Hi! This is Susie. I thought I would be guest columnist for this post to relay some of our thoughts about choosing a name for Baby Gronseth. We get asked the question, “Have you chosen a name?” quite a bit and have faced quite a few raised eyebrows when we reply that we have not. It is not that we have not thought about names. We would love to call our son something other than “Baby G!” When we first found out we were expecting, we began talking about name possibilities. One boy name and one girl name stood out to us in particular. The gravity of choosing the name really sunk in when we saw that our child is definitely a boy. We realized that whatever we chose was going to be his name, a piece of his identity. We decided then to not rush into our decision.We would like to choose a name that carries special significance for our son, just like the names chosen for us. For those who do not know, my dad used to call my mom “Susie.” When I was born, they decided to pass along the name to me and mom went back to her real name of Velma Sue. My middle name is Lynn, which is my dad’s, granddad’s, and great-granddad’s middle name. Matthew means “gift of God,” quite an appropriate name since he was born on his mom’s birthday. His middle name of Phillip comes from his dad and granddad.
Honestly, I used to secretly wish that I had a more common name, something like Brittany, Ashley, Allison, or Amy. I had four “Amy’s” in my class about the time of middle school. I can’t say that I have ever met anyone my age whose real name is “Susie.” I used to look through the personalized sections of gift shops searching for my name emblazed on magnets, necklaces, or key chains. Most of the time I found “Susan” or “Sue.” I rarely came across “Susie.” In fact, anytime that I did find something with “Susie” on it, I’d usually buy it, whether I really wanted it or not. It was just the satisfaction of actually finding my own name on something.
As I’ve grown older, I have come to appreciate my name more. I like the uniqueness of it and the story behind it. I have met some people, however, that changed their names once they became adults. A name change can offer a new identity and a fresh start (and increased hits on your website if you change your name to something like “KentuckyFriedCruelty.Com”). I find it interesting that celebrities often go by stage names rather than real names, for instance Reginald Dwight, a.k.a. Elton John. Some get so used to being identified by their stage names that they end up officially changing their name.
A little over six years ago, I changed my name. Many people that we have met in recent years probably do not know me as “Susie Brown” and would think it weird to even call me that. When Matt and I got married, I found it difficult to give up any part of my maiden name, so I officially kept it and added my married name to the end. While my newly married signature started out as being “Mrs. Susie L. B. Gronseth,” over the years, it has shortened to just “Susie Gronseth.” It seems that I have grown into this new identity of being a Gronseth.
I have come to find that I married into a wonderful family. Because I bear the Gronseth name, my actions are associated with this family. I have thus become aware that I need to conduct myself in such a way worthy of this name. (Should I decide to become a famous terrorist and wreak havoc across the globe, people would then associate the Gronseth name with terrorism, and my in-laws would most likely have trouble traveling anywhere for rest of their lives because of their association with me. So, I probably won’t do that.)
The wise King Solomon said that a good name “is more desirable than great riches” (Pr. 22:1) and “better than fine perfume” (Ecc. 7:1). So, we take the task of choosing a name for our son very seriously. We want his name to have special meaning for him, a constant reminder of who he is. We know that God has already given this child a name and are praying for insight as to what that is. We likely will name him once he is born, so that we have a chance to see what he looks like. In the mean time, we have gotten such great name suggestions from family and friends, including “Goober,” “Grover,” and “Plaxico.” Feel free to keep those suggestions coming!
-Susie
1 comment:
I think Conner, especially spelled with the "er" at the end is a spectacular name. The 2 people I know by that name are both handsome, Christian, and comical people with whom would certainly want to share their name with your son.
You said seriously? :)
Seriously, I have loved being the only Conner I knew (until recently here at our church where there's 2 "er"s and 1 "or") and I hope although, that hope is dwindling that Chloe and Gavin will be among the few with their names in their classes. We were far less critical with their names. However both of their middle names bear family significance: "Rae" and "Conner." Gavin and Chloe are just 2 names that Rae and I have always loved! Although if it were solely my decision, Zelda and Zander would be the most interesting children on the planet. Since Rae carried them both, I figured she deserved some input as well though :)
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