Choosing His Name

We put a lot of consideration into the names we give our children.

Most specifically we care about the meaning of the name. Obviously we want it to sound cool too but meaning trumps coolness.

Jude Aidan means “Praise” & “Fire”
Noah Asher means “Peace” &  “Happy”
Simon Edward means “To be Heard” & “Wealthy Guardian”

We had the name Simon picked out pretty early on in pregnancy but had a hard time deciding on a middle name. Originally we like the name Ezra, which means “help” but over time Joe became a little sentimental and want to use a family name. Edward is his middle name and his dad’s first name. Edward also happens to be my grandfather’s name.

We debated back and forth until one day I decided to ask Jude. He knew the baby’s name was Simon so I asked him which he liked better, Simon Ezra or Simon Edward. In true Jude fashion he made up his own name Simon Ezward but then finally decided on Simon Edward. I love that Jude was a part of the process.

Nicknames
We are very careful to choose names that don’t have negative nicknames associated with them. We know kids can me cruel and don’t want to give them any fuel to pick on our kids. I think we did pretty well with Simon, I can’t actually think of any nicknames for Simon. However, we didn’t consider how his name would look written out. While at the hospital yesterday the nurse called for Simon or Simone Lieb. It was just then I realized that Simon E. Lieb could be mistaken for the female Simone. Oh well.

Funny Baby Name Story
Before Simon was born we told our immediate family his name so Jude knew the baby in mommy’s tummy was named Simon. One evening Jude was watching an old episode of The Muppet Show featuring Paul Simon. As they introduced Paul Simon, Jude declared, “Not Paul Simon, he’s in mommy’s belly!”