The Name Game

Coming up with a name for our children has always been a daunting task because there are so many factors to take into consideration. First of all, being the second youngest out of eight children, all the "good" names have already been taken by my older siblings when they brought their bundles of joy into the world, so I am left with names like Wilma or Clifford. Another problem of sorts is that while we might really adore a name in English, being a multicultural family, we always need to test out the name in Spanish, just to see if it's acceptable. You might say, well, just teach people the English way to say it. Trust me, there's always someone out there who is going to want to know what the Spanish translation is for Ruphardt, and they are going to want to use it. We really liked Isaac, both Luis and I (which was a miracle in and of itself)...but in Spanish it sounds like EE-sock....no thanks. Another thing we have to consider is Luis's accent. It's still pretty thick for being in this country since 1985, so we have to be careful. I don't want the poor kid to have his or her name mispronounced by his or her own Dad! My poor niece was called Weeny by most Spanish speakers (instead of Whitney) for years, much to her chagrin. One of my all time favorite names is Sarah, after one of the little (not so little anymore) girls that I cared for at the daycare in high school. Being Luis's grandmother was also named Sara, I thought, fate had officially knocked on our door! Unfortunately, most English speakers pronounce our last name wrong, and say Pear-a. Consequently, Sara Pear-a, would cause our child to be the brunt of much taunting, no doubt...and no matter how much you like a name, you just can't do that to a kid! Every once in a while, Luis and I will be sitting on the couch and I'll throw out a name...usually only to have it rejected. Then he'll counter with another name, (usually one of his old girlfriends from grade school) and I'll just roll my eyes. So, the search continues. My friends Phillip and Sarah used to live in Austin, and it got me thinking...hey Austin! Then I said "Austin Parra"out loud...too close to Austin Powers...as funny as Mike Myers is, I don't think so. We could always go redneck with Billy Joe, Anna Sue, or Jim Bob...but we would never be able to travel outside of Hampton County. I really like the name Ashley, but it will forever remind me of our neighbor's child in Arizona who whined at an unusually high pitch and volume. Other names like Kelly, and even Leslie, for that matter which are typically girls names up north, suddenly become boys names down here. I wonder if other families have as hard of a time picking out a name for their children as we do. Maybe we are just making it too hard, and should just pick a name out of a hat or something...