The Name Game

Naming Evans was the easiest thing to do EVER. Hubs and I both fell in love with the name before we even knew we were having a girl (like years before, actually!). It's his grandmother's maiden name, and we love her. So obviously it was the perfect choice for our girl. This time around? Picking a name has been really difficult. We had lots of boy names we liked, but when we found out it was another sweet girl, we (mostly Hubby) were stumped. I like unusual names, names that aren't in the top 10 for popularity, and family names that have meaning to me. That makes it way harder I think to land on something you just love. I think I have the name popularity hang up because my name is Ashley. My best friend's name also happens to be? Ashley. We grew up with a thousand other Ashleys. I love my name and wouldn't change it, but I love the uncommon, too. Not so much as I'd name my child Apple or North (hello? no).

With Evans we honored Hubs' side of the family, we also honored that side with our dog, Blakely (after the town Blakely, Georgia, where my father-in-law is from). I thought it was probably time to show some love my family's way.

I've always loved my great grandmother's name, which was Lillie Mae. I also loved the lady behind the name! We all did. She was the sweetest soul you'll ever meet. I feel very fortunate to have known BOTH of my great-grands on my mom's side of the family. My great grandaddy Reggie passed away when I was in middle school, and Lillie Mae when I was a freshman at Carolina. They are the ones that started our family's donuts & money envelopes tradition at Thanksgiving. They both had long and full lives, and I know they'd love to see how big our family has gotten now... cue the music "all because two people fell in love"... it's true. Reggie was stubborn and hard headed but smart and strong. Lillie was kind, sweet, and soft spoken. We joke that when you marry into this family, you get a little bit of both! :) Hubby would probably say I got a little more Reggie than Lillie Mae... HA.

I always thought I'd somehow use the name Lillie or Mae or both if I had a girl.  The problem with having a huge family though? Names get snatched up pretty fast! Someone is ALWAYS pregnant, and names are always grabbed. I have a little cousin named Lily, and also a niece named Lily. I think a third Lillie (even with different spelling) will be too confusing. But, I still love Mae. It's southern, easy to say, and simple. Plus, I don't know a single person named Mae other than my great grand.

So, Mae got put to the top of my list. Hubs still didn't have any names he wanted. He just had several of mine he didn't want- Ainsley, Hadley, Catherine, Rosie, Roswell, Elora, Eden, Eve, Finlay, and Haven all got the NO for one reason or another. Boo!

The only other names we DO agree on? Diane after my mama, and Caroline after our home state (South Carolina).

Some options~~

Mae Caroline (the favorite so far, and call her Mae)... or Caroline Mae (call her Caroline)
Caroline Diane
Mae Diane
Mae Victoria (my dad's grandma's name was Victoria)

So that's where we are right now. We're still calling this baby "Little TBD" for now, although my entire family is already calling her Mae. HAHA! Pretty sure whatever we name her, they'll still call her Mae. Hopefully that makes my Lillie Mae smile down on us all.  <3 <3 <3