What's in a Name?
The answer is everything! This is a stressful experience...I mean unless the child grows up and decides to change it like Chad OchoCinco, they are stuck with this thing for the rest of their life and they didn't pick it. Mo and I have always liked the idea of naming our child something different in order for them to feel special or unique. I am talking from experience since my name, Joe, is so uncommon and thus making me feel like an individual (insert sarcasm her).
Monica has always had the name Rosario in the back of her mind. I liked it...because it was something different and uncommon. The name is a family name, her great grandfathers to be specific (I'll get to the gender thing later). So when she first told me of this name, even prior to the pregnancy, I liked it. When we began tossing names around this one obviously came up in conversation and was on the list the entire time. Even though it was Mo's idea to start, it became my duty to protect her from swaying and picking some spur of the moment kind of name.
As I mentioned in another post, my wife and I tend to like to avoid conforming to the expectations of others. So we have heard many times...."Rosario? Isn't that a boys name?" Many of our family had this reply to our selection. According to Babynames.com, it is a girl's name of Spanish or Italian heritage meaning Rosary.
The bottom line is the name is a unisex name and has been used as such from Monica's great grandfather to famous actress Rosario Dawson (pronounced different than our choice of pronunciation). The aspect we like most is that at it's height of popularity it was the 740th most popular name in 1953. This is a stark comparison to the common nature of my name and I particularly like this quality. No body will be calling here Rosario - Schmo implying to her that she is just an ordinary person.
Throughout the pregnancy I would get random text messages and calls from my wife with some name pulled out of the air. For a while, Mo was on this "Layla" trip. It was I that had to persevere and save her from her own hormonal imbalances and impetuousness with the naming process. Monica has the tendency to be impatient and does not do well with indecision. She wanted a name and wanted it done. I insisted on Rosario for the time being unless something struck me...and Layla or any other Eric Clapton song's namesake was not going to be the one (especially Cocaine Simko). It was my job to make sure she did not make a hasty and regretful decision. Now I am not trying to come across as controlling here...the fact of the matter is that I know my wife and I know what she really wants.
What she really wanted out of a name is something that has meaning to us, represents who we were, who we are, and who we will become. She wanted a name that was atypical and meaningful at the same time without being too trendy or eccentric. We had no intentions of choosing a fruit like Gwyneth Paltrow or a color like Jay-Z and Beyonce...we are not seeking "the get my ass beat in school" kind of uniqueness.
One day, while at work, I got another one of the random text messages from my Mo. It simply read, "Rosario is the name". I thought, "she finally realized what she had always wanted, my job is done here." When I got home from work I asked my wife what the heck clicked with her. She replied, "I was talking to the baby today and I called her Rosie without even knowing it...it just came out."
And so it is, Rosario, Rosie, Lil Ro, whatever....we loved it and here we go...one month from the due date as of yesterday.
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