21 April 2010

about a boy...

when my sonographer told me that lillie was to be a girlie, i almost threw up. i did. because i was not only not planning on babes, i was also not planning on babes of the girlie variety.

to make matters worse, i couldn't even ask her if my future little dude was a little darkie like uncle sugar. i was planning on naming him black patrick, you see. and if she could just let me know if he looked like his thug italian daddy, i would much appreciate it.




ugh. i was also that pregnant girl whose first question to my doctor still turns me pink.

do you have any questions, karey?

i certainly do, doctor. can i jump-rope?

he followed up with a frowny do you jump-rope now?

no, i do not. i answered. but let's say i do. will anyone...fall out?

apparently, those little suckers are really in there. anyway. back to names. it was such a kick in the pants to name mrs. french's bébé bébé don't mean maybe, that amy said we could name her little guy coming in september!

now. if you don't know amy, i'd best describe her as a naughty artist hippie chick who's mad in love with love. she has two boys already, named finnian and blaise, plus a husband named joe. i've written about her before, right here. you love her, too, yes? yes. then let's name a boy.

i will begin by repeating my love for the name hely. pronounced helly. it's one of my most favorite literary character's names ever, but it would also be sort of fun to say all the time in a yell, wouldn't it?




i like old man names that would sound perfect in a back-room poker game. frank and hugh and gus and lou. gimme three, lou.

one of my most loved boys in the entire world is named theodore. my little italian nephew who is not-so-little anymore. theodore is pronounced tayo-door. shortened to theo, which sounds like tayo. but i always think of him in my head as ted.

i like winn because i think it's important for boys and men and everyone, really, to do exactly that. i like tuck because we got married on nantucket. i like cook because i once overheard a chubba-lubba little mom calling her chubba-lubba little guy on the beach cook. it sounded perfect. oh. and i like enzo. always have. and abe, as in lincoln. favorite man ever.




last summer, joe's dad died unexpectedly. i met amy shortly after in chicago as she was on her faraway to be by her joe's side somewhere in the u.k. his name was william.

my final suggestion, then, is william wild. she can call him william when she's super mad or just feeling nostalgic. and she can call him wild the rest of the time. because i imagine he will be.

your turn. want to play again? say yes.

beautiful boy found on kozan's photostream. well worth a long browse.

38 comments:

kathleen said...

festus aka festy. where did i get that? off of my mother's grandmother's birth certificate and her marriage license. love the irish.

emily b. said...

oh karey, you always make my heart happy :) not only do we share a love of jd salinger but also abe lincoln!! i love it :) i did just about every report in school ever on abe lincoln. isn't he just the best?

xo, em

karey m. said...

festus is GENIUS! i bet he'd play rugby and drink loads of beer!

and emily...yes! i cry every time i visit the lincoln memorial. kills me when he said something about people won't remember his words, but people would remember their acts, you know? and here we are, just devouring his brilliant words. i bet he'd blush. i love that man. i do i do.

TWINTALES said...

henry but his nickname would be hank or henny. i can only imagine calling him henry when i'm really, really mad. like hen-REEYYY - come here right now.

and abe - i wrote on my elementary school folder that i love abe lincoln.

true story.

Richie Designs said...

friends of mine have a son Gray.

I also like it spelled Grey because well...I like me a lowercase "e" a lot.

---
My guy? we were talking names one day and he said I've always liked the name Graham.
{gulp}
it always surprises me he thinks of stuff like this.

I like Graham too, but the playground? he would for sure be called cracker.

Rachel said...

We have a family name "Gage" that I'm going to use now that my brother hasn't (it's his middle). I love "Linc" as a nickname for Lincoln. Also, "Liam" as a nickname for William. Oh and I have an obsession with the name Ben. Although I think I want to marry one. :)

Kathryn said...

I love wild west sounding boy names like Emmett and Silas and Wyatt.

Petit Elefant said...

you should be named high priestess of baby naming. love this.

karey m. said...

love henry. and what a cool kid to write i heart abe on your folder!

