What's In a Name?

Image from www.babynamewizard.com.

If you haven't heard yet, our second born is named Jude Edward.  The Jude part was easy.  It's been my favorite names for a while now.  I started liking it at some point in college, it may have been during my semester in Oxford, when I lived right down the road from a pub called "Jude the Obscure" based on the book by Thomas Hardy.  We ended up going with Jack for our firstborn since that was Jon's favorite.  And I'm glad we did because Jack is definitely a "Jack" and Jude is most certainly a "Jude."

Image from www.babynamewizard.com.

I've gotten quiet a few comments on his name lately, especially from the nurses in the hospital and at Jude's check-ups.  A few people have asked if he's named after the actor, Jude Law.  Um, no.  And a couple other's have mentioned the Beatles song.  Nope, not named after that either, although I do sing it to him occasionally.  There is the book of Jude in the Bible, which I happen to like, and not just because it's short.  But the real reason he's named Jude is just because we like it.

Image from www.babynamewizard.com.

The name Jude, of Hebrew origins, means "praise; thanks."  We are very thankful for our amazing little guy, not to mention my fantastic pregnancy and delivery.  So I think the title is very apropros.  Jack's name means "God's gracious gift."  I talked before about the theme of grace all through my Jack-pregnancy, but I think it's resurfacing again during this time of transition.  Both Jon and I are extremely thankful that Jude was our second child and have really sensed the grace of God as we've been dealing with Jack these past two weeks.  So far, both my boys are living up to their names. :)

Choosing Jude's middle name was a bit more of a challenge.  I was originally pulling for Elliot or Quincy, but Jon prefers to give a nod towards family heritage.  And I can see why, especially since Jack's middle name, and all of Jack's and Jude's cousins middle names, are after family members.  This is not as easy as it sounds.  No offense to members of my family, but there aren't a lot of great names on our tree.  We kept coming back to my Pappy's name - Edward, which means "wealthy guardian" (so I'm thinkin' Jude will be taking care of his parents in the distant future).  It reminds me of England and one of my favorite movies, "Sense and Sensibility."  I prefer their pronunciation too - "Ed-wahd." 

We grew up just a few houses down from my Ma and Pappy and would spend a lot of time at their house.  Ma would play games with us and give us lots of candy, and Pappy would take us for lawnmower rides or load us in the back of his truck for day trips to the cabin.  He was a great mechanic (I could have used his expertise on more than one occasion), a fantastic gardener (if he was still alive I'd be inviting him down to our new house to help me start a garden!), extremely patient (he would answer all of our "Why Pappy, whyyy?" questions, loved lima beans (which Jack and I eat several times a week right now!) and was an excellent napper (we're hoping this mantle has been passed on to Jude).  I also happen to think he was pretty handsome as a young lad, just like his great-grandsons have already proven to be.

Pappy also grew up in a house full of boys, if only he were still alive, I'm sure he could give me a good idea of what's going to be taking place in our house over the coming years.  Although I'm sure he'd just shake his head and chuckle like he used to when my brothers and I would get a little "out of hand."  Unfortunately, Pappy never met either of my sons, nor was he ever introduced to my incredible husband, but I'm pretty sure he would have loved all three!