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!