And yes, I realize neither Bryan nor Nina are Jewish names. Don’t even try to reason with him. It’s a lost cause.
Oh, and for anyone who’s curious, Rebecca thinks Hula would make the perfect name for a new sister. She’s chosen Wally or Poomba for a boy. Sam doesn’t care what we name the baby as long as he gets a brother. And Elissa, that sweet angel girl, is at the stage when she refers to herself in the third person as “Lissy.” There’s no going back now.
WHAT DID WE NAME OUR BABY? Find out in THIS post!
(Photo via Kaylamazing from Photobucket)
Nina (@NinaBadzin)
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Welcome! I am a freelance writer living in Minneapolis with my husband and four children. My essays on parenting, social media etiquette, improving my habits, Jewish life and more have appeared in the Huffington Post, Brain, Child Magazine, The Jewish Daily Forward, Kveller and elsewhere. I'm glad you found your way here!
Funny stuff, Nina! I’ve got nothing in the way of names for you, but I enjoyed the post.
I’m going to give you the advice I give my kids. Name your baby after a deceased relative who was a good fine person. It’s an elevation to their soul and brings protection to your child. I know. I have seven kids and I can testify to the truth of this.
Andy likes Ezekiel or Hezekiah. Zeke Badzin would be cute – and double “z,” though the long form is rather a burden. I liked an earlier post for Leah Rose – that’s lovely. My friend Sue has a Sam and his sisters are Sarah and Ruth (baby Ruth………). Whatever Bryan chooses (w/your approval, right, Bry?) will work. Don’t do what Andy’s aunt did – after his mother gave birth to him, his aunt tried to put “Anthony” on the birth certificate!
This is so hilarious! Loved reading this and thinking about baby names (a great distraction from studying)!
Boy names I love but we couldn’t use: Jonah (too corny when your last name is Fisch) and Caleb (one of my faves but was worried about Dog-Fisch). Fisch is a hard last name- be thankful for Badzin!
Other boy names I love but worried it might be weird to have multiple names from the 12 tribes: Asher, Levi and Simon
Girl names: Lilah/ Leila, Hannah, Avital, Dalia, Abigail
Good luck and I’m eager to see what you choose
Heather! Thanks so much for responding. I totally get how you feel about having another tribe name, as I feel that way about foremothers. (bryan does NOT agree)
Okay, I LOVE Lila and Bryan does not see that as a Jewish name. Thoughts? (So funny re: Jonah Fisch.)
Great post! I’m a friend of a friend who is occasionally pointed to your blog via facebook, and am always happy I followed the link. I’m also obsessed with names (babynamewizard.com anyone?) and my name is…Lissy!
I have mixed feelings about my name. I think it took me until I was 40 to completely own it. But that might say more about me than about my name
Also, I have a 7 year old named Megan who called herself Mimi exclusively between the ages of 18 months and 3 years old. I think her first sentence was “Me no Megan, me Mimi!” But now Mimi has gone the way of milk-y and blank-y and mama, and she has the beautiful big girl name we chose for her. The same might happen for your little Lissy!
I’m so happy to hear from a Lissy! And thank you for the compliment re: the blog. I love what you said about the nickname going the way of “blank-y” etc. Is your full name Lissy? (I hope you don’t think I was insulting the name. It’s just not Elissa’s name. Different first letter and everything. It’s also why I object to Becky or Becca for Rebecca, but don’t mind Sam for Samuel. I like sticking to the first letter we chose!)
A friend just introduced me to your blog, and this was the first post I read. It is hysterical! I especially enjoyed Rebecca’s suggestions.
We named our first son Moshe. No English name, just Moshe. We get a lot of Mosh-EE, and Mosh-Eh (Eh like Canada). So, after all that name mismanagement, we named our second son David Eliezer. We say Duh-vid, but in the non-frum world, we totally say David. Wow, do I like how easy and not confusing it is for people.
On that note, I would vote for the following names:
For a girl: Hannah, Deborah, Sarah, Leah, Maya, Eve, Aviva
For a boy: Benjamin, David, Sam, Aaron, Michael, Nathan, Jonathan
Looking forward to reading more.
Thank you Rivki! I’m so glad you found me. And I found you back on Twitter!
Thanks so much for your suggestions. Yes–the different pronunciation would be confusing. Bryan’s absolutely loves Leah, for example, but I’m a bit concerned about a lifetime of explaining that it’s said LAY-a, not LEE-a. Sigh.
I’m glad, too.
Thanks for finding me on Twitter! I really enjoyed your Twitter posts. A lot. In addition to the Lay-a/Lee-a problem, there’s also the inherent Star Wars association with Lay-a. One of my friends is constantly explaining to people that no, her parents are not Star Wars fans, it’s just the Hebrew pronunciation.
You have a fabulous blog! I want to award you with one of my homemade awards: Beautiful Mommy Writer Blog Award for all the hard work you do!
Go to http://astorybookworld.blogspot.com/p/awards.html and pick up your award.
~Deirdra
Thanks Deirdra!
Nina- before Ella was born, Max thought she should be called Clifford or Yogurt. Both lovely but we settled on Ella.
