What's In A Name?

I was recently reminded of how I got my name. I think it is a cute little story to document so I thought I would share. It goes like this...

There was a young girl that lived down the street from my family. My two older brothers (above) were smitten by her. They thought she was so pretty and smart and funny and nice, the whole package. Her name was Lara. When my mom was pregnant with me my brothers knew the perfect name for me and they suggested she name me Lara. After I was born the other Lara quickly became known as "Big Lara" and I was "Little Lara" until we moved from the neighborhood when I was five or six. I always felt special to share the same name with a girl who I later grew to look up to as well.

My children:

Emma Lee - I always loved the name Emma. I thought it a very feminine and timeless name. Her middle name obviously was after her daddy, who loves and cherishes her as I do. Her grandmother's middle name (Lee's mom) is also Lee which is very special too.

Eva Belle - Once again, a feminine and timeless name. I pictured a tall, gorgeous scandinavian blonde being named Eva. So far she has lived up to her name. Belle comes from her paternal great grandmother's maiden name "Bell". We added the "e" at the end so it could also mean beautiful, which she is.

One cute fact we have since discovered is that there is both an Emma Lee and an Eva Belle in my mother's family history. That is kind of spooky but very cool to learn that after we had named our girls.

Benjamin Rex - I have to admit that I was never a fan of Benjamin but always loved Ben. I vowed to never call him by his full name but now I think I call him that more than just Ben, especially when he is naughty. We named him Benjamin after King Benjamin and his middle name comes from my father, Rex, which actually means "Kingly" in latin. We really do have our own little King Benjamin.

Ella Rae - All throughout my pregnancy we called the baby "Ruby". We just loved that name and that's what we planned on naming her. Then she came out and just did not look like a Ruby so at the last minute we changed her name to match her sisters, Ella. Now I could never picture her with a name other than Ella. We probably should have just named her Gal since that is all we call her.

Before I tell you how Ella got her middle name I first have to tell you my middle name. It is Gay. Yes, Gay. My mom loved it because it meant "happy", but I hated it for its other meaning. I would make up middle names if somebody asked, like Gayle, or Ann. It wasn't until my later years in high school that I decided to not care. Anyway, my grandmothers names were Fay and May and my mother didn't want to have to choose between the two so she named me something that rhymes with both of them. I decided to carry on the tradition with Ella. First there was Fay and May, then there was Gay, and then finally Rae.

So there's a little history of how we got our names.

How did you get your name?