Thursday, December 6, 2012

Behind the name

So I have had a lot of people ask me why we named our daughter What we named her (Jordan Oyekemi).
Comments have ranged from "that's a cute name" to "were you unsure of the baby's gender?" Or "why didn't you spell it differently to feminize the name?" I often want to make a rude comment but I know it's not coming from a mean place. At least I hope not.

So the question remains, what's behind the name?

We knew we wanted a name from the bible and that the name would begin with a J. The names we had on the list were: Jenesis (yes...genesis with a J), JoAnna, Jessie, and Joelle.
We narrowed it down to 3 names. Jenesis, JoAnna or Jordan. The name Jordan literally jumped into my head. First, it isn't a person's name in the bible but rather the name of a river. Secondly, I thought for sure, we would go with Jenesis which means first or beginning.
Jordan was originally not on our list of names. We added it to our list during hurricane Sandy when we lost power. Basically, hubby and I were sitting around talking since at that point, I think we were done singing about the "bottles of beer on the wall" (our way of passing time) :-).

J & I both decided that we would give her a name after we meet her. But we knew we had at least 3 good names.

I said if it was an easy birth, she would be named "Jordan" because there is something calming and soothing about rivers. However, if it wasn't, she would be named Jenesis.
The labor was HARD! But when it came time to push, it was rather easy. I knew there and then that her name would be Jordan. The minute J asked me what we wanted to go with, there was no doubt in my mind.

Her middle name is a name her dad loves. Or rather, he loves the short form (Kemi). It is a Nigerian name (Yoruba origin...my heritage). But Kemi alone doesn't mean anything so we had to add on to it. Oyekemi means "honor favors me". We thought it was very appropriate for a child who was certainly prayed for and has been showered with lots of gifts and favors from conception.

So, now you know, the rest of the story :-).





Have you ever wondered how your parents decided on your name? If you have kids, how did you come up with their names? If not, do you have a name picked out yet for when you become parents?

11 comments:

  1. oooh i absolutely love the reason behind the name. it's beautiful!

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  2. She's gorgeous. I love the name Jordan. Well done :)

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  3. Love this and love the way you came up with the name. I love it when names have a special meaning.

    My first son was named after mine and hubby's grandfathers. My second son has a biblical first name and it was just a perfect choice for him.

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    1. Thank you! I love both your boys names! I might be using the same biblical name as yours if we have a boy someday ;-).

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  4. I love her names! My grandmother's both named me...I love my names too, but they are a mouth full..lol. I have a few names picked out for future kids, but that changes so often, they will probably be different by the time they arrive :)

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    1. I think it is an African thing cause I also have a few names our testy of my grandmothers. Thankfully, my parents only included two on my birth certificate :-).

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  5. Love this post! love her name even more. I don't know what names i will give my children yet, but they will definetly be Yoruba and Igbo names.

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    1. Nice! I am Yoruba (on dad's side) and Igbo (on mom's side) but I only got a Yoruba middle name as did the rest of my siblings.
      I do love the Yoruba/Igbo combo names though.

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  6. You have such a lovely blog and your daughter is so beautiful!!!! I love her Name! My names all have biblical influences and were chosen by my mother and older sister. My names are Charity (Love), Michelle (Gift from God), Lystra (A city in the bible) I LOVE LOVE MY NAMES! I think your daughter will love hers too! I'm following you now!
    Much Love
    Chari T (deep fried stilettos)xoxo

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Thank you and thanks for visiting my blog. I love the meaning behind your names as well.

      Off to visit your blog! :-)

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