Name Games

I was asked recently why we picked the names Natalie and Vanessa for our girls. I answered honestly, they were the ONLY names both Larry and I agreed on. It was the big argument through both pregnancies for us. When I was expecting Vanessa I would go through book after book and write down names that I liked. Larry would go through my lists and mark off any he didn't like at all. The only one that ever came back unmarked was Vanessa. Natalie was a bit easier if I remember correctly and I just haven't blocked it all out. Natalie is actually my favorite name. I love it. I find it so pretty and feminine. I kind of feel bad for Vanessa, like she got a leftover name. But I really like it too, also very pretty and feminine. And it grows on me more and more every day.

So I got to thinking why I loved those names so much. I really think it all goes back to my name. I have grown to accept and even love my name as I have gotten older. As a child, I really, REALLY didn't like it. Growing up my main goal was to be like everyone else. I didn't want to dress differently, or talk differently, or do my hair differently, or be named differently. I was told it was unique, I just heard DIFFERENT!! My name was constantly misspelled, and more than once I have been called Lori, or my favorite "Low-knee". Why in the hell would Loni be pronounce like that?!?!? But I think the biggest problem I had with my name was that if anyone actually did know anyone named Loni, it was a male. I hated that. "Oh, I used to know a Lonnie! It was an ugly old man though." Gee, great.

So I ended up naming my girls familiar, long, girly-girl names. Not many people mispronounce either name. They are not the most common, popular names now, and I like it that way, but they are not names people have never heard before. They are just two pretty names for two pretty girls!