The Perfect Name

When a couple learns they are expecting a baby, one of the very first decisions they begin to consider is what the baby's name will be. And though they have several months to decide, most expectant parents begin the discussion immediately. They scour baby name books. They make lists of potential girls' and boys' names. Some wait until after the mid-pregnancy ultrasound, so they can narrow their search by gender, but most at least consider some possibilities earlier than that.

With our oldest two children, ultrasounds weren't routine, so we didn't know the sex of our babies until they were born. Both times, we went to the hospital prepared with two names. In my first pregnancy, those names were "Luke" and "Shulamith." Most people assumed that we chose Luke after St. Luke from the New Testament, but that is not the case. The truth is (don't laugh) there was a hot actor on my favorite soap opera named Luke Spencer, and that's how I first thought of it. As for Shulamith, on the way home from my first prenatal appointment for Luke, we bought a book of 13,000 unusual baby names, and in the car ride home, I flipped through the pages. At a red light, Gerald glanced over at the book and said, "Shulamith! What a beautiful name. It even means 'peace.'" That was the extent of our discussion. We instantly loved the name. It was decided. Our first girl would be Shulamith. We still love the name to this day, except when a few misguided people try to shorten it.

In less than three years, we had two amazing children, Luke and Shulamith. At some point in there, someone enlightened us to the Biblical significance of these names. Okay, yes, we knew Luke was in the Bible, but we had no idea Shulamith was. Sure enough! Right in Song of Solomon, there she is. Some translations refer to her as "the Shulamite woman," but others use her actual name. Who knew? With two Bible names, my CDO (which is OCD alphabetized, as it should be) insisted that all future children also have Bible names. This limited our options considerably, especially for girls. But as you know, we never had another girl, and by this time, routine ultrasonography revealed that mid-pregnancy.

My favorite Bible name has always been Isaiah. I love how it flows off the tongue. I love that it has three syllables but only two consonants. The decision for our third child was easy. The fourth time around, we struggled more. For some reason, I couldn't find another Bible name I liked. Gerald is less picky, so several would have been okay with him, but I just couldn't get my mind around anything. Finally, about the time Eli was due, I knew we were running out of time. We were sitting in Gerald's mother's living room, where we were staying temporarily as we transitioned from California to Washington, and I got out a Bible. I told Gerald this was it. We were going to find a name. We leafed through the pages, saying names aloud, until finally while looking in the Book of Samuel, Gerald said, "How about Eli?" My reply, "Perfect." So I guess you could say I named Luke, Gerald named Shulamith, I named Isaiah, and Gerald named Eli. Sort of.

Seven years later when we were expecting Seth, it was my turn again, and I had many awesome ideas. For some reason, names I passed right over with earlier children suddenly intrigued me. I narrowed it down to two: Thaddeus and Malachi. Obviously, Seth isn't named either of those. Why is that? Because my two older children thought they should have some input this time, and they hated both names. Shulamith was especially vocal about this: "If you name him Thaddeus or Malachi, I will be embarrassed by my own baby brother!" Should I have caved? I don't know. But I did. I settled for Seth, a name I love now because it belongs to him, but one that wasn't a particular favorite back then.

And now Shulamith has her very own baby. She and Matt chose the name Swen Webster Monson for their new little one, a beautiful name, rich in family significance. Lots of people have asked about his first name. Where did it come from? Is it pronounced with a "W" sound or a "V" sound? The name Swen is from Mathew's family. It is Matt's middle name, his father's middle name, and his grandfather's middle name. It might go back even further; I'm not certain. It is pronounced with a "W" sound, not a "V." I like it because, like his mother's name, no one else has it; however, we are already confusing it with Seth. I've called Seth Swen and Swen Seth several times, and a couple times, I've called each of them Sweth! One syllable, four letters, starts with "S." They are just too similar.

Webster, of course, is Shulamith's last name, and Monson is Matt's. So this little boy has a name deep with family roots.

The perfect name!