- t h e n a m e g a m e -
H A L L E K A Y
At first I was so nervous to share my favourite baby names with Matthew. Would we like the same names? How would we choose? Would we pick the right one?
I was nearly halfway through my pregnancy when we talked about some names he liked, both for girls and boys at this point. And guess what? I actually liked his names!
It was so cute, later I found a small scrap piece of paper he had written them down on at work... Some were a little too trendy but I could tell we were on the same page with our naming styles (is that even a thing?)
After the ultrasound, and our confirmation baby is a GIRL, I shared my names. And wahoo! he liked most of them including my favourite, the one I daydreamed about before we even knew I was pregnant. FYI, it wasn't Halle.
I secretly thought of her as this 'first name' in my head for the next little bit after, and kind of had all along before finding out the sex.
...By the way I shared my favourite boy names with Matthew after too, even though we knew she was a girl. I guess the name excitement had built up inside me and they were "safe" to share now. Ha!
For the next month or so we continued to come up with names. My suggestions seemed to get worse as time went on. I blamed it on the hormones. I was just happy we generally liked the same ones and agreed on my original favourites.
Soon I began to drift away from my 'first name'... It just didn't sound right in my head anymore. And then we both started to favour Halle which had recently made it's way on to our list.
It stuck. We slowly stopped coming up with suggestions and started referring to this as our fav. So for about 3 months she was Halle (Halle Kay to be exact, more on that later...) But it was top secret! Since everyone knew the sex, we wanted her name to be a surprise. I didn't want any judgement or comments and what if we changed our minds? Nobody knew except us.
We kept it hush hush and it felt great to say out loud when she was born.
Halle Kay Carroll.
Of course we got the "like Halle Berry" comments. And to my surprise, a lot of confusion about it being pronounced Hayley/Hailey. (In case you still don't get it, it's HAL-EE, rhymes with Sally.)
The overall feedback was great! All our family liked it. It's the kind of name that people know but don't personally know anyone with the name. Which is exactly what we were going for - something different but not "out there".
As for Kay, her middle name, that comes from my nanny. I'm named Kathleen after my mom's mother. I have always gone by Katie but my nanny often went by Kay. My mom is also named after her grandmother. So, in a way, we are kind of carrying on with family tradition.
Not only did we like the sound, the look and how they went together, I love their meanings.
Halle is Scandonavian and means heroine.
her·o·ine [her-oh-in]
noun
1. a woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for her brave deeds and noble qualities.
Kay is Greek and means rejoice.
re·joice [ri-jois]
verb
1. to be glad; take delight (often followed by in): to rejoice in another's happiness.
verb (used with object)
2. to make joyful; gladden: a song to rejoice the heart.
Overall, it's a positive name that we love and is special for us and so far seems to suit her perfectly.
I was nearly halfway through my pregnancy when we talked about some names he liked, both for girls and boys at this point. And guess what? I actually liked his names!
It was so cute, later I found a small scrap piece of paper he had written them down on at work... Some were a little too trendy but I could tell we were on the same page with our naming styles (is that even a thing?)
After the ultrasound, and our confirmation baby is a GIRL, I shared my names. And wahoo! he liked most of them including my favourite, the one I daydreamed about before we even knew I was pregnant. FYI, it wasn't Halle.
I secretly thought of her as this 'first name' in my head for the next little bit after, and kind of had all along before finding out the sex.
...By the way I shared my favourite boy names with Matthew after too, even though we knew she was a girl. I guess the name excitement had built up inside me and they were "safe" to share now. Ha!
For the next month or so we continued to come up with names. My suggestions seemed to get worse as time went on. I blamed it on the hormones. I was just happy we generally liked the same ones and agreed on my original favourites.
Soon I began to drift away from my 'first name'... It just didn't sound right in my head anymore. And then we both started to favour Halle which had recently made it's way on to our list.
It stuck. We slowly stopped coming up with suggestions and started referring to this as our fav. So for about 3 months she was Halle (Halle Kay to be exact, more on that later...) But it was top secret! Since everyone knew the sex, we wanted her name to be a surprise. I didn't want any judgement or comments and what if we changed our minds? Nobody knew except us.
We kept it hush hush and it felt great to say out loud when she was born.
Halle Kay Carroll.
Of course we got the "like Halle Berry" comments. And to my surprise, a lot of confusion about it being pronounced Hayley/Hailey. (In case you still don't get it, it's HAL-EE, rhymes with Sally.)
The overall feedback was great! All our family liked it. It's the kind of name that people know but don't personally know anyone with the name. Which is exactly what we were going for - something different but not "out there".
As for Kay, her middle name, that comes from my nanny. I'm named Kathleen after my mom's mother. I have always gone by Katie but my nanny often went by Kay. My mom is also named after her grandmother. So, in a way, we are kind of carrying on with family tradition.
Not only did we like the sound, the look and how they went together, I love their meanings.
Halle is Scandonavian and means heroine.
her·o·ine [her-oh-in]
noun
1. a woman of distinguished courage or ability, admired for her brave deeds and noble qualities.
Kay is Greek and means rejoice.
re·joice [ri-jois]
verb
1. to be glad; take delight (often followed by in): to rejoice in another's happiness.
verb (used with object)
2. to make joyful; gladden: a song to rejoice the heart.
Overall, it's a positive name that we love and is special for us and so far seems to suit her perfectly.