I love Maya (that would have been Max’s name had he come out the other way)
For a boy- Jacob/Jake Badzin sounds nice but is it weird to have a Rebecca and a Jacob? I also love Ezra but that might be too many Z’s Ezzzzra Badzzzin. (Ella was set to be Jacob Ezra had she come out the other way!) Good luck!
It’s settled–we’re going with Yogurt Badzin. It’s even gender neutral.
As for Jacob, I think it would be weird to have a Jacob and Rachel or a Jacob with a Lead (as he was married to both) but Rebecca . . . well, I guess that was his mother. Anyway, my nephew is Jacob so it’s out. Thanks for visiting the blog, Sue! 
dont tell me that you are really going to name your son? Yogurt. He’ll be the laughing stock of his nursery school class?Dannon or Yoplait? Just imagine the jokes. This is your chance to be a prophetess, to elevate the station of deceased souls in the next world and you’re settling for the name of a sour milk pudding? I don’t get it.
Um, are you serious? No, I am not naming a child yogurt. You must have missed the joke along the way somewhere. My friend was saying that her son wanted to name her 2nd (and a girl) Clifford or Yogurt like my 2nd wants to name the 4th Hula or Wally or Pumba. None are viable options, obviously. Did you read the post?
so give me an F in reading comprehension. As a Mom (I have seven) my best advice is to wait until after the baby is born. You’ll be flooded with inspiration from everything–the time of day, the time of year, the circumstances of the birth, the weekly Torah reading. all of it will lead you to a decision. Anyway good luck and have an easy birth.
Thanks! Your blog is very cool by the way. We keep kosher too and I loved poking around your site.
I wanted to put this here, too, in case you miss it elsewhere:
Oh man, Nina, I did the exact same thing very recently! I called Valo June Vallombrosa for two whole days, then Valentina…. and all with the intention to still *call* her Valo June, but to just have a longer, uber feminine name on her birth certificate? wha? I’m nuts. My husband never went for my nonsense, and I decided that, for me, it had less to do with my daughter’s name (which really is beautiful to me) than my insatiable need to name children!
and here I am plugging my blog for the second day in a row (what are the odds of having my own posts be relevant to the topic here, two days in a row?) but I really think the epic list I just put up at marginamia
might help (you) your husband. You might walk away with an awfully stylish gem of a name or two, which fit stunningly with your kids names…. and maybe even an adorable hand made doll from the Etsy shop I profiled. Hope it helps!
Best of luck to you (and me, I’ll be in the exact same boat with number three!)
-Kristen
Great blog.
We always cared about nicknames too! Caleb Harrison is our son’s name – Cal, for short. He is named for Cal Ripkin, his dad’s favorite baseball player (I know, the real given name is Calvin, but I couldn’t go there). Caleb was one of the two scouts who found Hebron on the journey out of Egypt to Israel. If he had been a girl his name would have been Maya Rose, which is short enough that there is no nickname. Now that is my niece’s name! Our second son is Zachary Lennon. We just liked the name Zach. Both middle names come from Beatles. Don’t know what we would’ve done if there’d be a third or fourth child… not loving Starr or McCartney as middle names.
OH! That’s clever! I like the middle name thing you did there. And yes, I agree, you may have to come up with a new theme for the next round of babies if you have more.
I LOVE Lennon as a middle name. That’s fantastic! And Caleb and Zach are also great. Maybe you could branch out to different music? Marley would be a great middle name
And for a girl Ella Fitzgerald is awesome. Keep up the good work, LOL.
Hi Nina,
I came across your blog through Randy Meyers and other Grub connections (I was in Randy’s workshop with Jenna years when it first began but have since moved away). Anyway, you may have already discovered this but The Baby Name Wizard is brilliant. I actually prefer the book to the online version, though the content may be the same.
Here’s a sort-of review I wrote about it on a blog I contribute to: http://www.mothervoices.com/2011/07/26/book-review-the-baby-name-wizard/
Good luck!
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My name is Rachel (obvious Jewish undertones) I knew sisters Rachel & Rebecca. It does seem to be a rather common pairing. How about Noah, Zeke or Zach? My son’s name is Judah. I LOVE the nickname Jude. I would have just gone with Jude, but we didn’t like ‘Jude Gall’. I’m already calling him by his nickname (he’s 9 months) so he will grow up really going by both. Note: Megan & Mallory are also a common sister pairing- I know THREE sets.
BTW I like Elissa. Both the spelling and sound.
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When I was pregnant I swore by my Jewish baby naming book “Beyond Sarah and Sam.” I also used it to change the names of real people in my memoir and LOVE it because it’s got modern names, baby boomer names, Yiddishe names, Biblical names, Israeli names – really everything, and alphabetized. My children ended up named Daniel Elliot (for his paternal grandparents) and Rachel Kay (for her great aunt and great-grandmother). Good luck!
[...] And did I really let Bryan choose? I did. [...]
[...] And did I really let Bryan choose? I did. [...]
[...] name on Bryan in the first place). I terrorized the family, then settled on leaving her name as is. After all that, Bryan declared he would name our fourth child. Since I’d lost faith in my naming abilities anyway, I agreed to the [...]