Baby Names
Some people have asked about Israel's name and where we got it, so I thought I would do a post about all of our kids names and how we came up with them.
Coming up with our kids names has been a challenge each time. I feel like in this "age of information" and with the internet there are thousands of baby names readily available and it makes things harder, not easier. We have typically come up with our kids names during pregnancy with a few back ups just in case, then made the official decision once we see them. We definitely have a "style" of names we like. Mainly scripture names, uncommon names and old fashioned names. We don't typically share our name ideas while I'm pregnant, not because I'm trying to keep it a secret, but because I don't want to be swayed by other people's opinions. All three times I have had a period after they are born where I wonder if we choose the right name and worry that we should change it ha. It usually passes quickly so I blame postpartum hormones. Anyways here is a little explanation about each of their names.
ESTHER RICHELLE
When I was pregnant with Esther, before we knew the gender, we decided on the name Elijah Leland for a boy. When we found out she was a girl, I had the name Grace in mind, but I didn't love how popular it was. I was suggesting names to Leland and I suggested Esther and he really liked it. After a bit I started loving it too, so we went with it for her first name when she was born. I also liked the bible story and significance of Esther. Middle names always give us a hard time, and again Leland really liked the idea of giving her my middle name, Richelle, as her middle name. It flowed well with the name Esther so that's what we named her. The name Esther means "star" so I think it's very fitting for her since she loves astronomy just like Leland. I think it fits her and so far she loves her name. We tried giving her the nickname "Estie" but she shut that right down at 2 years old 😝, so she just goes by Esther.
ADELE GENEVIEVE
When Esther was still a baby, Leland and I were watching Jane Eyre. When the character named Adele came on, I suddenly really liked the name and thought it was so cute for a little girl. On a more spiritual level, I felt that the name Adele was meant for our future daughter. So when I started feeling the prompting to have another baby a few months later, it was pretty much set that we would name her Adele if she was a girl. If Adele was a boy we would have probably used the name Lorenzo "Enzo" for short. We had a hard time coming up with a middle name for Adele. I wanted her middle name to be Sariah so she could have a scripture name like Esther did. Leland really loved the name Gweneviere and wanted that for her middle name. I really wasn't fond of that but brought up Geneva, which was my great grandma's name. Well Leland wasn't fond of that so he suggested Genevieve. Which is also close to my mom's name, Jennifer. So in the end she got more of a family name for a middle name. For the first few months of her life I really wondered if we should have done Sariah and if she will feel left out if the rest of our kids end up with scripture names. I do love Genenvieve though and I hope she likes it too when she's older. Adele means "noble" and I think that fits her too. I was adamant she never be called "Addy" but she nicknamed herself "Delly" which I think is cute and what she goes by most the time within the family. Also I will probably use Sariah if we have another girl, so nobody steal it. 👍
ISRAEL LELAND
When I was pregnant with Israel I had a girl name I loved all picked out, (which I will definitely use for our next girl so I won't share it yet :) ) but he surprised us by being a boy so we had to come up with a boy name. I didn't like Lorenzo anymore and in fact I didn't like any boy names I came across. They all felt wrong and we had no names for most the pregnancy. Israel was the only name I really loved, but I hated the idea of the nickname "Izzy". Also I felt having an Esther and Israel, two Old Testament names, would really make Adele's name stand out. But I figured we can balance her name out with a future child down the road. Leland still pushed for Elijah and although we had it as a backup, I felt it was way too popular and didn't like it anymore. Leland's family has a tradition where the first son's middle name is the father's first name so we stuck with that tradition. Though we did contemplate using the name Roy, after Leland's dad who passed away. In the end we decided to go with tradition and save Roy for if we have another boy. Peter was another name we were drawn to, because of the apostle Peter, but I didn't love the nickname "Pete" (can you tell I have issues with nicknames? 😁) or the popularity of the name culturally (Peter Pan, Peter Rabbit etc). So in the end we named him Israel (we prononce it IZ-ree-ul) Leland. The name Israel has a lot of different meanings. We obviously liked the story of Israel in the Bible but I really liked the definition included in the bible dictionary, in which Israel means a true believer of Christ.
Coming up with our kids names has been a challenge each time. I feel like in this "age of information" and with the internet there are thousands of baby names readily available and it makes things harder, not easier. We have typically come up with our kids names during pregnancy with a few back ups just in case, then made the official decision once we see them. We definitely have a "style" of names we like. Mainly scripture names, uncommon names and old fashioned names. We don't typically share our name ideas while I'm pregnant, not because I'm trying to keep it a secret, but because I don't want to be swayed by other people's opinions. All three times I have had a period after they are born where I wonder if we choose the right name and worry that we should change it ha. It usually passes quickly so I blame postpartum hormones. Anyways here is a little explanation about each of their names.
