This is a tale that you humans have passed down through uncounted generations...

[mattj]

On January 10th, 2012 my wife gave birth to our second child Lincoln Anthony Carter. He was born a very healthy 8lb 1oz, 20.5in. We were a little worried at first because the breathing specialist thought that he might have a bit of trouble with his lungs. But after a day of observation he was deemed perfectly healthy and moved out of the NICU into my wife's room.

You can't really say that something like having a baby is "quote-unquote-sudden", but Lincoln comes pretty close to that. I don't know if its because this is our second child, but for some reason, just a few weeks ago, I looked at Heather and said, "Holy cow... Lincoln's gonna be born in like a few weeks!" I don't know how, but it really snuck up on me this time!

On top of that, the events that directly led to his birth were a bit sudden as well. He was scheduled to be delivered on Friday January 13th. I had taken Heather for her last scheduled appointment before her delivery date this past Tuesday. Lilly and I waited and waited and waited and waited in the waiting room and finally, I decided to head down to the nearby mall to let her run off some steam. I got a call from Heather a while afterwards saying that the doctors thought it would be best to take the baby NOW instead of waiting till Friday. We hadn't brought the hospital bag with clothes for Heather and Lincoln. We hadn't brought the car seat. I was still in my work clothes and stunk to high-heavens. We hadn't even thought to bring a camera, but luckily I had my 3DS in my pocket. We were prepared, but nature caught us a bit by surprise.

Needless to say, things have been topsy-turvy since Tuesday. I've been taking care of Lilly, trekking the 45 minute drive back and forth between our home and the hospital every day, while Heather recovers and takes care of Lincoln while at the hospital. Thankfully, they both get to come home tomorrow today (holy SMOKES its late).

There really is no way that I could describe to all of you just how much each of us has been looking forward to Lincoln's birth. The moment Heather told me that she was pregnant again, we immediately accepted that we had already gained a new member of the family. I have had a habit of kissing Heather and Lilly every single morning before I leave for work (while they're both still sleeping) without fail. As soon as I learned Heather was expecting, I started kissing her belly every morning too. Lilly started hugging and kissing her mommy's belly too. It was like having a Christmas present sitting under a Christmas tree, right there in front of you, with a big note that says "DO NOT OPEN TILL CHRISTMAS!!" in the month of March!

I'm amazed and overjoyed at just how quickly Lilly has latched on to her new baby brother. We had some worries that she would be jealous, or not take well to him (which could happen at some time, we'll see) but so far she's been nothing but giddy and excited at the very thought of seeing him. Every morning since Tuesday, when she wakes up here at home, the first thing she has said to me has been "Where's Lincoln? Are we gonna see Lincoln?" And she's had nothing but the utmost caution when around him. She's gonna make a great big sister!

I actually think that one of the best things about Lincoln's birth would have to be the way its helped bring our family, and extended family closer together. One dear example is that of the relationship I have with my birth mother. I didn't grow up with my birth mother. My parents divorced when I was an infant and I went to live with my father because my birth mother had a lot of addictions and issues she had to work out. I remember seeing her every great once and a while as I was growing up, maybe once every couple of years, but it wasn't until I was 21 years old that she finally cleaned up her life and decided to try to start a relationship with me and her other two children. Its been rough but we've forgiven and started to get to know each other. I almost couldn't contain myself, watching my mother, who has struggled with so many problems, as she held my son in that hospital room this morning. Its amazing what a baby can do!

​

I'd better get some sleep now because tomorrow is going to be a busy day, bringing Heather and Lincoln back home. But before I log off, I thought I'd do something to keep this thread from turning strictly into a "ZOMFGZ UR BABY IS SOOOOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUTE!" or "Congratulations!" thread.

I named my boy "Lincoln" specifically because I wanted to be able to call him "Link". Take a wild guess why I want to call him "Link". We got some flack from a couple (2) of older family members when we explained why we both chose this name, but by and large they got a good laugh and know we have the best of intentions. We actually named our daughter Lilly after the main character in a book my wife likes (that is, after a space-faring, ninja-alien). I grew up thinking that I had been named "Matthew" after someone famous, like "Matthew" the Apostle, or something. I didn't find out until I was literally 22 when my dad just happened to tell me "Oh no no no... you were named after this completelyridiculouscheezylolworthy really cool scifi show that used to be on in the 80s called "The Powers of Matthew Star".

._____________________________________.

Haha! That's just how life is!

So, while I wouldn't mind "Congrats" and the like, instead of just posting "YOUR SON IS SOOOOOOOOO ADORABLE" etc, etc, why not tell us why your parents named you what they named you? Are you named after an Uncle? Your Grandmother? The mailman? Why did they choose what they chose for you? Does it mean anything? Why not tell us your story?

