You never know how many enemies you have until it's your turn to name a baby...

I don't remember when exactly in my first pregnancy that the conversation of "What will we name our baby" came up. I do know that it was before we discovered the gender. Our baby was born in December, and we found out on April 18 that I had joined the preggo club, so I imagine that this conversation occurred sometime in the early summer, although it had been brewing in both our minds for a long time. This was the gist of it.

Me: What do you want, a boy or a girl?

Miguel: I really want a daughter. What about you?

Me: I would love to have a daughter, but if we have a son, I have a name picked that is after a very special man that I knew who passed away.

Miguel: Really? What name is that?

Me: Lyles Jonathan. We will call him Lyles Rios. What do you think?

<<INTERJECTION>>: You may be thinking, LYLES??? Really?? Who does that to their kid??? Or you may be thinking, Wow, way to be unique!! Love it! For all inquiring minds, Lyles was the last name of an elderly gentleman from whom when I took art lessons when I was in high school until he died. We shared a birthday, and he became a friend in a time in my life when neither of us had very many friends. I had always hoped to name my son after him.

The conversation continued...

Miguel: It's an ok name.

Me: *sighing in relief that he did not shoot me down*

Miguel: Hey, I want to make you a deal. If you will let me choose the middle name of our first daughter, you can choose her first name, and then name all of our other kids.

Me: (Ecstatically) You have a deal!! What is the name?

<<INTERJECTION>>: I had no clue what name he was going to say, and was not really that worried about it, because I could not pass up a deal that good. You see, I am the type of person who has had LISTS of baby names that I have been adding to and periodically revising from practically the age of eight, so if he was going to hand the job of naming all over to me, I could definitely concur to one middle name, even if it was something absurd that I did not like. And if my daughter did not like it, I could always tell her, "Daddy's idea, not mine!"

Miguel: (With a proud daddy smile) Saory.

I must have blinked. I did not want to belittle a name that was obviously meaningful to him (as was mine), but geez!! Saory? Where could that have come from? Hence my next question:

Me: Where did that come from?

Miguel: (With a bit of a nostalgia mixed with timid excitement) When I was a kid in Mexico, I used to watch this cartoon called Los Caballeros del Zodiaco. There was a Greek goddess on there named Saory, and she has always been my hero. And I want to name my daughter after her.

<<INTERJECTION>>: I know what you may be thinking reading this. Saory? Whaaa?!? Is that Spanish?? Is it pronounced like... SORRY??? Is her daughter going to hate her forever because here in America she will be eternally labeled... SORRY??  Reminded of the huge chip on her shoulder she carries against her wannabe-original parents for branding her as SORRY every time she fills out a form upon which she writes her middle name S-A-O-R-Y?? How do I know that you are thinking this? Because I WAS THINKING IT AT THAT MOMENT!!! What had I just agreed to? Is my child going to have a complex because of her name? Is her middle name going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy about her LIFE?? What child in the universe is cool enough to rock a name like that??

But, alas... This is one of the many quirky reasons that I love my husband. He and I both like weird names. And if he can let me have Lyles, I can let him have Saory. And it would be terrible of me to deny him his lifelong wish of naming his daughter after a Greek goddess on a japanimation cartoon in Mexico. Just the fact that he held on to such a weirdly-inspired name for so long and that he was still so romanced by a cartoon from his childhood was just too dang cute for me to handle. And so, I agreed.

So then, it was up to me to pick her first name. And I had no shortage of options. I then referred to my "list" (he he he.) All the power was in my hands... I had been preparing for this moment my whole life... But then, there was a problem...

Out of all my many, many options for girl names (and there were PLENTY), there was one name that I knew absolutely HAD to be my first daughter's first name, or I would be sorely disappointed. The only thing is, I had already planned to use a middle name with that particular first name. The name was Hadassah Claire. Two names that I absolutely loved. (Hadassah is the Hebrew form of Esther, who was undoubtedly one outstanding female from the Bible, and Claire was UH-MAZINGLY adorable.) Those two names HAD to go together, because my plan was to call her Haddie Claire as a nickname. I had had this list FOREVER, and I just could not budge on this one. Hadassah Claire Rios. Haddie Claire Rios. CRAP!!!!! Why did I agree to Saory when I KNEW she HAD to be Haddie Claire??

