Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Baby Omega's Name

Figuring out this baby's name has been quite the evolution!

In the beginning we planned on not finding out the gender, so we let Gregory come up with a gender neutral name just for the duration of the pregnancy. So, for 5 months, we all referred to my belly as "Baby Lou."
(32 weeks)

Then I caved after the 20-week ultrasound and found out we were having a boy. Nothing immediately came to mind, so we again turned to Gregory to come up with a temporary name. This time my belly was christened "Logan". Neither name was chosen after I suggested it- Gregory came up with both on his own.

It's been a struggle to find this baby's name (although figuring out a girl's name was a breeze). I find that names that made my "Favorites" lists with previous pregnancies don't hold the same appeal to me.

I kept getting the impression that I should explore Scandinavian names (my siblings are Lars, Inga Dorothea, Anja Katherina, and Dora Antje-Maria... my mom thought she was giving me a unique name when she picked out "Deborah"... I suppose it does sound unique to a European). I kept my ears open in Germany and even did a few searches online, but nothing sounded right.

We finally found it in a letter from my brother, who's right now serving his mission in Germany/Austria. He just casually mentioned helping a return missionary who got stranded in their city- nothing about the guy's character or personality. Just his name.

Kai.

I couldn't read anymore of the letter. It was overwhelming, because in that moment I KNEW this was my baby's name. Just like when I came across Leora's name in a book at the LDS bookstore and broke down into sobs right there in the store. It was less embarrassing doing it at home.

I searched for it's meaning (if it had one) and the first result it pulled up was, in fact, Scandanavian, for "rejoice." It's like the baby had picked out his name and I'd finally found it. When I told Fred about my experience, he agreed it just felt right.

Apparently it appears in many other languages:
"Ocean" in Hawaiian
"Willow tree" in Navajo Indian
"Keeper of the keys" in Scotland and Wales
"Victorious, triumphant, or happy" in Chinese
"Lovable" in Ghana
"Beautiful" in South Africa
"Fire" in Ireland
"Leader" in Japanese
"Young" in Latin
"Warrior" in German!


As for his middle name, we've decided to use "Logan." Charla still refers to the baby as "Logan" most of the time. It's not a name I ever had on any lists, but the story behind it is too sweet.
(33 weeks- today)

So, in roughly 7 weeks, our tiny Kai Logan Olsen will join our little Ohio Olsen clan. We're all so excited!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is such a sweet story Debbie! I know your little guy will love to hear the story behind his name in years to come.

Ashley and Spencer Bunn said...

that's cute

Trish Olsen said...

look at you how stinking cute you are :) i think its a sweet story on how Kai came to play :)

The Baker Family said...

I actually really like that name. after finding out what it means I like it even more. We'll see you soon Kai!

Yates Family said...

Thats my nephews name!! He is adorable so I am sure yours will be too!! :) At least I wont ever forget his name right? :)

Charity Brown said...

I know that the Armstrong's are considering that name if they ever have a boy! When they mentioned it, it was the first time I had heard of it! Very cute! Logan works well with it, too!
You know, my husband named his sister! Before Tyler's mom was even pregnant, he was running around telling everyone he was going to have a baby sister and her name was going to be Tiffany. When they found out Karen was pregnant, and that it was a girl, how could they name her anything different. Sometimes kids just know!

John and Becky Bowler said...

It's coming up soon. You look too cute pregnant. :)