Or better yet, as Shinyru has suggested, what would you name your children? What are some of your favorite names and why?

 

[Shinryu]

Congrats!

And I'd rather not go into my name, as I don't like the story behind it at all, hate it >.>

I do know if I ever have kids, I like either Roy or Hector as boy names, both being iconic Fire Emblem characters lol, though I'm not about to tell anyone that...for a girl, I've always been fond either Allison or Rosalind for some reason.

 

[Feathers]

you already know i love your baby's name. my dad was really into games but unfortunately i wasn't lucky enough to be named after anything related to said topic.

my name is aryana, which is of persian origin. my parents like exotic names, as i am anything but, being of welsh background on both sides of the family. they told me it means "pretty girl", which it almost does. it's also a variation on ariadne, which, if you know your mythologies (or inception), you may recognize. i personally love that my name has such a grand history.

my sister is named macaria, which is greek and means "blessed". my parents don't know that it also means the daughter of hades and persephone, or in some cases references a daughter of heracles (which you can easily find using google, but i don't think my parents ever googled our names).

i have always liked strange names and have definitely considered names should i ever have kids (i still deny that i ever will, life with my sister has not been the best for me). tetra is definitely a high tier name, which is shamelessly inspired by my favorite incarnation of zelda. i also really like marceline, but i've already used that name on one of my pets. marceline comes directly from adventure time.

i haven't really considered boy names, but i'm sure the temptation to name him garfield would be overwhelming.

congrats once again. your photos brought back memories of my sister being born. we're eleven years apart and things have definitely changed since then.

 

[RitterCat]

My first name is my dads middle name and my middle name is my dads first name. The same applies for my dad to my grandpa and my grandpa to his dad, so I have the same name as my grandpa (who unfortunately died when my dad was 2 so I never knew him)

Oh and congrats on the baby it is so cute!

 

[Manafii101]

I believe my parents called me Daniel just because they liked the sound of the name. Which is a pretty good reason to me at least. To that end, I shall name my children with words i like best:

Girl:
- Chrysanthemum (great because it can be shortened to Chrys/Chris if they don't like the whole name)
- Alyssa
- Delilah
- Caroline

Boy:
- Ephraim (from Fire Emblem, but I love the sound of it)
- Nathaniel
- Francisco
- Nicolas

ps congrats, babies are so cute, at least until they start screaming -.-

 

[Umbreon Dan]

I believe my parents called me Daniel just because they liked the sound of the name. Which is a pretty good reason to me at least.

daniel is a terrible name. it's so bad, it's like, biblical. >:|

'lin(coln|k)' is seriously clever, congratulations on your baby.

if i ever have children that i actually get to name, i'll probably call them androgynous names that have some funny in-joke history. maybe 'buffy'. or maybe i shouldn't be the one picking out names. shrug

 

[Alan]

haha lincoln / link is fucking good.

i would have named him galactica, so he would never get bullied.

 

[Accent]

My parents chose names that they liked, there is no particular story behind it. I know however that they hesitated between Robin and Nathan until the last minute.

I also know they chose my first sister's name by randomly reading pages in a name book; I was 3, and at some point I got up and told them something along the lines of "stop- that one is okay". So they picked it.

Congratulations mattj :)

 

[waterwarrior]

Mazel tov!

With you naming your son after Link, I suppose Lily's name isn't Zelda due to an agreement with your wife? :P (aaah, just kidding)

Unfortunately, my name is so damn commonplace its annoying sometimes (its Matt. When we even have a mod whose username is Matthew...). My parents first choice was Bruno. Now I'll never be part of the Elite Four. ;~;

 

[Danmire]

Congrats!

My parents named me after my grandpa(dad's side). He was an amazing artist and they decided to give me the name "Daniel".

 

[Unreality]

congrats mattj!

if i had a child i would name it MEGATRON

yes it would be all caps on the birth certificate

 

[-Eddie-]

Link is a pretty badass name. Did you know Robin William's daughter's name is Zelda?

My name is Charles Edward Davis IV because Charles Edward Davis I - III were already taken. My dad... wasn't very original.

 

[verbatim]

Congrats on your second child!

I think the Lincoln idea is pretty intelligent on your part, you can make the zelda reference without scaring him for future job applications.

I swear, at an old school we had a girl named Le-a, the mom insisted we had to pronounce the dash.

 

[X5Dragon]

Congrats man you have a very beautiful family, obligatory D'AWWWWWWWW :3

In any case my name's Ahmad, which won out of a draw between it and Khalid. I like my name, even though it's extremely common I don't think anything else would have fitted me better.

