What's in a Name?

I am 29 1/2 weeks pregnant...at this stage, every little bit counts.  That means we only have 10 1/2 weeks to go, and the baby still doesn't have a name.  I would really like to start referring to the baby with a name.  So, I am posting a poll on the blog where you can vote on your favorite name out of our top choices.  I can't promise that we'll use the winner, but it would be nice to gets some input from other people.  Let me give you a little background first.

The name needs to sound good with Aidan and Ella.  I also place a high importance on the meaning of names.  I don't know why, but it's important to me.  Aidan means fire, and Ella means torch.  Mark and I like the name Anna, because we feel it has a lot of family significance.  The baby's grandmothers are Anita (a form of Ann) and Nanci (which shares the same root as Anna).  All three names mean gracious.  Mark had a great-grandmother named Anna, and I had a really sweet aunt named Ann.  So, there's lots of family tie in with this name.  The downside?  Aidan hates it.

Our next choice is Kate.  We like the name Kate.  Aidan and Ella both want to name the baby Kate.  But, for some reason we hesitate to give the baby a one syllable first name.  Probably because we're so used to 2 syllables with Aidan and Ella, it just seems awkward.  Although, Mark is a one syllable name, and that seems to have worked out fine!  We like Kate, but not Catherine.  We've considered spelling it with a C, just to be different, and because my great grandmother's maiden name was Cates.  Kate or Cate means pure.

One of our middle name choices is Sophia.  It means wise.  I love this name.  Mark likes it too, but thinks it falls on the "fancy" side and he prefers "cute" over "fancy."

So, that's where we are in the baby naming process.  We can't seem to commit to any of these choices.  It's hard because I loved Ella's name from the beginning.  This time I can't find something that I am as committed to as I was to her name.  So, please look in the right margin and cast your vote...the more votes the better.  Anyone can vote.  If you vote for one of the options with "Kate" please leave me a comment saying if you would spell it with a K or a C.  If you have a great name option that we haven't thought of, we'd love to hear that too.

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