Baby Name Stories: Cath's Story

I think choosing a name for a baby is a fascinating process. With every parent, the story is unique and comes with its own challenges and fun. In addition to the weekly name features, I wanted to include these real-life tales of parents who faced the world of baby names and found their own unique style.

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Interview with Cath Oehlman, a.k.a. SquiggleMum: "I was a primary school teacher before becoming a fulltime Mummy (yes, I'm Australian). I've been married for 9 years and have two munchkins."

Lily Jade will be 3 in May; Reuben Lucas is 6 months old.

How did you and your husband choose each of their names? As a school teacher there were a lot of names I just couldn't choose! It wasn't that I didn't like the kids I taught (I loved them actually), it was just that those names already belonged to those kids. I have never had a Lily or a Reuben in my own class. We chose old first names with traditional spellings because they are timeless, but more contemporary middle names. Lilies are mentioned in the Bible in Luke 12:27 (Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these!) And in the Old Testament Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. His name means, "Behold! A son!"

When I was pregnant with Reuben, we asked Lily what names she thought would be nice for her baby brother or sister. We'll never forget it. She thought that Tallulah would be good for a girl, and Garlic (!!) for a boy! Decided not to go with her opinion.

Did you have a moment when it felt "right"? I was well overdue with both pregnancies and had to be induced, so we had plenty of time to be sure about our choice of names! I think the moment it felt right though was when I first held them, said hello, told them their name and said I was their Mummy.

Were there any obstacles or challenges? One challenge we had when choosing names was being aware of initials. Our last name begins with O, so we had to rule out any names that would give our kids initials like B.O. (or worse...)

Are you happy with your choices? Am I disappointed that Lily has become such an insanely popular name? Yes, a little. But I still wouldn't change it. If I had chosen a different name for her, I would always have regretted it.

We love the kids' middle names, but didn't go with them as first names because they are both a bit "trendy" and will probably date. I like nouns as names and love the colour green - hence Jade. Lucas we just liked the sound of! And besides, it has some great geeky connotations. ;)

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Email me at nameisms[at]gmail[dot]com if you are interested in telling me your Baby Name Story.