FAQs

Q: What are your children’s names?

A: My daughters are Calista Marie “Cali”, and Gracelyn Claire “Gracie”. My son is Gabriel Alexander “Gabe”. No, Gabe and Gracie are not twins. I get that a lot, because of the double G thing, but when I named Gracie I just had to pick Gracelyn even though I already had a G. I just HAD TO. Like, you don’t understand. Naming her Gracelyn was essential to my well-being. All three kids are adopted from China, and I’m getting ready to adopt a fourth boy. Their respective ages are 12, 7, and 9. And I don’t know the new child’s age, but I have a few names picked out. Treydon Samuel, Joseph Daniel, or Kingston Elliott. You can vote on them if you like.

Q: What are your favorite names?

A: Whenever someone asks me this question, it feels like more of a “What’s your philosophy on names?” to me. So my answer would be, I don’t have any favorites. Yes, I feature names on here often, and I like those names, but really, I can’t think of any names I don’t like. Of course, there are a few that bug me for no reason, and even now I don’t understand why. If you want a short list, they are as follows: Amanda, Samantha, Stephanie, and Francesca; Braydon, Jesse, Josiah, and Issac. Now as for names I do like, there are simply to many. I find it limiting when people say they only like unique names or they only like classics, I like to expand myself and get to know many different types of names. So, mostly I like every name except the few that were mentioned, and mostly I can still use them as long as they are in a pretty combination. As for unique names, I’m not sure where the line is drawn for me but the most outrageous ones I would actually use would be Ever, Light, Bliss, Ocean, and of course the obscure oldies like Seraphina. For boys, I think its easier to stick to classics and trendy names, not because I see them as lower or not as good, but because something about a boy’s personality tells me that its harder for a boy to endure a weird name than it is for a girl. A girl named Ever could work that to her advantage, especially if she was pretty and popular, but a boy named Artemisio might have a harder time. Basically, I am very open minded about names and I like most of them. But Pilot Inspektor and Moonunit are a little too much for me. However, I approve of Apple and Petal Blossom. As a parting note to all name nerds: Try to be open minded. Try not to limit yourselves to one style, or turn away from a name just because its weird and not your style. All names were weird and made up once upon a time, so be open to all possibilities and allow names that are different to grow on you.

Q: Why don’t you ever showcase boy names on here? Why are they all girls?

A: To be honest, I haven’t given much thought to boy names. They are not my specialty, I guess you could say. Even when naming my son, his name just sort of came to me and my husband and I just went with it. To me, a little boy doesn’t need a cool, unique, exotic name to live with. Its just harder on them, you know how teenage boys can get. So maybe once in a while, a particular name will appeal to me and I’ll do a feature on it, but right now its the girls that have my attention.