What's In A Name?

In my child development class we did an exercise on names. How names mean so much to a child, that it was important as teachers to know the child by their name, and be able to pronounce it right. As weird as it sounds it's linked to their self esteem and how they view themselves in the world.

I think aside from the actually giving birth part, the next hardest thing is picking a name for a baby. There are so many pretty, fun names out there. You either have it all figured out before they're born or you only have 24hours to come up with a name. You want it to fit the personality of the child and not be something they will be embarrassed about. You also want it to have significance, to mean something to you and the child.
I met someone named Snickers, that was on their birth certificate, apparently their parents favorite candy was Snickers. While I would never name a child after candy, that meant something to the parents.

A child's name?

                                     

I couldn't commit to a name before she was born. Actually we thought it was a boy in the beginning, all we could think of was boys names! We had it all picked out and ready to go. Then we were told it was a girl, and the name got tucked away for future use.


So we made a list of names that we liked:

Tabitha (was Troy's top pick)
Rose
Lilly 

And of course:

Kelli

So we made out our list and I just left the topic for a while. It's very overwhelming if you haven't had to do it before. 
As time passed the name Kelli kept sticking in my mind. Troy would call her Tabitha, and it just didn't sound right. I didn't know her but it didn't seem to fit. The name Kelli seemed to common to me, although I loved the spelling. People kept asking for a name and I'd say were not making any commitments till she's born. 

When I was about 6 months pregnant I was sitting in the temple and again the name Kelli popped in my mind. And I knew that was the name, but still I resisted to commit. Then she was born, and it's so cliche I know. But once she was born, and I got a glimpse at one eye since the other was covered with a blanket, that was it. She was:

Kelli Bouley

So where did the name come from? 

Well, it has Irish origins and means "lively." 

Troy's mother's name was Kelli. She passed away about 12 years ago in a car crash and she spelled it with an I instead of a Y. 
 
There is no middle name. My mother's side of the family didn't have middle names. Nor did I, it makes changing your name when you get married so much easier.

So she's got a little history from both sides in her short, simple name.