 

[SMZ]

My name is Salman (meaning: safe), I was named Salman because my grandmother suggested that name as her father's name is same as mine, and my parents agreed. I don't mind my name, because unlike other names (read: Mohammed/Ahmed..etc) it is NOT common, which kinda fits my "abnormal" profile. As for naming my kids, I am not exactly sure yet, when I was religious I was gonna name them a religious name, but now I am thinking of other names, depends on whether I immigrate or not.

p.s. your son has the same birthday as me.

 

[DM]

My parents had a baby name book that they used for my sister and me. It's funny, they actually had the name "Darby" circled for me, but at the last second went with Adam, which was like 3rd or 4th on their list. THANK GOD. As for my middle name, I got that from my great-grandfather, whom I knew for a while. He died in his 90s.

My first name is my dads middle name and my middle name is my dads first name. The same applies for my dad to my grandpa and my grandpa to his dad, so I have the same name as my grandpa (who unfortunately died when my dad was 2 so I never knew him)

Greek?

 

[Midnight Show]

A big congratulations!

I was named Robert because it's my father's middle name. However, my mother wanted to name me Elton, so I'm quite glad I ended up with the name I did. I think they also tossed around James and Austin, which wouldn't have been too bad.

If I have children, I'd want to give them pretty standard names: William, Scott, Elizabeth, etc. You can't get teased for having names like those, everyone knows how to spell them, they sound nice enough...

That's not to say I don't like less traditional names, I just wouldn't want to give my child a name he/she has to explain, spell for everyone, or feels embarrassed by. (A name is such an important thing in life, yet we don't get to pick it, so we just have to hope our parents make a decent choice!)

 

[GlassAbsol]

Me and My Fiancee, have discussed loads of Names but we went with one's that we think are cute and also have some Signifcance.

Boy-
Roary Willis
Harvey Michael
Alfred (Alfie) Christopher
Tobias (Toby) Rufus

Girl -
Eleanor (Ellie) Frances
Charlotte (Charlie) Helen

We haven't decided on any more girls names.

We've got a bit of a theme of the names ending in ee which her and I both really liked. Roary is a cute in joke we have because Her favourite animal is a Lion and mine is a Tiger, Willis is a family name. I'm Michael and She's Helen. Her family has a tradition of the first daughter sharing her middle name with her aunt's first name, Helen's Sister is Frances.

Link is a very cute baby and has clearly an awesome father, Congrats

 

[Bartman101]

My parents were the best, 'cos they didn't ask to find out what my gender was. If I was a girl I was gonna be called Aiysha (or something like that), or Jacob if I was a boy. I also have no middle name because 2 initials are enough.

We usually don't keep any first/middle names in the family, bar John, which is the middle name for both my Dad and my brother. Don't have much of an idead what I shall call my children. Although when I was younger, I used to like 'unusual' names such as, 'Coral', 'Micah' and 'Rhapsody' I got the latter of the 3 from Captain Scarlet iirc.

Oh, and congrats matt-j.

 

[Vein]

congrats! Your baby Link is cooool!

I also got my 2nd baby (a boy too!) last May 2011. His name is Auhmer Jin (Auhmer is my codename when I mod in another site and Jin is from Tekken).

Btw, my 1st baby's (a girl!) name is Cheale Aurielle. (Cheale is a combination of my name and my wife's while Aurielle is a random stuff).

 

[mattj]

Vein, those names are incredible!

 

[blarajan]

Matt, your children are beautiful. You're a really lucky guy and I'm happy for you and your family.

As for my name, I'm Rajan (means king in Hindi). My Grandma/Grandpa named their kids all Indian names that start with an R for whatever reason. While my Aunt/Uncle didn't keep that up, my Dad really wanted to. So my two sisters and I all have Indian R names. It's a bit weird that four of us have the same initials (no middle names), but whatever.

 

[Darkaxis]

That would be a handsome, healthy boy when he grows up. Maybe even a Smogonite! My two names Benjamin and Josue come from the Spanish Bible two characters that were ifluensive throught Jesus's life span.

How I will name my kids?

Boy: Red, Roy, Jake, Josue, Ory or Luke

Girls: Mary, Rose, Vicky, Pam, or Paige

 

[KnightoftheWind]

My dad really wanted his first son to be called Nicholas Robert John for whatever reason.

As for names for my possible kids, I like the idea of naming my daughter Nicole, after myself. No clue about boys though.

 

[Improbability]

My parents named me Aston. People like to ask if I was named after the c

ar, which I think may be partially true, but probably moreso because they liked the name. I guess I do too.