We finally have a name!

This Friday March 8th at 7:30am we will welcome the arrival of (drum roll please...)

Ethan Jay McCullough-Byrne 

The first name was easy - the vote was clear that Ethan was the favorite first name and we just love it. You have good taste! :-)

The second name we chose for several reasons:

1. Its my dad's middle name (Stuart Jay McCullough)
2. Jay Haley, my Great Uncle, was a member of my family who I've always found to be very interesting. His intro on Wikipedia describes him as:  "...one of the founding figures of brief and family therapy in general and of the strategic model of psychotherapy..." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Haley) 
3. Lastly, it affords the ability to give Ethan a nickname (since Ethan doesn't lend itself well to one): E.J. My dad loved the idea of this nickname so we're glad this middle name can make that happen. 

Not yet! Wait until March 8th!!

The last name was a different story

Yep - we decided to hyphenate. I believe Terry always expected that we would hyphenate - and in truth this was a very good compromise on his behalf since typically the child would take the fathers last name. We're anything but typical.

Guess how much I love you?
This much!

The overwhelming majority of those who commented, sent me emails and chatted with me in person preferred that Byrne be the middle name and McCullough be the last name. In the beginning I would have agreed - but my feeling on this changed. Its not just that Terry and I are a couple, its that he is truly as excited as I am, if not more so sometimes, about the birth of his son. He has been a team player in this since the start and I no longer think of this as my baby (which I admit I did in the beginning), but our baby. And because of that I want this baby to have our name.

Why McCullough first?

No big reason other than how it sounds. Byrne-McCullough almost sounds a bit mean.

But hyphenating is so long - isn't that mean to do to your child?

As opposed to naming him something like Apple, or Moon Unit, or Sunweed (sorry bros)? More and more people are hyphenating. Ethan will survive the long last name... and boy will he know his letters! 16 unique letters in his name - that's over 60% of the alphabet! We're all about education. :-)

What will you do if someday he wants just one last name?

As he gets older we're prepared for him to pick one or the other. Another thing some people do is keep both but just use one. A girlfriend of mine has a hyphenated last name and she kept it hyphenated legally, but uses just one of the last names on a day to day basis. I will try not to take it personally if he chooses Byrne.... I'll try...

Well - that's that for our baby's name. We're definitely excited to meet little EJMB!

Next Post: Single vs. Alone - there is definitely a difference!