Your Name

When we found out we were pregnant we did one of our favorite things. We started talking about baby names. When we look at names we like to find names that are pretty (or cool - if it’s a boy name), names that are unique (nothing in the top 100 if we can help it), and names that are meaningful. I don’t care how pretty the name is, if it doesn’t have a strong, important meaning, it’s not for us. We eventually had our two names picked out - Ariani Celeste if you were a girl, Milon David if you were a boy.

I was so excited when I found out you were a girl. (Of course I was a little bummed that your daddy wouldn’t get a boy to play with, but I had secretly hoped you were a girl all along.) But I just couldn’t quite settle on your name for sure yet. It’s kind of a funny story, but there is a UFC “ring girl” named Ariany and I didn’t want people to think that’s where your name came from. I decided to look her up on the internet and then found out that her middle name was Celeste! I was so bummed because I really didn’t like the idea of you sharing your name with a girl who was so worldly and was famous for showing off her body. So your daddy and I decided to change your first name just a little bit - Ariana. The meaning was the same - “holy.” We talked about alternative middle names and decided we liked Celine, which had the same meaning as Celeste - “from heaven” or Noelle since you would be born in December. We never really settled on your middle name, although we did agree that if you came in November we would not use Noelle.

Finally it was time for you to come! We had loaded up the car with our bags, Penny was at her cousins’ house for the night, and we were driving to the hospital. As we neared the entrance I looked at your daddy and told him that for a few weeks now I had wanted to put the middle name Celeste back on the table. I thought he would think that was weird or tell me that he had already decided on Noelle, but instead he just said, “Okay. I really like that name.” I couldn’t believe he was fine with a last minute change like that! I asked him if he was sure and he said that he liked all three choices and was fine with any of them. After another moment I said, “I have been thinking about the name Ariani again too.” Again, he said he loved the name Ariani and would be fine with naming you that instead of Ariana. It should have felt like a rash decision - changing your name at the last moment like that - but it didn’t. It just felt right. I just knew that your name was Ariani Celeste - in a way, it had been all along.

Once we checked in at the hospital, I looked up the names Ariana and Ariani on my favorite baby website while we waited in the waiting area. I was surprised to see that Ariana was #74 on the list of most popular names in the US. Ariani, however, was around #400. And somehow, that confirmed our decision. Your name was Ariani.

We waited until our family came to meet you to tell them about the change. It was fun to introduce you to your grandparents and aunts and uncles, who were certain that your name was Ariana Noelle. (In fact, Grandpa had told Pastor that was your name and that’s what they announced at church the night you were born!) They were so surprised that we would change our minds so late! But they all loved the name and were smitten with you from the moment they saw you.

Your name is very important to us. We hope and pray that you will live up to its meaning. We want you to know the Lord from a very early age and to live a holy life that is dedicated to Him! And we will always see you as a very special gift from heaven, an answer to a prayer that we prayed for over two years before seeing it answered with a “yes” from God. I can’t wait to tell you the whole story some day when you are old enough to understand it!