Over the past year, we have had many comments and questions about Mauryn's name. So in honor of her first birthday tomorrow ( my baby is turning 1!), I thought I would write about how we came to name our baby girl. When I was pregnant with Landon, we had narrowed our boys names down to two but we could not come up with a girls name we agreed on. I LOVED (still do love) the name Maura. Lance though it was okay but he surely did not love it like I did. He really liked the name Brynn, but I didn't love it.
During this time, Lance was teaching a high school Sunday school class. One week their lesson was on the story of Naomi and Ruth. Lance came home and shared this verse with me " Don't call me Naomi, " she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter......" Ruth 1:20 Lance said he just couldn't name his daughter something that meant bitter. I plead with him... we don't have to spell it Mara, if we put the u in there the meaning is "dark complected." It was pitiful, I wanted to name this baby Maura if it was a girl. I know it is only a name, but I thought it was the most beautiful name I had ever heard.
One day when I was driving to work the name Mauryn came to me. I would get part of Maura and Lance would get part of Brynn. It would be the perfect solution. I called Lance right away and he really liked the name. Even though I came up with it as a choice, I was not "in love" with the name. The baby was a boy, we have Landon and no need for the girl name.
When I found out I was pregnant with Mauryn, the discussions began again. Lance was set that we would use Mauryn. I wasn't so sure. I liked it but I just didn't love it. I finally agreed to Mauryn but we couldn't decide how to spell her name - we were too busy arguing over a boys name :o) When Mauryn arrived, we originally had her name spelled Maryn. As the day progressed, Lance thought we should add the u to her name so people would hopefully pronounce her name correctly (pronounced Mar as in car, in). I love that we added the u to her name - at first I wasn't sure but now I am so thankful we did it.
Mauryn is a beautiful name. And she's a beautiful girl. Thanks for sharing the story of her name. It's a hard thing, naming a person. There is so much responsibility in that, I think.
ReplyDeleteWith Becca we couldn't decide on a name until about 2 months before she was born. We had our boy name picked out, but couldn't decide on a girls name. Then we heard the name 'Becca' somewhere, and that was it for us. We named her Rebecca, but we call her Becca.
When I was pregnant the second time, my husband really liked the name Abigail, and we could call her Abby. I loved the name too, but I really don't like writing b's. (Isn't that silly?) I thought Allie (her name is Allison) just flows better when you write it.
We still debate about whether or not she should have been named Abby. :P
Sorry to babble...I like that you shared this story!
Mauryn is a beautiful name! Isn't it funny how we debate & go back & forth about names. But, I think it's a big deal. They will have these names the rest of their lives. But, you can up with a beautiful name & Happy Birthday to her!
ReplyDeleteI wondered how you pronounced her name the minute I saw it:
ReplyDeletemore-in
more-een
ma-rin
ma-reen
mah-rin
Turns out none of them were right! I'm glad you set me straight. =)
And Happy Birthday to little Mauryn!!
This name is so beautiful! Actually, I've mentioned it to friends recently in talking about pretty interesting girl names! Thanks for the history.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Mauryn!