The Name Game

When you have 692 rules on picking out a name for your child, Name Number Six isn’t real easy. I have always liked the name Caleb, but finding a middle name to go with it has been quite a task. Here are some things we were looking for.

1. First name, two syllables. Middle name, one syllable. Why? Because I like it, that’s why. All of our children’s names follow this pattern.

2. All of our boys have middle names after a family member. We were down to Merle, Erwin, Herman and Herbert. We also like names that sound cool, so you can see….well…..sorry grandpas. (Some of you know we had Charles in mind from the beginning, which was my grandfather’s middle name. Unfortunately, once we decided on Caleb, that just wasn’t jivin’ with me.)

3. We like them to have a nice meaning if possible, and certainly not a negative meaning. For instance, Kelly Marie means “bitter warrior woman.” (See how a name can become prophetic?)

Then you have such things as initials to consider, whether or not to keep part of his Vietnamese name, how it sounds when you’re mad, what if you knew some creepy, bratty little kid who had the same name…….the list goes on. But never fear – we have found a middle name that is perfect!

And now for the whole kit ‘n caboodle…..Drum roll, please……

Caleb Shane McCashen

It even LOOKS cool.

Caleb means “whole hearted.” Our prayer is that he will love God with his whole heart.

Shane means “God is gracious.” We feel that He has been gracious in giving us Caleb as our son. It is the Irish form of “John” which is Kyle’s middle name and his dad’s first name. Sneaky, huh? And to top it off, I have a little Shane in my Sunday School class and he is a total cutie. :)