ESTHER RICHELLE
When I was pregnant with Esther, before we knew the gender, we decided on the name Elijah Leland for a boy. When we found out she was a girl, I had the name Grace in mind, but I didn't love how popular it was. I was suggesting names to Leland and I suggested Esther and he really liked it. After a bit I started loving it too, so we went with it for her first name when she was born. I also liked the bible story and significance of Esther. Middle names always give us a hard time, and again Leland really liked the idea of giving her my middle name, Richelle, as her middle name. It flowed well with the name Esther so that's what we named her. The name Esther means "star" so I think it's very fitting for her since she loves astronomy just like Leland. I think it fits her and so far she loves her name. We tried giving her the nickname "Estie" but she shut that right down at 2 years old 😝, so she just goes by Esther.
ADELE GENEVIEVE
When Esther was still a baby, Leland and I were watching Jane Eyre. When the character named Adele came on, I suddenly really liked the name and thought it was so cute for a little girl. On a more spiritual level, I felt that the name Adele was meant for our future daughter. So when I started feeling the prompting to have another baby a few months later, it was pretty much set that we would name her Adele if she was a girl. If Adele was a boy we would have probably used the name Lorenzo "Enzo" for short. We had a hard time coming up with a middle name for Adele. I wanted her middle name to be Sariah so she could have a scripture name like Esther did. Leland really loved the name Gweneviere and wanted that for her middle name. I really wasn't fond of that but brought up Geneva, which was my great grandma's name. Well Leland wasn't fond of that so he suggested Genevieve. Which is also close to my mom's name, Jennifer. So in the end she got more of a family name for a middle name. For the first few months of her life I really wondered if we should have done Sariah and if she will feel left out if the rest of our kids end up with scripture names. I do love Genenvieve though and I hope she likes it too when she's older. Adele means "noble" and I think that fits her too. I was adamant she never be called "Addy" but she nicknamed herself "Delly" which I think is cute and what she goes by most the time within the family. Also I will probably use Sariah if we have another girl, so nobody steal it. 👍
ISRAEL LELAND
When I was pregnant with Israel I had a girl name I loved all picked out, (which I will definitely use for our next girl so I won't share it yet :) ) but he surprised us by being a boy so we had to come up with a boy name. I didn't like Lorenzo anymore and in fact I didn't like any boy names I came across. They all felt wrong and we had no names for most the pregnancy. Israel was the only name I really loved, but I hated the idea of the nickname "Izzy". Also I felt having an Esther and Israel, two Old Testament names, would really make Adele's name stand out. But I figured we can balance her name out with a future child down the road. Leland still pushed for Elijah and although we had it as a backup, I felt it was way too popular and didn't like it anymore. Leland's family has a tradition where the first son's middle name is the father's first name so we stuck with that tradition. Though we did contemplate using the name Roy, after Leland's dad who passed away. In the end we decided to go with tradition and save Roy for if we have another boy. Peter was another name we were drawn to, because of the apostle Peter, but I didn't love the nickname "Pete" (can you tell I have issues with nicknames? 😁) or the popularity of the name culturally (Peter Pan, Peter Rabbit etc). So in the end we named him Israel (we prononce it IZ-ree-ul) Leland. The name Israel has a lot of different meanings. We obviously liked the story of Israel in the Bible but I really liked the definition included in the bible dictionary, in which Israel means a true believer of Christ.
I know Israel is probably the most unusual of our baby names, but I really love it and I feel like it fits him. (Also, if you think this name is weird you should hear all the Old Testament names Leland suggested that I vetoed 😁.) The political implications held me back from the name a little but I think it is mostly associated with the Bible anyways. I hope he likes it too. Adele once asked if she could call him Izzy and I said how about Isri. The nickname has started to stick and I think it's pretty cute. Little Isri baby :)
*Edited to add*
Shortly after Israel was born, I listened to President Nelson's youth devotional titled Hope of Israel. Listening to this talk really helped solidify our name choice for Israel. I never fully realized how important the gathering of Israel is in these latter days and I am happy our little latter-day baby has the name to always remind me.
*Edited again to add*
In October 2020 President Nelson again spoke about the name Israel in his Let God Prevail talk. I loved the message in this talk and his elaboration on the name of Israel was especially meaningful for me.
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