A Rose By Any Other Name. . .

Hmm, well. Here is a post I am slightly embarrassed to be writing.

Once upon a time, we decided that when we had children, we would call them by pseudonyms on the blog. We got pregnant, we found out it was a girl, and we decided on a name for the blog.

Except, then, within just a few days of her birth, Bart commented on how much he liked the name and. . . perhaps we might use it for another daughter down the road.

“Too late,” I said. “I’m not switching it now.”

But as weeks went by, he kept mentioning it. My mom commented on what a nice name it was. I’d liked the name from the beginning, but hadn’t really considered it for a real-life name, but now every time I wrote it on the blog, I thought about how much I liked it.

And finally, eight weeks after her birth, we decided we needed to make a call one way or the other. If we wanted to keep that name on the table for future daughters, we needed to pull it from the blog and rename our current baby quickly. The longer we waited, the more awkward it would be.

Which is why last night, we spent a long time sitting on the couch and suggesting possible blog names for our little baby.

So, if you’ll all indulge me, here is Ella:

It’s possible, of course, that if we had another daughter we’d choose another name for her, but at least we’ll have the option. And that’s a nice feeling.

You are all good souls to put up with this ridiculousness.

(Now off to edit the last two months worth of posts and hide (but never delete!) your lovely comments on those posts)

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35 Comments

  1. Ok..I'd been resisting since it seemed like so much EFFORT, but since you're doing it, maybe I'll take the plunge and re-name Peanut on the blog. Sort of hate that nickname now.

    Suggestions??

  2. Don't forget to edit your "about me" too! And I know you don't want people to google your daughter's real name here, but I would love to know it.

  3. I'm glad to hear this! Everytime I read that name I kept thinking about it as areal name… and maybe just original enough for you guys to use for someone else. I love it – glad it's on the table for your future daughters.

  4. haha! I am with you…reading your posts I often thought how much I liked the name as well and how cute it was for a little baby girl. So good thinking!

  5. That is a great idea. I do love that name! Also, this makes me wonder how many children you guys would like to have, and how far apart you'd like to have them. Any upcoming posts on family planning?

  6. I think your decision is brilliant. Partly because I thought it was such a great name anyway–pseudonym or real name.

    I am glad that I stuck with an initial. However, I have been thinking that I need an actual name instead of just Baby F. So, I will be posting asking for suggestions. 😉

  7. I can't blame you. It's a cute name that I would use if I could convince my stick in mud husband 🙂 I think you're smart to be so careful. I'd do similar things if my kids didn't have such generic names that I don't really have to worry. (But that's a whole other rant…) I can kind of realte. If you Google my maiden first and last name, I'm all you get. I imagine it's much worse if your first name is even more unique than mine.

    And I think I'm less likely to slip up this way. Her real name and "Ella" remind me enough of each other phonetically that I can almost just tell myself it's a nickname for her real name and always make myself type it. I'm just sorry if I ever type "Ella" now when I'm NOT commenting on the blog 😉

  8. I'm glad I'm too lazy to give Addie a fake name on my blog because what a hassle to rename her. 😉 Seriously though I've LOVED her name since the first time you used it here and I think it will make a really beautiful real name. Hope you have another daughter to use it on!

  9. The editing process is so fun. I decided to go with pseudonyms two years after blogging nonstop about the twins. It took hours to redo it. And even then, I catch myself using their real names anyway.

  10. My girls can't say Ella without adding "of Frell" to the end of it. So to the Band Ralphie family she has suddenly aquired a three word name. And for that, I love her more.

    (NieNie and Chichi and Queen Nana were getting a little silly as well. But what can you when these things just sort of create themselves?)

  11. When I saw Ella I hoped it was from Ella Enchanted. yay! I love that book and am considering naming any potential daughters that myself.

  12. Better now than in a year! The Pirate's name is on my blog if you poke around. And I use their names on facebook and flickr so it's not a huge secret, but then they are fairly common first names so maybe it won't be an issue later.

  13. Oh, I absolutely loved her last name – glad you get to hold onto it for the future. And, as usual – she is adorable!

  14. Well, naturally, I love your new name. I like it so much I think I'll name my first daughter that. Oh, I already did.

    The last couple of weeks I've been pondering switching to pseudonyms on the blog for the kids, but it seems like so much work, since I've been blogging for almost 3 years now. So, much better now that later!

  15. Ahhh, I can breathe a sigh of relief! I was reading your post and was afraid you were going to pseudo-name her Rose. Part of why I love Rose is because it is fairly uncommon but classical at the same time, and I was afraid your loyal followers just might take it up and name their next daughter after you:-)

  16. Not going to lie… it is a good name. So I hope you do use it in the future. Now I am wondering if I want to give our baby a stage name. It really isn't a bad idea! Only I am not as popular as you are so I wonder if it would just be silly of me. Or is it better to just go private? What do you think?

  17. Awesome, I love it. I read this so fast that for a second there I thought you were re-naming her real name. Phew! Her name is so perfect, I'm glad that wasn't the case. 🙂 I love the original pseudonym too… you're right, it would suit a future sister perfectly! Way to go for making the switch. In a few weeks we'll all forget it ever happened, and we'll dote on Ella just the same. 🙂

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