What's in a Name?

Before Luke and I knew we were having a girl, we had been bouncing names around for about a month.  We picked a girl's first name so easily it was almost unreal.  We had multiple girl's names we both agreed upon.

We never did come to an agreement on a boy's name, so I was slightly relieved when we found out the baby was a girl.

Anyway, we had basically landed on a girl's first name the day we found out it was a girl.  Unfortunately, we picked a first name that didn't flow with very many middle names.  I had many middle names that I liked: Jane, Mae, Joy, Grace, Rose.  But none of them sounded good paired with her first name.  

I finally realized that the middle name needed to start with a vowel in order to flow with the first name.  So the morning after our ultrasound, before getting out of bed, I began googling names on  my phone that began with vowels.  I read through page after page.  I narrowed it down to three that sounded pretty, and then googled the name meanings.  Her first name doesn't have much of a meaning, so I wanted her middle name to mean something special.  

As soon as I saw the meaning for one particular name, I knew that had to be it.  Luke and I are so excited about the name, we have decided not to keep it a secret.  We aren't worried about anyone "stealing" it, and we aren't worried about whether other people like it or not, because we love it.  So I'm not going to be mysterious and keep it a secret for 4 more months!  Our baby girl will be named:

Scarlett Elise

We thought of the name Scarlett because one night Luke was joking about how Scarlett would be a nice name for a girl because Ohio State's colors are scarlet and gray.  I of course rolled my eyes and said "no," because I really don't want to name my child after something football-related.  However, when we first started thinking about having a baby years ago, I made a list of my favorite baby names just for fun, and Scarlett was on the list.  So after thinking about it, and making it clear that our child was NOT being named Scarlett because of Ohio State, we both fell in love with the name.  I thought it was okay, because the name is spelled with 2 t's, and the color is spelled with 1.  

The only thing I didn't love about the name was that it didn't really have a special meaning, beyond "red."  So the pressure was on for a middle name.  

As I saw that the meaning of Elise was "consecrated to God,"  I knew that had to be her middle name.  Throughout these past couple of years, I have often thought of the story of Hannah in the Bible, and how she longed for a child but "The Lord had closed her womb."  I felt like I knew just how Hannah felt, longing for a child more than anything else in the world. 

So Hannah went to the temple and prayed for a son.  In return, she promised to give her son back to the Lord.

As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I kept reminding myself that my child is God's child, and He is just entrusting her with me for awhile so I can do my best to teach her about the Lord and train her (and hopefully not screw up too terribly!) until she is old enough to go off on her own, and follow the Lord's calling on her life, no matter what that may be.  Yes, she will be biologically mine.  But ultimately, she is the Lord's child, just in our care for awhile.  

I thought the name Elise not only reflected our yearning for a child like Hannah did, but also the fact that she is promised to God, and we will raise her in a way that hopefully reflects that.  

Scarlett Elise, now that you have a name, it makes it that much harder to wait 4.5 more months to meet you!  I cannot wait to see your face and hold you in my arms!