But then, like an aura from heaven, I had the perfect solution. Two middle names. Hadassah Claire Saory Rios. We would still be using Saory, but it is not quite as prominent. And I would get my way. And I would be a diplomat, and Miguel would not be crushed. He was a cool guy. I knew he wouldn't have a problem with it. So, I suggested it.

Miguel: (rolling his eyes) That name is too long! And nobody will ever pay attention to 'Saory' because it will be at the end. UGH!!

I honestly could not believe it. How could he not like my idea? Well, I know I had *technically* agreed to it, and *technically* we were still using it, even with the other middle name. And *technically*, he was right that nobody would pay attention to it, but that was kind of my point.

..........Fast forward to August...... Our Gender Reveal Party...... IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

.......And we were still bickering over her name. Neither of us would budge.

......Fast forward to December 15, 2013. Our precious baby girl came, ten days before her due date. The most amazing day of my life was finally here. I was going to be a mom for the first time. It was a glorious day. Twenty-two hours of horrendous labor, which I tried to manage without anesthesia until about 8 cm, at which point my water broke and I LOST IT, and I DEMANDED an epidural. I was gripping the side of the bed screaming that I wanted to die, and my poor Miguel felt so bad because he could not do anything, and he was the one who had talked me out of an epidural in the beginning. All this was then eventually followed by an emergency c-section (after I had completely dilated and tried to push, but she was in distress.) And then, finally, at 4:23 a.m., I beheld my daughter for the first time. I cried as I laid strapped down and immovable on the operating table, as I looked at her gorgeous head of thick black hair, and her perfect face.

They sewed me up and wheeled me on my bed back into the labor and delivery room, where Miguel had been during my operation. He had gone to the nursery to see our new princess for the first time. Tears were streaming down his face. He was one proud new daddy. I was still loopy from the anesthesia, and I smiled a druggy smile and said, "Honey, you did so good during labor!"

He said, "No, honey, you did good!! It was amazing!! You just had our baby!"

And in that surreal moment of awe, the nurse, who was standing nearby with pen and paper in hand, asked us:

"So, what is your daughter's name?"

And at that moment, you can probably guess what I sweetly asked Miguel.

"Honey, can we use two middle names?"

And guess what he said.

"Of course honey." (He's such a good man.)

And thus, our daughter was officially named Hadassah Claire Saory Rios. A Mexican-American baby with a Hebrew first name, a French middle name, and a Japanese middle name.

And then, just when I thought the battle was over, the war had just begun. Miguel and I had conceded to each other, but then the haters began to hate. I got these kind of comments from friends and strangers alike:

"Why did you give your child two middle names? That is so ridiculous."

"What is so wrong with choosing a normal name like Jennifer or Emma or (insert normal name here.) Why did you choose something so weird?"

"Hadassah? Is that a Muslim name?"

"Saory???" (Always accompanied by a look.)

Some people, when I tell them the story of how we got Hadassah's name, quickly appreciate it, but then there were others who were still shaking their heads at us. Oh well. You can't make everybody happy.

While Miguel is still a little bent out of shape that he gave in to two middle names, we love our sweet Haddie. She is now 16 months old. I learned a lot through our first go at naming a baby. It was a fun experience for us. (I think more for me.) :-)

Every parent goes through some questioning when they name their child. Not everybody chooses a name as unconventional as we did, but then some go even weirder. More power to you brave ones!

I hope you have found humor in our story of naming our daughter. It may not make everybody as happy as it makes me, but I love this story, and I love her name. And that is really all that matters. And we still love all our friends who gave us comments or looks. (You're not really our enemies.)

If you have a funny name story you would like to share, feel free to post it in the comments. And remember the old adage, "It takes all kinds (of names) to make the world go 'round!"