the story of a name
We decided our second baby’s name this weekend and a choir of angels sprung forth in our house. Well, actually I went, “AHHHHHHHH!” which is as close to cherubic as you’ll get in our hotbed of hedonism and Cinemax favorites. For a few weeks, Mike has been set on the name Chase, which is a fine name in itself. It’s French, it means “hunter.” It also represents the damn bill I get every month. I told Mike no, I would not have Chase as a son. It doesn’t fit our family and it’s not like the company would lower my interest rate if I sent in a birth certificate with my next payment, like hey you guys, can’t we do something? I mean, meet me halfway, I named my son after you! What are you going to do about my reward points?!?
I loved “N” names–Nolan being my favorite. I also loved Simon which is still an awesome name to have. Simon was the smartest of the three chipmunks. Simon liked to take baths and do drawreeeengs, you cheeky monkey!
So there was a war between Chase and Simon. Mike kept saying that our son’s ass would get beaten at the park with a name like that, which makes me wonder what kind of freaking park we would take our kids where names are reason enough for a beatdown. Wouldn’t he be beaten down for something else? Like winning the spelling bee and showing punks how to spell “paternity test”? Still, it was pretty contentious. Mike doesn’t backdown and the more I fought against Chase, the more he was convinced that it was the BEST. NAME. EVER. (Which again, is a great name, but not for me!)
We did the logical thing which was to ask our three-year-old what he thought. I mean, this kid has a lot of opinions. He’ll walk up to me and say, “Mommy! I like your susu (chamorro word for BOOBIES)” Then using his little toddler finger, points to my right boob and adds, “THIS ONE.”
So we said, “Nathan, which do you like more–Chase or Simon?”
“Um. Jim!”
His answer made me think of this story of Mike’s mom and dad. For years and years they had tried to have a child and were unsuccessful. Mike wrote a beautiful letter here about how his mother did get pregnant with twins who died shortly after they were born. This was the 50s and there wasn’t the technology available to take care of premature babies. Then they adopted Mike and Mike’s mom fell wholly in love with him.
But those twins? Their names were Timmy and Jimmy which is why we finally decided on Timothy James. It’s fitting, appropriate, and a beautiful homage to a woman I wish I had met.
Now to yell “TJ” throughout the house because that’s what’s going to happen anyway, as the story of parenting goes.
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I'm Mona. I'm a 27-year-old full-time working mom of a boy named Nathan (born 2006), baby named TJ (born 2010), wife of a man named Mike and a resident of Seattle. I am originally from a small island called Saipan and I try to stay out of the rain, mostly.
"Kirida" is a Chamorro word bestowed on females, mostly the youngest or the favorite. I am the youngest of five children so you can figure out who the "kirida" was. Read more here.tweet tweet
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I think that Timothy James is a lovely name. It is also a lovely way to remember and honor your husband’s family.
I think that’s a wonderful name!
Wow Mona, that is just perfect! It is right on so many levels. Putting both of their names into one is really awesome and it deepens their connection to Mike even more. Dad will be so happy (I will not say anything to him until after you have) and mom would have teared up with how touching of a gesture that is. And, not to mention, TJ Hickey is even cooler than TJ Hooker! Very cool indeed
I LOVE this story. I wish Mike’s mom could have known.
That is a FANTASIC story and i love both names. Can’t wait to see what he looks like.
Beautiful!
What a sweet and meaningful name. Good job! =)
YES!!! SO right. I absolutely love it.
A perfect tribute, I love it.
This made me weepy. The name is perfect. Can’t wait to meet TJ.
LOL for DAYzzzzzz! Yes, yes, Simon was the smartest Chimpmunk!!!
YAY! That is sooooo awesome.
What a beautiful way to honor Mike’s brothers.
Thanks for sharing , mona … i was going crazy wondering if Chase had stuck or not.
Timothy James Hickey…yup, that’s awesome.
But I don’t know about TJ…have you ever seen South Park? “TIM-MAY!” It was my obsession with that character that led my sister-in-law to opt out of naming my nephew Timothy.
What a lovely name– both in itself and the meaning behind it.
I love it Mona!
Beautiful story. I dropped in from the link on Swistle’s baby naming site. Love, love, love the names and TJ as a nn. Our second might have been James nn Jimmy, except that Jimmy sounds a little weird with our last name. Also, our second was a girl.
LOVE. James is one of my favorite names. It also sounds good when you yell it, definitely the mark of a great name.
I love it! And I love to hear baby name stories. I posted one yesterday (bring a tissue … and yes, I totally knew about the drawreeeengs).
That’s perfect, Mona! What a beautiful thing to do. I sure Mike’s mother will know, somehow.
It’s perfect. I’m glad you guys have a name. A great one at that.
Such a great name and one you don’t hear all that often these days. I love names that have family history, both our children are named after relatives and it means so much to us to have them carry those names on. My sons middle name is James and my only complaint is that it is the one name that goes with almost any first name and now we can’t use it again!
My father’s name was James. He went by Jim, (Jim Jr, actually) but old ladies who knew him when he was a boy always called him “Jimmy” or, my personal fave, “Little Jimmy”. Why this was so funny was that my dad was 6″5″. He WAS little. For the NBA.
You know what’s weird about the nickname Jim? The name is James, not Jimothy. Timothy at least makes sense.
What a great story- and a beautiful name.
Yay for TJ!