what's in a name?

please don't judge me. now, i could be the only one (which i HIGHLY doubt), but I already have an idea of what I wanna name my kids. now, of course I can't control the gender, and can more or less control the number of children that I have (though, after awhile, enough is enough), so I may have to come up with a few off the top or just not use a few that I may have been hoping to get to, but let's just say i(we)'ll cross that bridge at that time.

how did i come up with the names? for the most part, i chose first/middle name combos based on what i thought sounded pretty/cool. that's what the celebs do, right? but, to be quite honest, it was never some deep, spiritual search to find as many iterations of "child of God" or "leader of the free world" or "Barack Obama" as I possibly could. i guess it was never that deep for me. until three weeks ago.

when I was home for Thanksgiving, Oluwateniola whisked me away to a baby naming ceremony for the newest bundle of joy to join the family. i learned that there is a Nigerian custom (and I hope I'm not butchering this) that after the 8th or 10th day that a child is born, a ceremony is held in the newborn's honor in order to give him a name. this young lad was surrounded by the greatest commotion and had not the faintest clue. the task at hand was to give him a name steeped in spirituality, something wonderfully auspicious, as a child's name is believed to greatly influence his destiny/path. aware of the importance of this, and clearly wanting this child to be quite jovial, invent the gadget that will usher the ipod to its imminent death, and singlehandledly save the world, all while wearing fly clothes and a sunny disposition, his parents gave him a whopping FIVE names. the only one that my uncivilized tongue could pronounce was David, meaning "beloved". and with five names to guide him through the shambles that is life, I would say that he most certainly is beloved.

then i realized-- i had no clue what any of my unborn kids' names meant. i quickly googled one name and set my bberry down disappointedly. my son's name meant something like "hollow". now, i'm not quite sure what that would mean for his fate, but it doesn't sound too bright. i almost ruined my child's life before he was even born! so, back to the drawing board.

the moral of the story? make sure you consult google before you name your child. and why?

well...

oluwateniola = God has given His honor

adetutu = queen of hearts

mekdes = Holy place; altar

stephanie = crown
alicia = of noble birth

...so what's in a name? apparently everything.