The Name Game

Last week I posted on my parenting facebook page, Little Lives ((www.facebook.com/lifewithlittlelang)), asking people to tell me about how they named their child. I gave a quick overview of how we wanted our son to have a musical name and added a list of names we were considering. Then I stated when he was born my husband turned to me and said "Vedder," after Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam, and that was it. His name is Vedder Ron. Ron after my papa.

But so much more goes into naming a child than just saying "I like this name" or "Let's name him after this family member/musician/influential figure." While I was pregnant, when ever people asked if we had a name picked out I would always say, "We have a few, but we're waiting to see him to decide a definite." Which was true. But really I wanted to say, "I have no clue and I'm putting it off until he is born because I cannot decide what to name him because no matter what I pick he will be stuck with it for the rest of his life and I am not sure I can handle such a crazy responsibility!" Yes, that long run-on sentence was exactly what was going through my mind every time some one asked. And yes, I do know that the actual parenting and raising a child is a much bigger responsibility, but for some reason I was more understanding of that than I was of picking a name. I couldn't get over the fact that I was naming a HUMAN!

And public opinion did not help at all. When people would ask about names would we're contemplating, the looks we would get after we told them were, for the majority, puzzled. Michael and I had chosen names like Harrison, Lennon, Vedder, Hendrix, and Bohnam. All, of course, after very influential and amazing musical artists. We decided early on we wanted our child to have a different name. My husband, Michael, and I, Caitlin, have very common names. As individuals we do not find ourselves so "common." Music has been a big part of both of our lives and we wanted to incorporate that somehow in the name. Everyone had their opinion of course, which doesn't make the task of naming a human any easier! Many people thought our son's name should have been Michael, after my husband of course, and my father. Michael and I nipped that one in the bud real quick. We both new we wanted him to come into this world his own person. So chosing a last name from someone influential seemed to be fun, different, and unique.

While we had a list of names, we also had our own favorites. Michael loved Vedder from the beginning, and mine was Hendrix. Cobain was another choice we had, being my husband's musical idol, but then comes the explaining to the child how his name came about and who we named him after. Vedder is a very distinct name. It is actually not even Eddie Vedder's real last name. It is his mother's maiden name that he took on. Eddie as a musician and philanthropist is something I can proudly say I support. Standing up for human rights, against odds and voicing his opinion very publicly, but also peacefully, is very much like myself. His screaming Rock'n'Roll heart, well that is my husband. So in the end naming him something different was more a part of us than we originally thought.

...And his middle name, Ron, after my papa... Well that is a whole other blog post in itself. Let's just say if Vedder even has half the heart and spirit my papa did, he will one day change this world as we know it.