The Name Game

Now I wasn't going to say the names that we're considering for the baby on my blog, but for the purpose of this story I will tell you one of them.

I love the name Jacob, and I love the little boy to whom I gave that name, but it kills me that it was the most popular baby name the year he was born. In fact, it was the most popular boy name for like six years in a row or something like that. Aiden (thanks to Sex & the City) has finally taken over the top position, but Jacob is still up there at number three. The name we have been wanting to use for the longest time is Ethan, but that's number two on the list and I'll be damned if I'm going to have another most-popular kid name. I've always been really into naming trends, even before I had kids, so this decision means a lot to me.

There's a lot of names that I like, but they're all pretty popular too. I like the name Peyton, but I wouldn't use it for a boy because of the association with Peyton Manning, not because I'm against him, just that people would think I named my child after Peyton Manning and I'm not the kind of person to name my child after someone. So if I were to use it, it would be for a girl. In fact, I was just telling someone that exact thing last month.

Anyway, we decided on Eli. That's kind of like Ethan, and not on the top 10 list, not even on the top 100. That's the one we settled on a few months ago and we're sticking to it. Now last week was the Superbowl...I didn't watch it, had no idea of anything that happened other than the fact that the Giants won.

So last night we were talking to some extended family and they were asking about our name choices. When I said Eli, they started talking about the superbowl so I figured that there was some connection with the name. I didn't want to look stupid so I waited till later to ask Zach about it. "So what was up with them talking about the superbowl...what was there someone named Eli in the superbowl? I'll bet he was on the winning team too...just don't tell me he was the MVP."

Yes. Yes. Yes. Just great. Now there's going to be a bunch of people naming their kids after Peyton's little brother because he was the superstar of the 2008 Superbowl and it's no longer going to be an uncommon name.