what's in a name?

As most of you know, after much build-up and anticipation, my daughter was born on 1/22/11. Polly and I were so blessed by the numerous people who expressed a shared sense of excitement and anticipation. I think it could go without saying (though here I am saying it) that nobody was as anxious as we were, but there was one area that other people certainly had added anticipation: our daughter's name.

Polly and I decided on the name some months ago, but opted to keep it secret and surprise everyone with it when she was born. We were successful for the most part as less than 10 people knew her name by the time we announced it publicly. We have received a lot of positive feedback from folks regarding her name -- Genevieve (not that most people would give negative feedback even if they hated it).

Many people have asked where the name Genevieve came from for us. People seem to be curious why we picked that name. I thought I'd answer that question for any others who may have it. But before I do, I would like to look at the best suggested theory as to why we chose the name.


We had our friends John and Tanya come over with their 5 1/2 month old son Jack a week ago. They asked where the name came from. Before we answered, we asked if they had a theory of how we came up with it. It turned out that John did. Knowing that Polly and I are a couple who fears God, John thought that we may have picked Genevieve because: "Gene" is the first part of the first book in the Bible and "Eve" was the first woman God created. I have to admit, that was a well thought-out theory. It was wrong, but it was creative. I wish the truth was so creative.

No, it had nothing to do with combining a book of the Bible with a significant woman of the Bible. It was neither a family name nor did it have anything to do with St. Genevieve of France. No, the truth is far less exciting and interesting than that.


The truth: Polly first heard the name when she was in high school. She was a fan of the show "Trading Spaces" which had a designer named Genevieve Gorder (more recently known for "Dear Genevieve" and "Design Star" on HGTV). Polly really liked her name and it always stuck in her mind. I went to high school with a girl named Genevieve. I always thought she had the most beautiful name (this was magnified when I first heard the name's French pronunciation). Before we discovered the gender of our baby, Polly and I threw around a bunch of boy names and girl names. There were a number of each that we liked, but nothing stuck right away. Then Polly threw out the name Genevieve not knowing it was a name I always loved. As soon as she said it, I said yes. I contacted that girl Genevieve from high school to ask her what she thought about her name and some practical questions about it. Polly and I discussed other names for a time, but from the moment we discovered we were having a little girl, her name was already Genevieve in our hearts.

In case you're wondering, Genevieve means "woman of the people." I honestly don't know what that really means, but it sounds cool.

So there you have it...the boring, unexciting truth of how our daughter ended up with her beautiful, exciting name.