What's in a name?

Trivia for you...did you know I was born Jon David Shiflet? Jon David. Can you imagine me as JD? 2 weeks after I was born my parents changed it to "Cord"...legally, thankfully. They left me with no middle name so I could change my name (or add to it I suppose) when I got older if I really didn't like Cord. My baby book is awesome...it looks like my mother bought it at a garage sale and just changed the name throughout the entire book. You see Jon David with a big black mark through it and "Cord" is scratched above. No wonder I'm half crazy...I had a very unstable first few weeks of my life, not even knowing what name to answer to!

Anyway...I love my name. I don't think that's news to any of you...seeing as how I have plastered it everywhere I can from my towels to my license plate. I believe picking your child's name is critical. I honestly believe my name helped shape me and the person I am and the guy you've all learned to love. There has never been another Cord, except some extremely good looking guy on a Soap Opera, but otherwise I'm pretty sure I'm the only one on the planet. I've met a McCord but not a Cord. If you find another one, please don't tell me.

So...we've been trying to come up with Baby Shiflet #2's name. We don't find out if we're having a boy or a girl so we have to come up with not one but 2 names so we're well prepared. Tatum came to us and was perfect! Anne loved the name and gets credit for suggesting it. When she said the name I kind of smiled and said "did you know that was my great-grandparent's name?" She didn't know that. They were the Tatum's from Emory, Texas. Tatum Emory...so it worked well for both of us. I was rooting for a girl for no other reason than I adored the name. Now we're challenged because we have to find something equally as good and we're at odds as to what to do.

We both have some good names picked out but neither one of us fully agrees with the other one's pick. I suggested I pick a boy name, Anne pick a girl name and whatever comes out...so be it. That didn't work out so well with my OCD controlling bride. Everywhere we look we're trying to find a name. We've read every baby-name book, we sit and read the movie credits after every show we watch scrolling for a name we like to roll through, we think of places we love and things we've done...we did get one good option out of that, Cruise, but Anne said she'd think of Tom everytime and what a freak he is and that wouldn't fly. So here we are, just over a month to go and our child is nameless. Anne used up some good names on the pets...Coco, Chloe, Lulu, Felix...so those are out. We had a great one picked out that we both loved--Campbell, but thanks to the damn Katz' Klan for stealing it 2 months earlier we can't have a child share a name for Christ's sake. We're stuck.

I started asking for my family names...get this. It starts with Jeannette, Johnny, Jackie, Jeannine, Judy, James, Jenny, Janie, Jennie, Jessica... do you catch on to that? Then if you branch off on the next fork in the family tree it goes on to people like Leroy, Purniecy, Vandall, Wendell (who died in Prison), O'Dette, Ida Mae, Babe, Edgbert, Argie, Toddy, Merlynn, Artie, Audie Mae, Aunt Pud, Augusta, Onie, Willie Lucielle (that's a woman!) , Bobbie Jo (that's a girl--Jo, not Joe), Hooker (not a joke!). I will add to that list after my mother and aunt read this blog and threaten me with my life for making fun of their kin-folk. But how can you not? The only ones that are better than that are the ones my Dad wrote about in his book....names like Tooter Terry, Paz, Booker and the like. I'm not making this stuff up. We quickly stopped working our way through the East Texas root system from which my family grew. They're all wonderful people but those names aren't going to mesh with my lady.

So...any suggestions from any of you? I'm looking for something short with some punch to it. With a jacked up last name like Shiflet (which you spell your entire life) I think you need a kick ass first name. Cord, Cole...those were good 'uns. We need more.

Nigh Night,
Jon David