The name game

Back when we thought we had things all figured out (HA! Double HA!!) Sean and I worked out a system for naming our new addition. We bought a 60,000 name book, we watched movie credits closely, I would call out names, he would have a chance to veto, and I'd write down the ones that passed. I started a boy list and a girl list and posted them on the fridge. We figured either of us could veto a name at any point for any reason and it would be *poof* gone.

Some of our guidelines:
-It has to start toward the beginning of the alphabet. Sean Sparks spent too much time in the "S" lines and wants to give his kid a chance to move up a little.
- The closer it was to the #1 spot on the Social Security names list, the lower it went on our list.
- More than one syllable. With a one-syllable last name, short first names sound kind of awkward.
- Can't start with the letter S.

I had a boy middle name I really liked, so if it was a boy, we'd use mine, and if it was a girl, he could pick her middle name, and for our next kid we'd switch regardless of gender. Surprisingly, we had a lot of boy's names on our list and a short little roster when it came to the girls. I'd list our favorites, but I know how cool they are and don't want to risk losing them to someone else should we possibly decide for another later down the road. Sorry!

Once we found out we were having twin girls, most of that went out the window. Our girls list suddenly seemed tiny, and now we had to use several of them! We figured out pretty quickly that since our Grandmas had unique names (Bud's mom is Choriene and my mom's mom is Dorene - they rhyme), those would make great middle names. We could acknowledge people that are important to us and the girls would get names that were somewhat matching but less obvious since they don't use the middle names as often. Check!

Early in the process, I liked the name Charlotte. Sean told me later that it is the name of one of his other grandmas (Teri's mom), and we both agreed we liked it. Check!

But for the second first name, we're a little more stuck. We both like the name Natalie, but I don't think it flows well with the name Charlotte. I like the name Kenley, but Sean isn't too fond of it. We're both on the verge of using a veto on each other's names, but we can't seem to figure out a better solution, either.

So, we think they'll be:
Charlotte Dorene Sparks
? Choriene Sparks

We do still have time, but it's quickly pouring out of the hour-glass....