Naming the Next Generation
Giving someone or something a name imposes a great deal of power. Johnny Cashe's 1996 hit song "A Boy Named Sue" explores the power and consequences we parents have on our child just by the name we give them. My niece Stephanie once told me that she learned in her psychology class that if you name your daughters names that end with the sound "ie." you doom them to grow up to be cocktail waitresses (I'd like to clarify that we have Chellie, Stephanie, Stacy, Maggie, Abby, Rylee, and Whitney--and NONE of them are cocktail waitresses--so much for psychology). In October 2011 Conference Elder Ballard reminded us "Each has received a special name chosen by his or her parents, a name to be known by throughout his or her lifetime, distinguishing him or her from anyone else." When we chose names for our children we really didn't consider the magnitude of this responsibility.
Both of our boys carry names that originally belonged to their grandfathers. Both Grandpa Larsen and Grandpa Black were (and are) hard working successful men--great men of faith, honesty, integrity. One of my favorite stories from Church History is told by President George Albert Smith; President Smith had a dream of his grandfather George A. Smith, who had been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a counselor to President Brigham Young. Grandfather Smith, for whom President Smith is named asks him "What have you done with my name."
Conversely, We named Michelle and Stacy names we liked, and Samantha named herself. What if we had named the girls after great women in our lives and ancestry; and if we had, which names would we have picked. Would Michelle be the same awesome woman she is today if we had named her Zoe or Bertha or Arvena? Would Stacy be the great woman she is if we had named her Forest or Elmina or Nina? And why did Samantha chose Samantha and not Eyvonne or Betty or Jane? These names belong to ancestors who were each noble, gracious, righteous, beautiful women and traditional (old fashioned) names are experiencing a resurgence but would our ancestor's names work in today's society? We will never know! So, here is how we chose the names each of our children carry today.
When we were having children we didn't have the luxury of knowing the child's gender months before they arrived. Each time we were expecting a new little addition we chose two names--one masculine, one feminine.
Choosing Keith's name was easy. Keith is named in a name string. Great Grandfather Larsen's name is Linel (lie-nel) John Larsen: his oldest (and only) son, Grandpa Larsen's name is Keith Linel Larsen. I'm not sure where Grandpa and Grandma Larsen found the name Keith but we love it. Keith's oldest son is named Linel John Larsen; so, our oldest son (Keith) was destined to be Keith Linel Larsen (are you seeing a pattern?). Keith kept the tradition going naming his oldest son John Linel Larsen--and so the pattern (only slightly altered) continues.
The name Keith in Scotland means: from the battleground; in Ireland, it means: warrior descending; in Welch, it means: dwells in the woods. Based on where Keith lives today I'm going with the Welch.
When I was a teenager Uncle Ed and Aunt Bernell's granddaughters spent a week with us. Tony and Shelley were delightful and we had a lot of fun playing in the fields and swimming at Saratoga. I loved them both but I was fascinated with Shelley's name. I vowed then and there that if I ever had a daughter I would name her Shelley. When I learned that I was pregnant the first time the first baby implement I bought was a little silver baby spoon engraved with the name Shelley (when Keith was born I put the spoon away). When I was expecting for the second time I pulled the spoon out and prepared to welcome Shelley into our family. Unfortunately, John was teaching Jr. High at the time and his job was to supervise the student body officers. One of the officers was a bit of a handful (understatement) and John refused to name the baby Shelly fearing it would always remind him of his unruly student. We compromised on Michelle. I don't know if the name Michelle grew on me or if it was the association with my Michelle but now I prefer the more formal version of the name. I also shortened the nickname and tweaked the spelling to Chelli to avoid association problems:) I don't know what happened to the spoon. I know that I never used it.
The name Michelle in France means: like God or gift from God; in Hebrew, it means: close to God. We chose well!
We always planned on naming our second son Russell after my dad but we search long and hard for a name that went well with Russell. Every night when John came home from school we would bounce name ideas off of each other. Unfortunately, it seemed that the names John liked I hated and the wonderful names I proposed John hated. One night John proposed the name Steven and I was reminded of a childhood friend of mine named Stephen--I liked the name, I was fascinated by the Biblical spelling of the name, the name went well with Russell and Hurray! It was a name we could agree on. I've been accused of naming Stephen after an old boyfriend but it isn't so. Stephen was a friend NOT a boyfriend, it was the spelling I liked:)
The name Stephen in England means: crown or wreathed; in Greece, it means: crowned one. Awesome name.
When I was expecting Stacy I read a book by a new author. The heroine's name was Stacy and I loved it (the name) instantly. I'm not going to divulge the name of the book or the author because the author graduated quickly from writing clean light romance to all out smut, but I still love the name. When Stacy was about 5 BYU had an awesome runningback named Stacy Corley and I learned that Stacy can be a name for either a boy or a girl; Stacy is the masculine spelling and Stacey is the feminine spelling. Oh well! I still love Stacy's name and the spelling!
The name Stacy in England means resurrection. Perfect!
When I was expecting Samantha I was sure that the baby was a boy and I wanted to name him Michael. John was positive that the baby was a girl and he wanted to name her Wendy. I didn't love the name Wendy but I grudgingly agreed (besides the baby was a boy so I didn't have to worry, a feminine name wasn't required). When Samantha was born we tried calling her Wendy but she put a stop to that immediately! She insisted on being called Samantha (don't ask me how she communicated this--just believe me that she did)! John wasn't sold on Samantha as a name; he argued long and hard for Wendy. Even on the day that he named her John leaned over to me as took Samantha out of my arms to walk up the pulpit and asked with trepidation in his voice, "Are you sure?" Dad (Russell) agreed with John and vowed that he would never call her Samantha! He called her "the baby" for several years but finally discovered what the rest of us had learned long ago that she was a Samantha. We all love the name (and the woman) too!
