So, in an ironic twist of wonderful positivity that was wholly unexpected in the case that we would have to pick boy name, Newbie’s name negotiations were nearly over before they began.
It was a very peaceful council. There was no need for a cease fire… no need for marriage counseling…not even the need for begging, pleading, manipulation, or bargaining.
I’m especially surprised by this because I’ve realized in the last week that I just simply don’t like boy names. They don’t excite me, and there’s a very short list that even pique my interest. So when I got a name stuck in my head Wednesday afternoon (after our sonogram) that began to grow on me, I was surprised and intrigued.
Then, Thursday morning during my bible study, I spent some time praying about what God wanted us to name our child, and immediately afterward, I had a whole name in my mind, and it was perfect.
Noah James.
Noah is a great biblical name that, oddly enough considering how high it is on the popularity charts, neither Chris or I personally know anyone with that name. Plus, Noah never did anything REALLY bad. I mean, he got drunk and naked in his tent and therefore caused one of his sons to be cursed from laughing at him, but that’s a WHOLE lot better than most of the guys in the bible.
And James, although it is a family name on my side, has an even deeper meaning. Our dear friend, James Price, was killed in a motorcycle accident two years ago. Chris has very much wanted to have James in his son’s name to honor his friend.
After I realized HOW perfect this name was, I immediately started hoping that God would go ahead and send an angel down to Chris, or at least make him unable to speak if he didn’t like it – you know, Zechariah-style.
Since I hadn’t heard report of an angel yet, I sent Chris a simple text: “Noah James”.
(Sometimes Angels come in the form of a text, right??)
And waited.
Finally, a response. “Is that an idea? The beginning of negotiations? A game of some sort? Just wondering…”
“Yes.”
(For this next part, I will need to remind you that Chris and I are totally over-the-top analytical geeks…although I don’t know how you could possibly forget.)
Chris: “Should we rate by numbers? As in, you send a name, my response, rather than subjective ‘it’s ok I’ll think about it’, be objective. Such as on this name, I say ‘8.0’. As in, out of 10.”
Me: “8 out of 10 is as good as it’s ever gonna get. So it’s settled!!! :)”
I was pretty thrilled that I got an 8 on my first naming suggestion, considering our vastly differing naming history, so decided to let him chew on the name for the rest of the day.
And, as I knew he would, he immediately set to work analyzing the name in it’s entirety…
- Google searches, to see what else the word “Noah” could mean… Nothing terrible came up….and not even anything terribly interesting…with the possible exception of the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation.
- Searches of a List of all people in history and all celebrities with the name Noah…No mass murderers, and, thank goodness, only one girl – Miley Cyrus’ little sister, Noah Cyrus.
- Running it through his extensive criteria for a male name being manly in every way…
- Coming up with any possible nicknames and analyzing them for possible trauma…
All of this was compiled, and he prepared a full mental Thesis of Nomenclature Analysis to share with me.
Meanwhile, I was busy trying to convince Ali that this was the perfect name.
(Which was going to be a mighty hard task, seeing as how she was already quite settled on “Prince Charming” for a first and middle name, and was not planning on budging.)
“What do you think of naming Newbie Noah?”
“That’s such a SILLY NAME!!!”
“Why is it silly?”
“Because Noah was an old old old old man!! Newbie is a little baby!!!!”
Then I immediately thought of her only context for the name Noah…
I guess Newbie WOULD look silly with a long gray beard.
So. Back to Chris’ Thesis. We discussed his fully analyzed findings at dinner Friday night, and reviewed both of our iPhone iPregnancy app picks from the top 1000 boy names, just to make sure that we weren’t missing anything.
He finally told me, “I thought about not telling you this because I was afraid it would get your hopes up too much…but when I put in that we were having a boy in my iPregnancy app, the name that the app picked from my list and defaulted to calling Newbie was, indeed, Noah.”
And so there you go. The angel spoke through his iPhone after all.
Love love love the name!
Yay! I love it! Perfect boy name b/c it will be cute while he is a baby boy & masculine enough to be a resepctable "man's" name!
I love it. It is perfect. We are prepared to welcome sweet Noah James with open arms! C'mon number 17!!
Rachel, This is awesome!! I have often wondered how hard it will be for me one day to pick a name because I'm exposed to so many kids at school, each with their own reputation that pops into my head each time I hear it. I'll have you know that each of the Noahs and Jameses that I've had the privilege of teaching have truly been a privilege! Already, I think Newbie Noah has a very respectable name, which carries a sense of good reputation, even to someone like me who hears so many names on a daily basis. :)
I pray that having the name of James not only reminds him of the book of the Bible, but that he will one day have a passion for the truth of God's Word! And, that he will be obedient to God's voice in faith just like Noah.
Congrats!
Very cute name!
Well, it's no Prince Charming, but it sounds lovely just the same.
I find it curious to have a name picked out already, fairly early in your pregnancy. We didn't know what we were having, but we still didn't have names picked out until after the baby was born. Is it odd to refer to the in utero baby by a real name (other than Bean, Peanut, etc)? For example, when the baby is born that you've been calling Harold all this time, do you look at said baby and say "So THIS is Harold!" and you just know it. My neurotic worry would be the baby would come out and not look like Harold but Jasper instead.
