A Name

So, lots of folks ask us if we’ve decided on the baby’s name yet. We have, and we haven’t.

It’s been a six-month-long process. We started by compiling a list of all the names either of us liked, which hit a total of about 70. Then, through a complex vetting process involving such criteria as ease of mockery, distasteful nicknames, not inadvertently naming him after someone we wouldn’t want thinking we had done so advertently, lack of rhyming or sing-song interactions with the last name Hartley, and a number of others, we winnowed that list down to about 20. Next, we each got to veto any name we just didn’t like, which took us down to about 8.

The remaining names were ranked by each of us, and we produced a compromise ranked list. We have since decided that the top two, Dashiell and Remington, will be chosen between at the time of our son’s birth.

Oddly, his middle name was easy. My middle name is Thomas. My father and his father’s first names were Thomas. My grandmother’s father’s name was Thomas. So it was just obvious that our choice for a middle name should be Archibald. I’m kidding. We’re going with Thomas.

So yes, we’ve worked very hard on deciding just the right name for our child, and no, we haven’t decided on a name for our child.

I think we’re going to just pick the first person we see for the next child. This is exhausting!