The name Samantha in Hebrew means: listen to God. How appropriate!
Both of our boys carry names that originally belonged to their grandfathers. Both Grandpa Larsen and Grandpa Black were (and are) hard working successful men--great men of faith, honesty, integrity. One of my favorite stories from Church History is told by President George Albert Smith; President Smith had a dream of his grandfather George A. Smith, who had been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a counselor to President Brigham Young. Grandfather Smith, for whom President Smith is named asks him "What have you done with my name."
Conversely, We named Michelle and Stacy names we liked, and Samantha named herself. What if we had named the girls after great women in our lives and ancestry; and if we had, which names would we have picked. Would Michelle be the same awesome woman she is today if we had named her Zoe or Bertha or Arvena? Would Stacy be the great woman she is if we had named her Forest or Elmina or Nina? And why did Samantha chose Samantha and not Eyvonne or Betty or Jane? These names belong to ancestors who were each noble, gracious, righteous, beautiful women and traditional (old fashioned) names are experiencing a resurgence but would our ancestor's names work in today's society? We will never know! So, here is how we chose the names each of our children carry today.
When we were having children we didn't have the luxury of knowing the child's gender months before they arrived. Each time we were expecting a new little addition we chose two names--one masculine, one feminine.
Choosing Keith's name was easy. Keith is named in a name string. Great Grandfather Larsen's name is Linel (lie-nel) John Larsen: his oldest (and only) son, Grandpa Larsen's name is Keith Linel Larsen. I'm not sure where Grandpa and Grandma Larsen found the name Keith but we love it. Keith's oldest son is named Linel John Larsen; so, our oldest son (Keith) was destined to be Keith Linel Larsen (are you seeing a pattern?). Keith kept the tradition going naming his oldest son John Linel Larsen--and so the pattern (only slightly altered) continues.
The name Keith in Scotland means: from the battleground; in Ireland, it means: warrior descending; in Welch, it means: dwells in the woods. Based on where Keith lives today I'm going with the Welch.
When I was a teenager Uncle Ed and Aunt Bernell's granddaughters spent a week with us. Tony and Shelley were delightful and we had a lot of fun playing in the fields and swimming at Saratoga. I loved them both but I was fascinated with Shelley's name. I vowed then and there that if I ever had a daughter I would name her Shelley. When I learned that I was pregnant the first time the first baby implement I bought was a little silver baby spoon engraved with the name Shelley (when Keith was born I put the spoon away). When I was expecting for the second time I pulled the spoon out and prepared to welcome Shelley into our family. Unfortunately, John was teaching Jr. High at the time and his job was to supervise the student body officers. One of the officers was a bit of a handful (understatement) and John refused to name the baby Shelly fearing it would always remind him of his unruly student. We compromised on Michelle. I don't know if the name Michelle grew on me or if it was the association with my Michelle but now I prefer the more formal version of the name. I also shortened the nickname and tweaked the spelling to Chelli to avoid association problems:) I don't know what happened to the spoon. I know that I never used it.
The name Michelle in France means: like God or gift from God; in Hebrew, it means: close to God. We chose well!
We always planned on naming our second son Russell after my dad but we search long and hard for a name that went well with Russell. Every night when John came home from school we would bounce name ideas off of each other. Unfortunately, it seemed that the names John liked I hated and the wonderful names I proposed John hated. One night John proposed the name Steven and I was reminded of a childhood friend of mine named Stephen--I liked the name, I was fascinated by the Biblical spelling of the name, the name went well with Russell and Hurray! It was a name we could agree on. I've been accused of naming Stephen after an old boyfriend but it isn't so. Stephen was a friend NOT a boyfriend, it was the spelling I liked:)
The name Stephen in England means: crown or wreathed; in Greece, it means: crowned one. Awesome name.
When I was expecting Stacy I read a book by a new author. The heroine's name was Stacy and I loved it (the name) instantly. I'm not going to divulge the name of the book or the author because the author graduated quickly from writing clean light romance to all out smut, but I still love the name. When Stacy was about 5 BYU had an awesome runningback named Stacy Corley and I learned that Stacy can be a name for either a boy or a girl; Stacy is the masculine spelling and Stacey is the feminine spelling. Oh well! I still love Stacy's name and the spelling!
The name Stacy in England means resurrection. Perfect!
When I was expecting Samantha I was sure that the baby was a boy and I wanted to name him Michael. John was positive that the baby was a girl and he wanted to name her Wendy. I didn't love the name Wendy but I grudgingly agreed (besides the baby was a boy so I didn't have to worry, a feminine name wasn't required). When Samantha was born we tried calling her Wendy but she put a stop to that immediately! She insisted on being called Samantha (don't ask me how she communicated this--just believe me that she did)! John wasn't sold on Samantha as a name; he argued long and hard for Wendy. Even on the day that he named her John leaned over to me as took Samantha out of my arms to walk up the pulpit and asked with trepidation in his voice, "Are you sure?" Dad (Russell) agreed with John and vowed that he would never call her Samantha! He called her "the baby" for several years but finally discovered what the rest of us had learned long ago that she was a Samantha. We all love the name (and the woman) too!
The name Samantha in Hebrew means: listen to God. How appropriate!
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