You Are Naming Your Baby….What?

                                                       by Elodia Tate 

A humorous essay reminding you think before naming your baby and then go ahead and name them whatever the heck you want anyway.

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My name is E-l-o-d-i-a.  I wouldn’t make that up.  My mother did, but I wouldn’t. 

People often ask me if I got teased, when I was a child, because of my name.  I tell them “Nope”.  Children didn’t have a problem with my name.  It’s the adults that seem to have a problem.” 

Looking back, I have two theories why I wasn’t teased for my name.  One is that children tease the obvious and they had plenty of material to work with, due to my nose.  Two, they love to rhyme and there are not too many words that rhyme with the name Elodia (E-low-dee-a).  Think about it.  So far, I can only come up with one……..Cambodia.  Trust me, after all the nose jokes “Elodia from Cambodia.” couldn’t’ have hurt my feelings one bit. 

I can remember clearly, telling the teacher my name, on the first day of school, when I was five years old.  She was not as prepared for the first day of kindergarten, as was I.

She should have worn gingham and black patent leather shoes.  They helped. 

She bent down and looked me in the eye and asked “What is your name?”  I said “Elodia.”  She then had this look of sheer horror on her face and she actually jumped backwards.  I might as well have said Lucifer.  Now that I think back, I guess I can understand her position.  Here she was looking at this cute Caucasian, blonde, freckled face, pigtailed little girl (and I was cute) and then hearing this strange and “ethnic” sounding name escape from my lips.  This wasn’t in the teacher’s manual. I could tell.  

She became extremely nervous and said “Well.  We’ll just have to think of something more appropriate to call you.”  Now, can someone tell me what could be more appropriate to call me than my name? 

She pleaded “You must have a nick-name. Don’t you?”  I shook my head “No.”  I wasn’t about to tell her my family called me “Baby Ann”.  Next, I’d be telling her that I sleep with two of my sisters and I still wet the bed.   No, she’ll just have to learn to deal with the cold hard facts.  Hey, I thought I was the one coming to school to learn? 

That was the first of many name adventures to come. 

My name is Spanish.  It sounds more like “E-lo-thee-a” with the accent. Try to imagine Antonio Banderas and how he would sound pronouncing my name. I do it all the time.  Not that he would be, but I can dream. I asked my mother where she got my name and she says she named me after a friend.  Not just any friend, but her best-friend.  However, I am over forty years old and I have yet to meet this friend.  She doesn’t call, she doesn’t write.  I have my suspicions. 

Maybe she gave me a difficult name due to having had a hard time bringing me into this world.  Call me crazy but I asked her and she said I almost killed her.   

I asked about two of my sisters and did she have a hard time birthing them.  She said one labor was only an hour and the other she didn’t even feel a cramp.  She just pushed once and the other babies came out.  Their names are Julie and Cathy.  You decide. 

My name is a great conversation starter.  Here are some of the things people tell me after an introduction and what I am really thinking when I reply to them, politely, with a smile and a nod.  Not too big a smile because I would hate for them to see me gritting my teeth. 

“That is such an interesting name. Where did you get it?” 

Thinking: “Um, Ebay?” 

“Is it a family name?” 

Thinking:  “No, the people in my family…they have other names.” 

“Your name is so pretty.  It sounds so, so melodious.” 

Thinking: “Take the “M” off melodious, you idiot, and you’ll find out why Elodia sounds so melodious.” 

Then there are the funny people who say real slow and with a wave, “Hellllo- to- ya”, and that’s always cute (serious eye rolling going on here).  

It might sound like I am complaining but I honestly LOVE my name.  I can’t imagine having had another one.  Not that I’ve never been called anything else.  I’m sure that’s happened.  Once. 

I wouldn’t trade my name, even if I could find personalized souvenirs while on vacation. 

Because of my name I think I stand out in a crowd and I am remembered.  Oh, never mind that’s my nose again, standing out in the crowd, but it does help me to be remembered.  I think they remember me as the lady that they can’t remember how to say her name.   

My name has given me a voice, as I have learned to tell the stories about my name over and over and over again.  And best of all, it has taught me a sense of humor. 

I now have eight daughters of my own and I have named them all Elodia.  No wait.  I didn’t do that.  George Foreman did that.  No, he didn’t name his daughters Elodia.  He had lots of little George Foreman’s but he added the name “Grill” on the end.  I see them everywhere. 

No, I did the intelligent thing when I named my children.  I gave them all names that start with the letter “D”.  You should hear how smart I sound when I try calling one of them.  I sound like a broken CD player “Da,da,da,da,da,da…….you whatever your name is.  It starts with a “D”. Get over here!” 

To confuse me further, my mother and my sister’s son, lived with us for a short time.  Their names are Dora and Danny.  We just referred to them as “Da-motha” and “Da-nephew”.   

My point is…no matter what you name your child, they may or may not wind up liking their name, but they are still going to wish you had given them a nose job at thirteen.

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Elodia Tate is a best-selling author and professional speaker, and health coach, who is known for using humor & story telling to connect with her audience.  She enjoys speaking to small groups as well as large audiences, and has been labeled as a "Health Activist" for the right to choose your own path to wellness. To contact Elodia visit http://www.elodiatate.com

© Copyright 2004 Elodia Tate all rights reserved. Permission to reprint granted with full article reprint, author credit and a link back to my site, and a bottle of White Zinfendel wouldn’t hurt either.