LOVE graham. love it even more that chris was thinking names, yes?

rachel! i forgot to write that about liam! liam wild. cool, right?

kathryn...yes to the wild west. it just sets them up to be rugged and dirty boys...they make the best men, don't you think?

and my brown-haired girl allison {LOVE the new color!}...if only this were a paying gig. i'd do it all day. wouldn't you? xoxo.

mrs. darling said...

just adore old man names. of course, all little old men make me weepy. i love max. and henry. and jack. and huck, as in huckleberry.

and i love william, because it's my dad's middle name...and i imagine if i ever give birth to a little man he will come out a terrifyingly wild mixture of my father and my husband. oh lord...i'm not entirely sure the world is ready for that.

Shannon said...

Oh name game, my fav. I love a good double name,
Jack Henry, 'cause my great gramma was Henrietta and she made me pinky swear very early in life that I would not name my daughter Henrietta as she did. not. like. it!
I also love Sullivan, as it is my family name.
I also recently read a gal naming her boy joy Hamp, think that is pretty cool!

Unknown said...

I so love the name Cyrus. It's a very old name. I first discovered it while working on my grandfather's family tree. But I'm afraid Miley and Billy Ray have tarnished it for me. I can never use it now. I saw the name Silas mentioned aboove, so maybe I can use that instead.

I also love the name Satchel, and I would love to see Atticus make a come back

Robin said...

Oh, such fun!
Well, I am not good at little things like following directions - so last time I listed my fave girl names And my fave boy names too
but I can add to the list, right?
We have a friend named Raines (pronounced Rain) and I love it
Have always loved Ari - but my sister named her dog that so nobody in our fam gets to be an Ari
also love the simplicity of Jake - equally fitting for a spirited little boy or an old man
fun, fun...

Sarah said...

augustus. or auggie for short but i myself am partial to gus.

and lets not forget jasper. jasper booth if you'd like the first and middle.

but little auggie gus gus has me hook.line.and sinker.

while i am at it may i put in a request? in a few years will you all please name my babies??

Heather said...

fabulous post - so lovely to read

jules @ The Diversion Project said...

i'm with allison - you should be printing business cards.

one name i love got scratched from my list when my boys were on their way {we had the right to veto two names off each other's list - when my fave got scratched, should've known it was a bad sign!!! ha}

archie. love it.

but another name that is on my all time top list is tiger.

{{and b.t.w. thanks ever so much for your graceful kirtsy, you rock my round a bout. every time.}}

lovesxx

Sarah said...

Boy names I love:

Luke - my less than creative top pick since I was like 12 years old. I just love the meaning. "Light". Variants like Lucian and Lucas are also up there.

Thomas - my fiance's middle name
Tristan
Liam
Emerson
Preston
Carson
Avery
Camden
Graham
Morgan
Logan
Donovan
Heath
Jackson
Quinton

I also have a family name that I adore. My great uncle's name was Ransom Porter. I adore that name, but we will see how the future hubs feels about a son named Ransom. Lol.

monifree said...

oh, Sarah. I dream of a little auggie. or Peter. Theo. George. or my family name, Freeman. August Freeman. He's wise and kind.

karey--my father is frank allen and brother is frank evan, always going by evan, but he started using frank in college, never correcting the professors. It is him now. I never would have guessed: a college kid named frank, but i think it works from baby frankie to the old man in the poker game.

but for a naughty hippie chick like amy? she could have a Leo, a Rhett, an Ike, a Gordon (oh, old men)...

Miss Nell said...

My boys are Declan and Liam and Karey your description of the name Liam suits my boy to a tee!! I also love the names Evan, Jenson and Tate.

la la Lovely said...

William Wild is so bad {in a a very good way}! Adore it. Me thinks William Wild and Liam Brave would play well together :)
xx trina

Simply Mel {Reverie} said...

Sargent ~ my favorite boys name of all time. In fact, if the crumb would have been a boy, he would be Sargent. After our favorite artist. And we would call him GENT, after my husband's favorite drink on ice ~ Gentleman Jack.

