I think it was the comedienne Rita Rudner who said “I need to have a baby soon before all of the names I’d choose remind me of people I hate.”

When my husband Darrin and I found out we were expecting, we’d spend hours going through baby names trying to find one in each sex we could agree on.

“Sally?” my husband said.

“Mmmm. I don’t think so.” It reminded me of an ex-boyfriend’s mom whose name was Sally.

“I’d like Jon. After my dad. But I have two ex-boyfriends named John, so that’s too weird.”

Then there was the misfortune that could befall our child if the name weren’t a good pairing with our last name which is Butters.

“I like Harrison.”

“Sure, but Harry Butters?”

“There could also be no Marjorie or Milton.”

“Benjamin is nice.”

“Nope. The curious case of Benjamin Butters?”

It went on like this for months.

It’s funny too how people have such strong opinions about YOUR baby’s name. I told someone at work early on one of the names we were considering, and she sneered and strongly encouraged me to keep thinking. Then of course, she offered me some suggestions of names she liked a lot better.

Darrin and I decided that we would keep the name to ourselves until our child was born. That would make it a like-it-or-love-it presentation of our actual baby, who’s name would at that point permanent and non-negotiable.

At work one day a co-worker with whom I wasn’t particularly close came to chat me up on the glory of pregnancy. We compared stories for a while when the conversation went toward the name.

“So, have you picked out a name?”

“Yes, but we’re not going to tell anyone until she’s born.”

“WHAT? Come on, just tell me. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Well, no. And it’s not really about that. It’s just that we found that people had some pretty strong opinions about baby names.”

“Really? Well, seriously, just tell me. Come onnnn.”

“Sorry, but nope.”

She thought for a minute then seemed to accept my answer. Then she added

“Well, as long as it’s not Madison, then I won’t hate it.”

My point exactly.

When we announced our daughter’s birth, and revealed her name as Julia Grace Butters, the reception was warm. We got many, many compliments on the name we’d chosen. Now, I agree, it is classic and beautiful; but does every person who claimed to love the name we chose really love it? Does it matter? No, it really doesn’t. We love it, and that was the point all along.