On Choosing Our Children's Names
Growing up I had names that I liked that I would write down in my journal to save for my future kids. Names like, Oliver, Ariana, and Lincoln. Fabian on the other hand hadn’t really thought of names for his future kids other than when Twilight came out, if he had a daughter he wanted to name her Bella.
One day when we were dating Fabian doodled a girl’s name in his snapchat. I saw it and asked him what it was all about and he told me that was the name God gave him for his little girl. Now this was maybe 2 weeks into us dating if that, and I could’ve very easily freaked out that he was thinking about kids already but I took it as God possibly giving us a peek into our future. It at least opened up the door for a conversation about our own names and the meaning behind them.
3 months after we were married I found out that I was pregnant. When we learned it was a boy we started praying about names. Quickly Fabian had a name that he prayed about but also, got some inspiration from the show Sons of Anarchy. Jax: God has been gracious; has shown favor. I loved it, the shortness of it, the meaning, and the uniqueness. His middle names are after two strong men in his life… yes… Jax has two middle names. It was a last minute decision as I was filling out his birth certificate in the hospital. I just felt that Jax Fernando Fabian Vera rolled off the tongue nicely. Fernando is actually my husband’s first name (we just all call him Fabian) and his Dad’s name is Fabian. Since Jax is the first grandson we thought it was appropriate to pass down those names.
When I got pregnant again, finding a name was a little harder. Fabian was so convinced we were having a girl and I kind of just went along with it. We had a name for a girl, so no stressing there until… we popped that balloon and blue confetti flew out! Another boy! We had no name for a boy and at 20 weeks pregnant I started praying. I kept a list of names on my phone that I liked and looked up the meaning to all of them. However each time I shared it with Fabian it just wasn’t sticking. It was kinda like that scene in Friends where Ross and Rachel were trying to name their baby and they both kept saying, “Veto!” to the other’s suggestions. Fabian started to pray harder about names and just like that God gave him a name that we both loved. Leo: Lion; brave people. As for a middle name, we decided to keep the tradition of giving him a name from some strong men in the family, my brother and Cousin. And just like that, Leo Nathaniel Vera was named. It wasn’t until after we named him that Fabian realized that it was another 3 letter boy name!
Both of our boys have lived up to the meaning of their names. Jax has walked with us through several graceful seasons and the overall theme over our family seems to be grace and bravery. Leo came into this world roaring like a lion and the minute he arrived was so brave! Names are important, they last more than a lifetime, they become a part of our legacy. What are your little’s names? Tell me the story of how you named them!