Tuesday, October 06, 2009

How Lydia Got Her Name


Since I had posted about the name Sophia and why we were going to name the baby that, I thought I should add an entry about how and why we changed it.

Believe it or not, it all started AT HomeGoods the night we thought we got our sign to name her Sophia. I loved the name Sophia but was a little concerned about the popularity. Obviously, I don't have a problem with popular names...all of my kids have names that were in the top 25 or so when they were born, but I tend to avoid names that are top 5 in popularity and Sophia was right up there. Having been one of many Melissas in every class growing up and ALWAYS being Melissa R., I think I'm more sensitive to that than others might be. Tyler, at age 14, has also mentioned recently that he doesn't like that there are more Tylers in his grade than any other boys name. So, I considered popularity more than I ever did in the past. This is something Aaron and I had discussed about Sophia, but when we stumbled across that sign, I tried to push it aside and get excited about choosing a name. What I didn't mention in the earlier post is that when we went to check out, the cashier said "Wow, Sophia's a popular name...I've had 3 little Sophias come through my line today and I'm guessing that's what you're naming your baby." I know Aaron wanted to gag her to keep her quiet! :)

As time went on, I started to hear it more and more and more and more. I kept telling myself it was popular because it's beautiful (and I really do believe that), but it was starting to bother me. I knew my chances of getting Aaron to renegotiate were slim, so I felt like I needed to find the PERFECT name and present it to him. I started thinking and praying about it a lot (to me choosing a name for someone is such an important responsibility). Then one day, out of the blue, it came to me....Lydia! It had never been on my name list before and wasn't really a name I'd ever really thought about. But it absolutely felt right and had the beautiful, classic girly qualities I like in a girl's name.

I wanted to research it a little before presenting it to Aaron. I found that the name means noble kind; of the noble sort. Both Grace and Noah have strong Biblical ties in their names and it was a bonus to be able to continue that trend. I have to admit, I wasn't completely familiar with Biblical Lydia, but in my research I read about her in Acts 16 and that sealed the deal. A successful businesswoman, she is thought to be the first European convert to Christianity. She believed wholeheartedly and became a servant to the missionaries, inviting Paul and his companions to stay in her home. Later in Paul’s mission, he returned to Lydia’s home where he met with believers. Yes, Lydia was an admirable namesake for my daughter.

When I mentioned it to Aaron, he agreed to it almost immediately and honestly, neither of us wavered from that point on. And when she was born, it just fit. We both really liked the middle name we had originally chosen, Maren, and decided to keep it because the flow was also good with Lydia.

She is almost 3 weeks old now and I must say, her name is a perfect fit!



Saturday, October 03, 2009

Introducing...

Lydia Maren Richardson
Born on September 30, 2009 at 9:08 am
8 lbs, 5 ounces
21.25 inches long
Healthy, beautiful and loved tremendously!