Her Name & Photos {day 1}

Eleanora: (el leh NOR ah), arabic origins meaning God is my light

Coincidentally, Eleanora was not on our name radar until the day before we made the final decision (when I was 8 months pregnant).

As with Sawyer's name we kept a running list of 5-7 potential names. When it got to the point of narrowing down the list (i.e. I got fed up with not having a name chosen) Kyle and I each selected our top 2 favorite names. We each chose 2 different names. At that point we each got to eliminate our least favorite name from the other person's top 2. That left us with 2 names.

In Sawyer's case I decided I liked both names and left the decision up to Kyle. Like any loving husband he chose his wife's favorite name :)

However, it was a different story this time around. Our favorite names were very different and as hard as I tried to love his name I just couldn't let my name go.

So, this summer as we painted doors and discussed names Eleanora came up. We both looked at each other and thought maybe...it's out there, but it could work. The next day we started the name discussion again and it was apparent that Eleanora was the perfect name for several reasons:

1) We like the meaning (God is my light)

2) It's a compromise between both of our favorite names

3) It starts with an "E" which is what I wanted

4) It's unique and not likely to become popular anytime soon

5) There are several nicknames (Ellie, Nora, etc)

6) The primary name is Kyle's favorite
Are you curious what the top 2 original names were?
Well I'll let you in on a little secret...

Kyle's #1 name: Nora

Kristen's #1 name: Elaina

Ironically the day after deciding her name was going to be Eleanora I found out one of our neighbors has a daughter named Elaina and a friend at church who is due in September is going to name her child Elaina. These were clear signs that Elaina was not the name for our little one and it allowed me to easily let go of that name.