Whenever out and about, my husband or I are frequently asked how we named our daughters. Their names are not constantly heard (I hope) so I can understand people’s curiosity. A lot of a kiddos’ name has to do with where their parents are in life and mind at the time. Here are our naming stories, if you are curious as well or fixing to name a sweet babe of your own soon!
The inspiration…
When I was pregnant with Waverley we lived in Maryland and were not planning on having a baby anytime soon. Well, as we all know, God or the universe or whatever you believe often has different plans. During this time I met a good friend in a cute town (Bethesda) in Maryland once a month for lunch. One of the streets there was called “Waverley.” It really stuck with me and after accepting that our baby would be a girl, I mentioned it to Nate. We wanted the name to be longer (given our short last name) and feminine (given our masculine last name). I worked in pediatrics in inner-city Baltimore at the time therefore came across a ton of baby names every day. Many were awful! Waverley sounded different without trying too hard, feminine, and flowed well with Frank. I also appreciated the play on water since I am a bonafide child of the water. When I looked it up it was very difficult to find, which I hoped meant it wouldn’t be on Top 10 Baby Name lists anytime soon. It means “meadow of quivering aspens” which is beautiful to me and evokes an image of quiet strength. We chose Marcella as the middle name after my paternal grandmother. Grandma Marcella was the epitome of grace, kindness, intelligence, and generosity. I hope Waverley will be all of these things!
If she were a boy…
I was convinced she was going to be a boy and was really into the last-name first-name thing then. For a boy, we considered Harrison (after Nate’s best friend whose middle name was Harris), Grayson, Hayeson (because I loved the name Hayes but it felt too short), or Hamilton. The middle name would have been James (after my maternal grandfather) or John (after my dad).
Hello my name is not…
We chose Waverley over Lydia (my maternal grandmother’s name), Evelyn (growing too popular for our tastes), and Paisley (eventually realized it is not our style).
Was it easy to decide?
Nate and I agreed fairly amicably on her first name. However, we did have conflicting opinions on her middle name! Finally I proposed this: His last name, my middle name choice. Or, my maiden name (Kowalski) and his middle name choice. That shut things down pretty quickly!:) It was difficult not to name her after Nate’s mom who had passed away, yet I felt very strongly about using Marcella as the middle name. I am glad I held my position because her middle name became even more meaningful a few months after she was born when my dad was diagnosed with cancer. He loved calling her Marcella and always smiled so big when he said it.
Secret or no?
I was so nervous and stressed about this surprise bundle that we kept her name a secret throughout the entire pregnancy. It seemed to be our only semblance of control.
Current nicknames:
Waverley has not been one to like her name shortened. Lately she’ll let us call her Waves. I’ve tried Wavers before but she responds with, “I’m not Wavers, I’m Waverley!” I love that she prefers her full name.
The inspiration…
Magnolia was inspired from a song by our favorite artist, “Magnolia Mountain” by Ryan Adams. We were also still reeling from our trip to France and loved that it is a French name associated with nobility, perseverance, dignity and a love of nature. The first three traits are obviously very important personality characteristics that we hope she’ll develop. And, since we live in Alaska, a love of nature is imperative! Also, to be completely honest, Waverley was very into Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood throughout my pregnancy and I loved his little sister’s name: Margaret. I thought it was adorable but wanted something a bit more unique. Magnolia’s middle name is in honor of her late paternal grandmother, Kristin Lee. (See! It all worked out perfectly.) I was unaware that Fixer Upper was going to blow up as much as it did with a magazine, home goods line, etc, all named Magnolia. I hope this doesn’t mean Magnolia will be the newest trendy name.
If she were a boy…
Again, I totally thought we were having a boy. I even bought blue confetti for a gender reveal. As you may know my dad passed away two years before Magnolia was born. Prior to him passing away I talked to him about having a son. I asked him if he’d prefer a grandson named Hamilton (see above) or Louis, after his maternal grandfather. (Side note: My dad’s name was Leo III and there is now a Leo V– so that name was off the table!) He loved the idea of a baby Louis! We looked through family pictures and talked about his grandfather, the one we all owe credit to for our thick, thick hair. This last conversation felt so monumental that I almost assumed I would have a boy because of it. (Let’s not picture my dad’s spirit hovering around during conception, okay?) As soon as I learned I was pregnant I started calling the baby Louis and talking to “him.” I’d blame cravings on Louis. He was very much a Louis. We still loved the name Hamilton and felt it complemented Waverley well, however, Louis seemed like the natural and honorary choice. John (my dad’s middle name) would have been the middle name.
Hello my name is not…
When we learned we were not going to have a little baby Louis, we went back to the drawing board. Literally. I doodled names all day as Waverley colored. My name in Polish is Lucia (pronounced lu-sha) and that was a front-runner for a while. I felt it honored my dad through our heritage and doesn’t a little Lulu running around sound adorable? We decided it just did not fit with Waverley, though. We went back to Lydia but some friends recently had a baby Lydia and her middle name was Leigh, so we definitely couldn’t do that! I thought Yvette was cute and liked that it was not quite as popular as Evelyn. Nate vetoed Yvette instantly though!
Was it easy to decide?
Nate and I both agreed on Magnolia as our favorite and kept it to ourselves. We felt it complemented Waverley well; they are both 8 letters, feminine, and relatively unique yet still accessible and easy to spell. We presented three choices to Waverley and she chose Magnolia, too. It was settled!
Secret or no?
No! This time we told everyone and anyone who asked. It was fun to talk about her and have everything out in the open. However, I will not forgot the facial expressions of people when we told them. Let’s just say the name had to grow on a few people in the beginning! Fortunately that didn’t sway our choice.
Current nicknames:
We plan to call her Nola rather than Maggie if the full name thing isn’t her thing. However, “Mini” has really stuck as a nickname! I am unsure how long we can appropriately call her that. However, Mini has snowballed into Mini Sis, Mini Mini, Mini Kitty, and Mini Girl.
