"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."

I've been thinking about this Shakespeare quote a lot lately as we've been trying to pick out a name for our new little girl. Most of the time I agree with him-I think about people or things with strange names and feel that it shouldn't limit them-they are more then a title. But  then I think about that what Anne meant when she said "I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet but I couldn't bring myself to believe it. I don't believe a rose would be as nice if it was thistle or a skunk cabbage." I think she makes a good point to-anyone CAN rise above their names, but if I were to name my kid Bruiser or Killer, you gotta admit, before meeting them you may be a little predisposed to not let your kid play with her/him haha.

So ultimately I've decided ideally, it is a combination of the two. We should teach our children that they are more then just a name or a label-that they are wonderful, smart, kind and beautiful regardless of this. But at the same time, we should try to pick out a name that we think would not only suit them if possible, but also give them every advantage in life-a name they can be proud to have.

For this reason, I am going to do a post like this every time we officially have and name a new child. Whether or not our kids love or hate their names, I want them to know why we chose what we did, and the legacy behind them. I hope they will love their names as much as we do, and even if they don't, at least they will know that we did put some thought into it.

So here we go.


Adelaide [Addy] is the name of our first sweet daughter. As everyone knows, Lester and I met, dated and fell in love in high school. Over the years, and the more serious we got about each other, the more we'd imagine our future together. Of course this included children, and we daydreamed about what we would name our kids if the stars aligned and we ended up together [I know, lame mushy stuff right? But there it is!] On the list for girls there was only really one name-Sydney. As the years past, we went our separate ways, grew up some, and eventually reunited. When we finally got to the point where we were married and expecting, we remembered this name. But for some reason, even before she was born, we never felt like this name suited her for some reason. So we went back to the drawing board. We kept running into walls and found that the only two things we agreed on were names that had specific meaning to us, and geographical names of all things. Once we realized this, we came upon Adelaide. It hit both of these criteria and from the second we found it, we felt like it was meant for our growing girl.

Lester grew up in Sydney Australia, and has many fond memories of his life there. But his life as member of our creed was made possible [in part] by the two missionaries who taught his parents the gospel and baptized them. One of them was originally from Adelaide, Australia. Since the two things Lester and I cherish above all are our gospel/religion and our family, we thought Adelaide was a great potential name. It intertwines both of these things perfectly.

This past year, I finally had the chance to meet these men and some of their family members. It was a very special moment all of us. I think especially for my in laws, as they were able to show them their friends the fruits of their labors as young missionaries-a family still deeply rooted in the gospel so many years later, with a grand child named as proof of that. I'm glad Addy can have such a beautiful place to think about when she learns more about her name, but above all that she has such wonderful examples and people to relate to as part of that as well. I hope her personal conversion story will be as beautiful, long lasting and wonderful as all of her ancestors, family and friends are and that she will be happy with the name we picked for her.

We love our Adelaide and from the second we saw her, we knew we were right. That this name was perfectly suited for such a lively, beautiful and unique girl.

So Addy-this is the story of how you got your name. We love you.