Inspired by DesignMom’s series of guest posts from other mothers reflecting on their birth experiences, I’d like to open things up here on Appellation Mountain.
Got a tale to tell of how you chose your baby’s name?
Whether your kiddo is just born or has a family of his own, I’m looking for true stories of how readers arrived at a name. The Q’n'A format is fine: What is your child’s name? When did you choose? What were your criteria? Who was involved in the decision? What were the other options? Did the meaning matter? Did you second guess yourself? And, of course, anything else you would like to share.
The Rules:
- You don’t have to reveal your last name, but please plan to share your child’s first and middle names, as well as siblings’ names, if applicable;
- Short is fine, but try to max out around 500 words. Michelle Duggar or Cortney Novogratz, if you’re reading this, you can submit more than one story;
- I won’t edit unless you ask me, but I will proofread for basic grammar;
- Pictures welcome – assuming my limited technological skills can make ‘em post appropriately.
Send your tales to appmtn (at) gmail (dot) com. I’ll probably post them on Saturdays, but if you send in a story, I’ll let you know. And thank you for !
On a slightly different note, I’ve noticed that we have LOTS of new readers. And I’m sure many of you aren’t really interested in chatting. But for one week only – July 12 through 16 – I’m going to try my best to only post names from lurkers, i.e., readers who have never, ever, ever requested a Baby Name of the Day before.
Next Saturday, I’ll post a call for lurkers, and the first five new responses for Baby Names of the Day will be honored, assuming the names have not previously been covered.
What a great idea! I can’t wait to read all the naming stories (and corresponding pictures!). App Mountain just keeps getting better and better! Once I get caught up on schoolwork I’ll send you my story!
That would be great, Lyndsay – thanks!
Seriously, I am laughing my tush off that you’re going to correct the grammar. There are so many comments on here that drive me nuts (all those extraneous apostrophes and “I”s). Good for you. And, oh yeah, I’m curious about all the naming stories. Mine aren’t that interesting, unfortunately.
I seriously considered running submissions unedited, but I think I was born to wield a red pen.
I do promise not to edit for style – it’s not my place to tell someone else’s story. But I will change “their” to “there” and “to” to “too” and … well, you get the idea.
And I’m sure your stories are fascinating. They all are.
Some grammatical rules actually change according to country.Spelling also differentiates. Whenever I’ve spelled it as ‘color’ as opposed to ‘colour’, it got marked as incorrect.I spell & use grammar differently on the net than I do in real life, because I don’t feel like being told that spelt is incorrect, when it is correct. By the way, the double apostrophes aren’t incorrect – it depends on your country’s English rules. So, while we all make mistakes – a lot of people could just be following the rules they were taught OR they using it to help and express the tonal quality of what they mean.
By the way,Abby, this is a BRILLIANT idea !
Thanks, Urban Angel! I do enjoy reading others’ posts with varying versions of English. It’s fascinating.
And actually, I use at least two sets of rules myself – one style for work, one for online, and now that more of my RL work is online, well … it’s incredibly tricky to figure out which set to use. And I freely break rules in both for exactly that reason – tonal quality matters!
I don’t think BrE should be corrected, even using AmE rules. I was referring to pluralizing names by adding an apostrophe: “I’ve known four Nina’s in my life”, for example.
If only my story was halfway interesting; I would send it to you! I’m with photoquilty, though, I love that you’re going to correct the grammar. I make plenty of my own mistakes, but it still drives me crazy to see.
Kayt, don’t sell yourself short. And we all make mistakes. My alumni magazine came out this month with a story that ended “Last sentence deleted.” Oops!
Now that is funny!
This is such a great idea! Sadly, I think I’ve told my [not very interesting] naming story many times in bits and pieces when commenting in the past.
Ah, but it is nice to have it all in one place!
I think this is a great idea! I know it took me a lot of courage to start posting here (I’m painfully shy, even over the Internet! Silly, isn’t it?) but I’m so glad I did. Hopefully this incentive will give people like me the little push they need! If our boy was actually here and named, I’d love to send in a story about him
I actually look forward to what you have to say
Please keep on commenting !
You’re so sweet
Thank you!
This sounds like a great idea, I always find it fascinating to find out how parents got to the name for their children, there’s been a baby boom at my work recently and I love finding out names and why they picked that one in particular, however I think I’m in the same boat as a couple of the previous posters as my stories aren’t at all interesting (at least not in my head anyway
)
Great idea Abby! Can’t wait to hear everyone’s story.
I’m moslty a lurker, but my first notd will be coming soon–really excited for that. If I have time, I will submit my baby naming story–some of you who also go to Elisabeth’s page were a part of it!
In any event, can’t wait to hear everyone’s story!
That’s great, Shelly – I’d love to hear your story!
I’ve commented a few times but mostly, I lurk. I’m really excited about you having guest bloggers and can’t wait to hear all of the naming stories!