What's in a name?

How did you get your name? Is there a story, or did your parents just like a name and gave it to you?

I personally have had my children's names picked out since I was a little girl. I never thought they would change. Even before marrying Justin I told him all of them so he could get used to them. Poor guy didn't have a say. But than one day I was sitting in sacrament meeting and heard a boys name that I absolutely fell in love with. Which means one more name to add to my list. When we found out we were pregnant I just knew all the names I had picked out were not going to be used to name this child. Oh boy, what disappointment. So I had to start searching. We decided if it was a girl we would use Britni, my sister's name that died shortly after birth. From there we didn't know whether it would be a middle name or a first name. I picked some favorites and shared them with Justin. Some he liked, and some he didn't. Sometimes I wondered why I gave him the option to help because before when I had my childhood names there was no changing my mind. It just makes it so much more complicated to add a spouse in helping to make the decision. It's hard enough with just me. OPINIONS...sometimes it's good to share them and sometimes it just makes life so much more complicated, sometimes in a good way and sometimes not. But I do have to admit it is fun to look through baby name books. There are some INTERESTING ones out there. I am glad Justin helped pick the name though, really it can't just be left up to me. :)

After months and months of searching and discussing we finally got Britlee's name down to a list of TWO!! YAY, we felt so proud. Justin was going crazy not having a name and I just kept saying well we gotta wait and see her to officially decide. Thank goodness Justin is patient and loves me or I think he would have strangled me. Ok not really but you know what I mean. People kept asking us her name and I think Justin was tempted to just say the one he liked and that would be that. But thank goodness he didn't because just a month or so before Britlee was born my sister in law mentioned Britlee to us again and of course we fell in love. The first time we heard it we liked it but somehow it didn't make it to the top 5 or whatever list we had going. So after that a long discussion took place and we added it to the top two! YAY for us, it really felt like an accomplishment to have two names we both loved and agreed upon. So the next step was just waiting until we saw our bundle of joy to decide on the official name. That day did come and still I was so unsure. I loved both names and I didn't want her to have the wrong one. So it took us a couple days in the hospital, but now Britlee is Britlee forever! And we LOVE it! It fits her so well...I think anyways.

So to end the suspense of whether Britlee's name has meaning, I know you were all just sitting on the edge of your seats wondering, I have to say YES it sure does. Her whole name is filled with meaning! It is also made up, so it is very unique to us. Though I have to admit we were not the ones to make up Britlee's name, it was her Uncle Ryan and Aunt Karen. They are so creative :)

So now I will tell you where Britlee Rayne came from.
I have a sister, Britni, that died shortly after birth and since I was having a girl and she was due the same month my sister was due I thought it would be kinda cool to name my baby after my sister. It took a long time to decide whether Britni would be the first name or the middle name. We tossed lots of ideas around. Ryan suggested Britlee--Britni and Lee combined. So Britlee is named after her aunt and her grandma! Lee is my mother's middle name. Pretty neat if you ask me :)
Rayne is a combination of my Grandma's middle name and Justin's grandpa's name. RA is from Rae (my grandma's middle name) and AYNE is from Wayne (Justin's grandpa's name).
Ryan came up with her first name and Karen came up with her middle name. So as you see our baby girl Britlee is super special with a special name and being named by her aunt and uncle. She is one lucky girl.

So what is in your name?