What's in a name?

Now that we know we're having a boy, the inevitable next question is, "Have you thought of any names?"

Why yes, yes we have!  In fact, after discussing and praying about names since finding out we were pregnant, we had our boy name pretty much picked out going into the ultrasound.

I would like to introduce you to Liam Roderick Crane.

I think he's waving :)

The middle name was the easiest part--we knew even before we found out we were pregnant again that we wanted to name our next son after Alex's dad.  There are so many reasons... both Alex and I are very traditional (ha! you never would've guessed, would you?) and love the idea of names being passed along in the family, but even more importantly we love Rod/Dad so dearly and respect him so highly that it was pretty much a no-brainer to want to name a child after him.  I know Alex's relationship with his dad has been--and continues to be--so precious and formative in his life. And I am eternally grateful to Rod for the example he has set--and continues to set--for Alex in how to be a husband and a father.  We hope and pray that Liam will learn many things from his Papa: faith, love, service, humor, and many more!

We talked about several first names; it had to have some sort of family and/or religious significance, it had to work with Roderick, and it had to be at least somewhat awful-nickname-resistant. The last criterion was more Alex's than mine; apparently fathers are more aware of what boys are likely to do to each other's names than mothers are.  So, for example, Alex ruled out Isaiah because he would inevitably be called Izzy.  My response: Well, we won't call him Izzy!  (The thought had never occurred to me.)  But apparently other boys would, so that name was out.  I'm still kind of disappointed about that one...

So finally we decided on Liam.  William (of which Liam is a derivative) was the name of my great-great-grandfather on my mother's side, and is also the name of a 12th century English saint known for his gentleness, charity, and kindness to his enemies--so the name has double significance for our family.  If you think of any awful nicknames for Liam, please don't tell us!  There is also a St. Roderick (San Rodrigo) who was martyred in Spain in the 9th century during the persecution of the Christians by the Moors.


Both St. William and St. Roderick were priests... hmmm... :)


(In case you're curious about the story behind our first-born's name, you can find it here.)