What's In A Name?

After lots of consideration, we have finally decided on a name for our baby girl. Before I even met John, I had a few names that I really liked - I think most girls do. They have changed over time, and I've added new favorites to the mix. For a while now, I have really liked the name Grace as a middle name. My favorite translation of the name is "gift of God." That's how John and I have felt about this baby from the day we knew she existed. We have both felt that God has bestowed this beautiful gift on our lives.

We started tossing name ideas around pretty early on. It's probably a good thing that we are having a girl, because our discussions on boy names never got very far. Maybe it was a sign that we didn't need to spend time on that right now. Who knows. We both wanted to use a K name. It wasn't a must, but something we both kind of wanted. John says all of his "girls" start with a K, so the new one should, too. Many of the girls on my mom's side of the family also start with K. It wasn't really hard to generate names, it was harder to land on one and stick with it. One day when I was painting the nursery, a name just came to me. It was something I had heard before, but couldn't really place where. So, I asked John what he thought of the name Kinley. He immediately said he liked it, and then asked where I heard it. I told him I was standing in her room, and it just kind of popped in my head. We both agreed that it was somewhat unique, but not difficult to spell or pronounce (both requirements for me, after growing up with my name!). The more we talked about it, and tossed it around, the more we knew we liked it. We also thought it fit well with Grace as a middle name. A lot of websites I have looked at don't have a listing for Kinley, but the couple I have found say it's an Irish name and the translation is fair-haired or fair-haired Viking.

So, we officially have a name for our little sweetpea. Kinley Grace Sherlock. We can't wait to meet her!