Scheduling Your Baby Naming Ceremony - the Right Time Makes All the Difference
By Jennifer Cram

If you're at the stage of wanting to organise a naming ceremony for your baby, then you already know that babies have their own schedule, which doesn't always align with yours. At certain times of the day they are more sociable, more alert, and more amenable to the sort of activities a naming ceremony involves. For a baby this means being clean, being rested, and not being hungry.

Your first priority should be to work out the time of the day that your baby will be at his or her social best. This is often mid-morning or early afternoon, but not every baby keeps to the same timetable. So the primary consideration must be choosing a time for the ceremony which fits your individual baby's feeding/sleep schedule.

A namegiving ceremony must always be conducted on "baby time". This means that as well as being scheduled at the best time for the particular baby, there must be enough time to pause the ceremony and tend to the baby's needs (or the needs of another baby present)if the baby needs changing, feeding or generally soothing.

Celebrants also have schedules, and these frequently involve not only time of the day but day of the week. Here in Brisbane mid-afternoon on any Saturday between September and February is peak demand time for weddings (70% of weddings take place on a Saturday), which tends to result in celebrants who also do weddings being heavily booked. By contrast only about 20% of weddings happen on a Sunday, so scheduling your naming ceremony for a Sunday will mean you will have a greater choice of celebrant, and, if you are planning to have the ceremony in a park or other venue apart from your home or the home of a friend or relative, greater choice of venue, too. Scheduling your ceremony in the morning will also give you greater choice than the afternoon.

Other considerations may include

• A significant date. First birthdays are not uncommon, but it could equally well be another day of significance to you.
• The light. In Queensland, for example, the best light for outdoor photographs is the morning, so if you wish to have an outdoor naming photography might be important.
• Heat. The time of the day the area you want to use will be shaded should get priority in the hot weather.
• Work and other commitments of guests and participants, or travel arrangements for far-flung family and friends.
• Your time-line. If you are planning to schedule your ceremony in the near future you have to be far more flexible than if your proposed date for your ceremony is a long time off.

A good celebrant whose schedule fits yours, a relaxed and happy baby, and an environment that is comfortable for all guests, are the ingredients that make for a happy and relaxed ceremony. All it takes is a little bit of juggling.

Jennifer Cram is an accredited General Civil Celebrant based in Brisbane Queensland Australia where she specialises in performing one of a kind Naming Ceremonies as Beautiful as your Baby and other ceremonies. For more information about her naming ceremonies visit her website http://www.jennifercram.com and/or her Baby Naming Blog.

Copyright © 2005 Jennifer Cram. You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Unusual baby boy names and finding exotic and unique baby names can be loads of fun! Rather than giving your baby boy a name like Jacob, John or Harry -- you'd prefer him have one of the more exotic and unique baby names.

There are several ways to find unusual baby boy names. Here are some suggestions:

1. Start with the most popular names being given to baby boys. For parents living in the USA, you can easily find this kind of information by visiting the Social Security Administration's website (click on the link at the bottom of this page to go to the direct link to the SSA baby names search). See which names that are popular are also unusual baby boy names. You can view the most popular names for the past year, boy names given since the year 2000 or by decade in the previous century. It may surprise you how many exotic and unique baby names you can find this way.

2. Look at your own family names and see if using any name combinations create unusual baby names you like. Ask other family members for their suggestions, even invite your friends to give you their opinions. Does a relative have names you like? Do be careful if the names are already used. Ask other family members to be sure your favorite unusual baby names are not given to relatives. It can become confusing in families when two people have the same names.

3. Consider the unusual baby boy names used in the classics. Literary classics are a great source of exotic and unique baby names. Be careful when considering modern names used by this year's top male movie stars. Will that popular actor still be in the headlines 3, 5, 10 or more years from now? By using the classics for possible names, you know that these names have withstood the test of time.

4. Visit your local library or bookstore and browse the pregnancy and parenting sections. You will likely find several books in various price ranges that provide you with many unusual baby boy names to consider.

5. Search for exotic and unique baby names online. There are many baby websites with listings and resources for baby names.

Remember, your child's names will be used their entire life, so think how their names will sound and feel once they are grown. Don't let the joy of their infancy cause you to give them a name that they won't be proud of once they are older. Stay away from funny names. Choose his name carefully, a name that will have meaning and significance to you and your child.

Have fun and enjoy viewing and choosing your child's names. Provide them with unusual baby boy names that will add to their success and happiness in life. Take your time and find names you truly love. You will find at some point, there is no doubt about what your new baby boy names will be. When it happens -- congratulations! Enjoy and celebrate the moment. You'll know it was worth every minute spent looking for unusual baby boy names for that unique and very special person.

Copyright 2005 InfoSearch Publishing

See the Top 100 Baby Names and access the Social Security baby names listings. David Buster is VP of InfoSearch Publishing and the webmaster of http://www.yourdreamloghome.com - visit the website for nursery ideas, decorating ideas in kids bedrooms, playroom design ideas, playroom storage ideas and more.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/