Little Egg gets a big girl name

I mentioned back when we had our first ultrasound done for baby number two that Bob, true to his logical, software engineer roots, decided to give the baby the obvious but oh-so-bland name of "Little Egg". And no, we didn't really walk around referring to the baby that way, but it was very like Bob to come up with something so silly with a perfectly straight face...

I'm happy to announce that "Little Egg" has now graduated on to the much more appropriate name of Anna. We're still trying to decide on a middle name, probably something along the lines of Lynn, Katherine, or Elizabeth.

The usual question that follows somewhere in the name discussion are what factors did/did not go into the name selection. I admit that our choice of names (both Jack and Anna) aren't based on some noble reason like a family name passed down, though my mom's middle name is Ann. It's been our (ok, really my) attempt at lessening the fodder for the name calling games that will inevitably come during elementary school with the last name Looney.

With Jack I just wanted a simple, short, masculine boy name that wouldn't sound ridiculous at his high school graduation, but would look good on a business card someday. You know, the name Lancelot Looney just doesn't have quite the same ring as Jack Looney.

It's been harder this time with a girl name. I again wanted a nice, short name, preferably with just one syllable. Of course the name I really liked for a girl just happened to be Jill, but no way would I put my kids through Jack and Jill jokes above and beyond what they'll already hear with Looney. Then again, given the Looney moniker, people would probably cut me some slack if I had gone with Jill, right?

After ruling out Jill, I also ruled out a lot of other girl's names with the sound of "ee" on the end, like Riley, Natalie, etc., because I didn't want her first name to rhyme with her last name. I went through that in high school when I went by Katie (with a maiden name of Petree) and didn't like it much, so Katie got shortened to Kate in college. Anyway, eventually it was narrowed down to Anna, Jenna, or Paris (just kidding), and we know too many little Jenna's, so Anna began to slowly grow on us over the last month. And that's how Little Egg got her big girl name...