Baby naming is so fascinating!
Love it! My roommate in college named her 1st born Noah. I love the name-such a brave and noble man was Noah. I think it is wonderful that you named him and can call him by name now. From the moment his sweet little life was conceived, he was a person worthy of name recognition.
Well I know several wonderful Noah's and James's ,but I don't Noah James. hehehe! He will be like my boys with an Old Testament and a New Testament name. Has a wonderful ring to it! Congrats!
Well I know several wonderful Noah's and James's ,but I don't Noah James. hehehe! He will be like my boys with an Old Testament and a New Testament name. Has a wonderful ring to it! Congrats!
It IS a wonderful name, and I mean hey, we all get drunk and naked sometimes…Uh, I mean, so I hear that about other people…
*you know I'm totally kidding- we don't condone drunkenness. Now nakedness on the other hand…
I love it! And that last part….total confirmation. :) Ali will come around!
I think that's a wonderful name! And the only nickname I ever heard come off of Noah was when I worked in daycare eons ago and the parents of a Noah called him "No No". Poor kiddo.
Oh Rachel, I love the name, what a great choice.
Love, love, love the name! It's trendy enough without being overdone, and it's Biblical, which is always timeless. Great choice!
Are you going double name with "Noah James" or will it just be Noah?
What a great story! I'm especially excited to know that angels speak through iphones. I love the name. It's fantastic.
I see your point about Noah not doing anything excessively bad…that's why I can never name one of my children Lot. Among many other reasons. :)
I like it!
Good choice! Before I married a Noah, I always said that if I had a son that would be his name. I settled with my husband :). Noah James is perfect though. Love it!
I personally am already in love with it. I think it is a great name.
I love the name. I'm glad you and Chris came to an agreement. :) :) I'm so excited for you. Noah James. Now I know what to say if I want to talk to your belly. haha. J/k about that one. I think that's on your list of NO NO's. But it's a good strong name. It's perfect. :) :)
Go back and look at my comment on "Newbie or Newbette." Seriously. Right NOW.
Had she been a boy, Anna Beth was going to be Noah James! We liked Noah, and James was my great grandfather. I love it!!! I totally teared up–in a good way!
I will SO not ever, NEVER let y'all live this down. I named your child! YAY!!! ;)
Thought I commented earlier, but don't see it, so I'll give it another try…love the name, it's perfect!
I'm glad that the whole naming processes ended up being so easy for y'all!
Wow, Rachel! That's all I could think when I read your post -WOW! Obviously I don't/didn't know NOAH but know his "story" but I certainly knew and loved James and it brought tears to my eyes when I read that you guys had chosen his name for your newest, precious gift from God. James was certainly a gift to us – one taken all too soon. His memory is still alive in our hearts and minds, but his name will be remembered forever in the naming of your son. Thank you so much for the walk down memory lane tonight.
I think Noah James Callahan's first full sentence should be "What up, dawg?"
God Bless You All!
LOVE IT!!! It's perfect!
Aw, congrats! My little brother's name is Noah and he is super sweet and smart and caring and kind and lots of wonderful things.
I'm so glad that it became such an easy process for you all to pick a name. That is always the hardest part!
awesome! I LOVE the names!! YAY!
What a great name!!!
And I think it is great that your husband has an iPregnancy app on his phone! Awwwww!
Beautiful names. I love the juxtaposition of the OT and NT. Although I don't know that you'll need your bandaids for a boy named for peace and comfort :)
@Shelly: We named our daughter in the womb too. My neurotic worry in the last three weeks was that the ultrasound techs had made a mistake on the gender and that we'd have to change the name. But it was such a comfort to me to talk to the little person inside by name. Made her seem more real somehow.
I love it!
I wasn't even close with James, but I still miss him!
Well that is…interesting.
Haha, just kidding! I LOVE it! That is so awesome that you found a name you love and how everything worked out! Love that Chris has iPregnancy on his phone. Lol :)
I love the name Noah. So many of the good bible names are overused, but you don't see too many Noahs and it's such a cute name! And Noah James has such a nice sound to it. It makes me think of "strong and dependable".
Congrats on the perfect name!
Noah James is great. My son is James Russell (#3).. so James is a good name and Noah goes great with it.
I have to admit that I am still a little bummed that we won't have Tori and Tori to go with Tessa and Tessa, and I think that "Noah" is a little short for my Bible-naming taste. However, I am happy that you have come to a peaceful resolution. Welcome NJ!! ;)
Thanks everyone!! You obviously read the "How to act when they're expecting" post well.. ;)
Shelly – I don't know. To me, it's great having a name when I'm pregnant – it helps me relate to them. Although when Ali came out, we definitely decided she was an Ali and not an Alana (her whole name), so we'll see!
Amy – we'll just call him Noah. I'm not much of a double namer.
Lianne – that's crazy!!! I guess the angels used you too to plant it in my head. :)
I LOVE THE NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love it!
I love the name. I have always liked Noah. I think maybe the Angels did speak through the iphone. I mean God does work in mysterious ways.
Noah James…perfect…I love it! :)
Love it! Traditional, biblical, & solid. Although I'm shocked you didn't pick a Greek inspired name ha ha ;).