Karey, you ALMOST make me wish for another one just so I could ask you to name him/her. Almost.

dee said...

I can't compete with William Wild. I don't think anyone can. Maybe turn comments off now? You win!

For the girl, I'm still on Francie, the main character from my fave book, from A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. Since I'm quite certain Traci won't follow my suggestion to name HER daughter Francie (Francie French is adorable though...dontcha think?!), I'm passing the name onto Amy:)

I'm going to have to do a Dear Devon and spill the beans on how she got her name. xo

Unknown said...

My brother's name is William and we call him Prince--which he, of course, loves.

My boy is Porter.
I hope the next one is Harrison.

mommaginger.blogspot.com

Melissa de la Fuente said...

Jesus hun....these are all so frickin perfect I cannot think of a single thing to add. Seriously....it I had a boy I would come to you, or just snitch this list. You are brilliant. Have I mentioned that lately? :) Well, you are.
xo
Melis

Unknown said...

Oh oh oh I love this game! I love boy names--big manly, ethnic, call 'em what they are and mean it, names. Like Bruno Sebastian...I mean really, who is gonna mess with a kid named Bruno on the playground? Oh and I love Smith as a first name...I can imagine screaming "Smitty, get down here!!!" up my stairway.

I'm pretty sure William Wild takes the cake though...what a fantastic name!

simplygrove said...

I love boy names! I have so many favorites! I adore every name that you have picked. William!! Amazing. My favorite boy name at the moment is Boston:)

Meander said...

I'm a big fan of Enzo! But William Wild sounds so literary. . .like he's destined to be the next F. Scott Fitzgerald or Ernest Hemingway - which kinda makes me think Fitz or Ernest could be kind of fun too! My vote for the favourite old man name though is gonna have to be Finnegan, love that!
Peace out, I gotta go jump some rope now yo! he he he

tracey said...

Loving all the names that people are coming up with. We've decided to name our son Harrison, and now I'm having trouble with a middle name. The only one I like so far is Fox. Any thoughts?

TSC said...

I write fiction and have spent many hours pondering names--so love these comments! My fav literary character's name is Rourk, my fiance's name is Troy (we've met very few Troy's and I think it's a great name), but my favorite boy names are Jake, Jack and Finn. I know a Jack Finnegan (who, btw, used to date a Molly Malone. I KNOW!) I want to steal his name. I do. I have to say I also love Cher's son's name: Elijah Blue.

karey m. said...

i want to reply to each one of these comments!

brilliant names, you guys! really!

i keep re-reading because there are some stories here and there, aren't there?

gentleman jack. love that. xoxo.

TX Girl said...

I'm partial to Theodore. Actually, I'm in love with a Theodore. He is 2 1/2 yrs old and has wild blond curly locks. You ask him his name and he very quickly, depending on his mood, answers Theodore Halsted or sometimes Teddy. But my favorite is when he calls himself Ted. If she names him Theodore, which she should, I hope he is as awesome as mine.

Elizabeth @claritychaos said...

oh, i can't pass up a post on boy names. :) My three are Owen Ralph, Eli Johan, and Axel Levi. And oh how I'd love to have one more little boy to add to the crew (Ezra maybe?) but my hubby runs far and fast when I mention a fourth. ;)

-elizabeth

krista said...

little darkie. hehe.
i don't have any boy names picked out. isn't that sad?

Maria | Vintage Simple said...

I think I'm going to have to start calling Bill 'William Wild' instead. (I know he'll like it.)

I've always liked the name Miles. And of course, Noah. And Ezra is great.

I love these baby names posts. :)

xoox,
-maria

ZDub said...

You are like a baby naming guru.

I love the name Holden.

Brown Button Trading said...

oh my goodness. love cook. have never thought of it. perfection.

Lennebelle said...

I love all the names (especialy Lou!) and know exactly what you mean with the pokergame room. I called my cat Jack because it made me think of a charming and elegant older man.

Melanie said...

I'm late reading this post since i just found your blog----my man and I are working on getting pregs and if we have a boy he's Wild:)