With Audrey, it was pretty easy. I was meant to have a girl named after my idol, Audrey Hepburn. That was a guarantee, not open for discussion (but thank GOODNESS Chris was on board, lol.) Her name fits her so well; she's only 4 years old, but she's a classy little lady. She even says things that an older woman would say, like, "Oh, dear!" and "You startled me!" Her name means "noble strength." It fits her well; she's generous, honorable, and incredibly genuine. I love my timeless girl! If she had been a boy, we really liked the name Jack. Therefore, we called her "Jaudrey" for 9 months :)
With Abigail there was more discussion. Chris brought up the name Ben for a boy. While I still liked Jack, I started to like Ben more and more. Easy. With the girl name, not so much. I listed a bunch of names and Chris rated them on a scale from 0-10. I found that list the other day! I had Anna, Annabelle, Jacqueline, Lauren, Olivia, Abigail, Claire, Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Sophia. My favorite was Anna and I fought hard for it, lol. But Christopher's favorite was Abigail. I did like the idea of her having the choice of going by a formal name or a nickname. I was reluctant to give up on Anna, but I did get my Audrey, so it was only fair :) I think Abby's name fits her perfectly. She's ridiculously cute and wonderfully sassy. Her name means "Father's joy" and that is certainly accurate!
With this one, the boy's name was going to stay. I really like Ben much better than Jack. Chris suggested Christopher Jr, but I like having only one Christopher :) So we compromised on Benjamin Christopher. For a girl, I was determined to make him like Anna. This time Audrey put her two cents in; she really wanted to name the baby June! I think she got it from Little Einsteins. I have to say, I did briefly consider it. I thought Anna June would have been perfect! But Chris just could not get on board with Anna. He did, however, like the name Anne. Now, I've always loved the name Annie (ever since watching Father of the Bride to be exact!) So sweet and innocent...and of course I really like that she could have a formal name AND a nickname. Chris wasn't completely sold...he's wanted a Kate for a long time. I do love that name- but we say Audrey Cate a lot, so that didn't really work for me. We tossed around Kaitlyn/Katherine, but I wasn't feeling it. I had already fallen in love with Annie (and since I am so sure we are having a girl I come to think of the baby as Annie a lot!) Anne means "full of grace" and so that pretty much solidified my choice. As for a middle name- that was super hard! We'd already used Catherine (after my MIL) and Mae (after my Nana.) It was difficult to find something that flowed well AND had meaning. None of our family names really worked, so I spent some time testing out some classic, timeless names. I ended up liking Elizabeth the most. It has such a regal sound to it...Princess Anne Elizabeth, lol.
When people ask about our names they (understandably) wonder if we're deliberately going with all 'A' names for our girls, lol. It just happened that way, but I kind of like it :)
So those are the names! Sometimes we refer to the baby as BenAnnie :) I am so excited to see which one it'll be!
