I love names. I think it's weird (and you might, too). But I have always loved names. I loved making lists of names and naming my dolls when I was little. I had names picked out for my children long before I got married. Of course, many of those names changed, but some stuck around. People choose names for all kinds of reasons, it flows, it fits a theme, a family name, meaning, etc. I didn't even realize how much of a "naming personality" parents have until I started having kids of my own. Jeff and I definitely have a style of names we like, and I didn't realize it until Liam! We also choose names for the meaning. :)
I just thought I'd share a little background before sharing our new kids' names.
Jeffrey Thao
Jeffrey is obviously after Jeff. It means "God's peace".
Thao (Tayo) came from the time Jeff and I went to Amsterdam. We met someone named Teo (Tayo) which is Theo in Dutch. We fell in love with the name, but changed the spelling. (And ultimately Thao told us we spelled his name wrong anyway!) Thao means "Gift of God". Fun fact: Theo or Thao comes from Theopholus, and so did my name (Tiffany).
Ava Lillian
Ava's name was always a favorite of mine! Lillian was actually our second girls' name but we weren't convinced we'd ever have more than one little girl. We wanted to use both our names just in case. :)
Ava means "song;bird". My great-grandmother's name was Evadna or Eva for short. I just thought that was a neat connection. :)
Lillian means "lily flower". (Isn't that just beautiful together? So much of God's beautiful creation!) Lillian was one of Jeff's mom's favorite names. It was pretty special to him to use it.
Liam Asher
Liam means "willful;protector". My grandpa's name is Billy but not William. So Liam's not really named after him. But, once again, neat connection. :)
Asher mean "joyful;happy". We really wanted to balance out the whole "willful" meaning! But we love the names together.
Crusoe Jeremiah
Crusoe mean "the Cross of Christ". Crusoe was also the name Thao wanted to name Liam. We told him maybe next time. Well, it's next time. That wasn't really all. We found out about Crusoe on Easter weekend. We had been specifically praying that if God wanted us to adopt 2 children, He would provide peace and assurance with that. He would guide us. And He did....
Jeremiah means "chosen by God", but the name Jeremiah wasn't really chosen by us. His name is Jeremie already. We decided to pray about a second adoption but that day I called there weren't any children needing parents. So we decided that settled it. Then I got an email from our coordinator telling me the VERY DAY I called asking about another child, this little boy came into care, into the same home our little girl was in. Yep, he's our son.
Isa Jenifer
Isa means "dedicated to God". I don't think that needs any more explanation. :)
Jenifer means "white;fair". This is her Congolese name, part of her story and part of her. It fits with her name and it flows beautifully "Isa Jenifer", "Isa Jenny". Goes nicely with "Ava Lilly" doesn't it? :)
I LOVE how our children's names have "fit" them. Of course, it may just be that's what we know them as, but really their personalities really fit their names. :)
I just thought I'd share a little background before sharing our new kids' names.
Jeffrey Thao
Jeffrey is obviously after Jeff. It means "God's peace".
Thao (Tayo) came from the time Jeff and I went to Amsterdam. We met someone named Teo (Tayo) which is Theo in Dutch. We fell in love with the name, but changed the spelling. (And ultimately Thao told us we spelled his name wrong anyway!) Thao means "Gift of God". Fun fact: Theo or Thao comes from Theopholus, and so did my name (Tiffany).
Ava Lillian
Ava's name was always a favorite of mine! Lillian was actually our second girls' name but we weren't convinced we'd ever have more than one little girl. We wanted to use both our names just in case. :)
Ava means "song;bird". My great-grandmother's name was Evadna or Eva for short. I just thought that was a neat connection. :)
Lillian means "lily flower". (Isn't that just beautiful together? So much of God's beautiful creation!) Lillian was one of Jeff's mom's favorite names. It was pretty special to him to use it.
Liam Asher
Liam means "willful;protector". My grandpa's name is Billy but not William. So Liam's not really named after him. But, once again, neat connection. :)
Asher mean "joyful;happy". We really wanted to balance out the whole "willful" meaning! But we love the names together.
Crusoe Jeremiah
Crusoe mean "the Cross of Christ". Crusoe was also the name Thao wanted to name Liam. We told him maybe next time. Well, it's next time. That wasn't really all. We found out about Crusoe on Easter weekend. We had been specifically praying that if God wanted us to adopt 2 children, He would provide peace and assurance with that. He would guide us. And He did....
Jeremiah means "chosen by God", but the name Jeremiah wasn't really chosen by us. His name is Jeremie already. We decided to pray about a second adoption but that day I called there weren't any children needing parents. So we decided that settled it. Then I got an email from our coordinator telling me the VERY DAY I called asking about another child, this little boy came into care, into the same home our little girl was in. Yep, he's our son.
Isa Jenifer
Isa means "dedicated to God". I don't think that needs any more explanation. :)
Jenifer means "white;fair". This is her Congolese name, part of her story and part of her. It fits with her name and it flows beautifully "Isa Jenifer", "Isa Jenny". Goes nicely with "Ava Lilly" doesn't it? :)
I LOVE how our children's names have "fit" them. Of course, it may just be that's what we know them as, but really their personalities really fit their names. :)